Written by Rakelle Maurici in Events on the 26th January 2016

In what felt like the coldest Milan Fashion Week ever, we wasted no time in getting wrapped up and headed to the hot spots of the city to get involved with the action. In recent seasons Milan has been criticized for being a bit stale when it comes to keeping up with the rest of the fashion world. Italy is lucky to be home to some of the biggest names in the fashion design world who have been around for decades and will continue to be years to come. But since it’s such a fast paced industry, Italy became complacent as though they were happy creating the same designs season after season - maybe with a mindset that they didn’t necessarily need to try. Either way they have refreshed their fashion scene this year by introducing new designs, a change in management and introduced some fresh new brands.

As always the classic brands get most of the editors, bloggers and buyers talking, simply because they hold homage to the ‘Made in Italy’ label. However transitioning between London Collections: Men through to Milan is a very different kettle of fish. LCM is more relaxed, with more street style, and with fewer mainstream brands - giving exposure to the newer up-and-coming brands. Milan is a chance to really show off and be extravagant when attending shows. Don’t get me wrong, there are tasteful ways in which you can do this. Men and women around Milan over the four days kept their style a bit more muted than usual, less colour and fashionistas chose to add accessory details as opposed to their entire outfit. There’s something classy about adding colour in this way, which we can all take inspiration from.

During the runway shows we saw tailoring, but still relatively relaxed, not the kind you can compare to that of Pitti Uomo - but men replaced a shirt and tie with a roll neck and scarf. This was also the case for the Zegna and Bottega Veneta catwalk shows. Gucci bounced back from their recent criticisms of their new Head of Design, and Alessandro Michele transitioned the brand into something modern whilst maintaining the label's classic style. This season he introduced a light hearted trend of cartoon themed sweaters full of colour. Granted this isn't everyone’s taste, however it got people talking! Versace showed their respects and walked to the music of David Bowie in tribute to his recent death, while on the other hand some brands paid tribute to the latest Oscar winning movies.

Following with the theme of colour and characters, there appears to be a lot of motif designs set to come out in autumn/winter 2016, however again this is an acquired style. If you like to stand out from the crowd this will certainly be up your street. Lastly, gentlemen can expect to see faux fur making its way to your wardrobe, as well as casual bomber jackets and some pretty loud accessories too.

We roundup the highlights of Milan Men's Fashion Week which shocased the forthcoming Autumn/Winter 2016 collections.