MFW FW26: Prada, Jil Sander andand thethe weightweight ofof Italian legacylegacy

MFW FW26 has fallen short of maintaining the general public’s attention, casting doubt on its ability to impact cultural identity in the years to come.

Firstly, let’s look into the celebritification of Fashion Week, holistically. I touched on this briefly when I was discussing why Miu Miu is the brand to watch right now, which you can read on my blog here. Celebrities attending fashion shows don’t directly lead to sales. In an era where we feel closer to celebrities than ever, we have already lived in their clothes. This parasocial behaviour towards celebrities is ever more evident in the slew of stylists pulling garments from maison archives and presenting new interpretations of looks. Which, by the way, is seldom achieved as the interpretation becomes a fleeting tribute void of any plausible recompense. While it is true that not every moment needs to be ‘felt’ across the industry, a forgettable incident is regrettably worse than a terrible one.

Secondly, what does Milan stand for? It used to be a hip, cool and funky place to get your outfits when you’re tired of telling people where you shop. Sometimes the names are difficult to pronounce, or you forget where you bought them. Now, we’re all waiting for the same ideas in a different season. And just as the clock struck midnight, at the end of MFW FW26, that’s exactly what we got. Look me in my eyes and tell me what the difference between Diesel fall 2025 and fall 2026 is. Go on. I’ll be nice and give you 1 hour to collect your thoughts.

So tell me, what have you found? Because it’s likely nothing. Which is not only sad, but also delusional. At the same time, when you know your customer, why fix what isn’t broken?

Leading fashion or living off legacy?

My ultimate question is: are Italy-based designers still leading fashion, or are they just living off legacy? To answer that, we’d need to look at everyone who played a part in the fall-winter festival. Here are the MFW FW26 fashion shows for you to keep an eye on and watch in retrospect. To see the presentations, click here.