What to Get Excited About at Milan Fashion Week

Milan Fashion Week will run from Tuesday, February 24 to Monday, March 2, 2026 and while the city always offers a lot in terms of fashion excitement, this season feels especially action-packed thanks to new designer debuts at Fendi and Marni, Demna’s first proper runway show at Gucci, and sophomore outings from Simone Bellotti for Jil Sander and Louise Trotter for Bottega Veneta.

One brand that will not be showing this time around: Versace. One of the first things Prada Group CEO Andrea Guerra did after finalizing the purchase of Versace at the end of  2025 was fire designer Dario Vitale. Vitale, of course, worked for Miu Miu for nearly 15 years, rising to the role of design and image director of ready-to-wear before decamping to lead Versace after Donatella Versace was pushed out by primary owner Capri Holdings. Vitale’s first collection was a drastic departure from Versace under Donatella’s stewardship, which is exactly why Capri Holdings CEO John D. Idol hired him in the first place. But Prada Group was less than enthused about Vitale’s debut (and was still salty about him leaving Miu Miu), so he was fired on December 12, 2025.

The brand has since hired Alaïa designer Peter Mulier to take over at Versace, but his first day isn’t until July 1, 2026, so the brand has decided to lay low this season, holding appointments with buyers, but forgoing a runway show cobbled together by the in-house team. Honestly, it’s probably a smart move. Those house collections tend to be rather sleepy and aimless and Mulier’s debut for Spring 2027 will likely be the talk of the season. Still, Vitale was really onto something at Versace and it’s a pity we won’t get to see what he could have done with more time.

Below is our rundown of the most anticipated shows of the week, as well as the full calendar from the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana so you don’t miss out of any of the action.

Tuesday, February 24:
Glenn Martens has been at Margiela for about a year now, so it will be interesting to see if and how that experience is impacting his work at Diesel when he kicks of Milan Fashion Week with the brand’s latest co-ed show. Venerdì Pomeriggio also has us intrigued. Their aesthetic appears to be hyper-femme cottagecore, but designer Vivetta Ponti does seem to have a slightly subversive edge to her, so that should stop things from getting too saccharin. We hope.

Wednesday, February 25:
In the morning, Simone Bellotti will show her second collection for Jil Sander. He had a strong (if slightly safe) debut last season, so it will be interesting to see how his vision for the brand has evolved since. Alberto Caliri has been doing good work getting Missoni back on track, so we’re excited to see what he does this season, but, of course, the major story of the day (if not the week) is likely to be Maria Grazia Chiuri’s debut at Fendi.

Thursday, February 26:
Prada, of course, though their collections have felt a little overly cerebral and inaccessible since Raf Simons came on board — the Fall 2026 menswear show was a whole thing. This is also the day that Meryll Rogge will make her debut at Marni. She worked at Marc Jacobs for seven years before becoming head of women’s design at Dries Van Noten, where she worked for four years. Quite the promising pedigree, if you ask us!

Meryll Rogge (Courtesy of Marni)

Friday, February 27:
Moschino, GCDS, Blumarine by David Koma, and Tod’s are all showing on this day, but the big new is bound to be Demna’s runway debut for Gucci (Spring 2026 and Pre-Fall 2026 were both lookbook presentations). We’re also looking forward to seeing what comes out of the footwear presentations from Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman, Gianvito Rossi, and Giuseppe Zanotti.

Saturday, February 28:
Saturday is all about Bottega Veneta! Louise Trotter had probably the best debut of the season for Spring 2026 and the pressure is on for her second collection to live up to the incredibly high standard she has set for herself. We’re sure she can do it.

Sunday, March 1:
Sunday is feeling a bit sleepy, to be honest, but there is Giorgio Armani in the morning. It’s not the first women’s ready-to-wear collection since the death of the brand’s namesake, but it is probably the first to be conceived start-to-finish without his input, so it will be interesting to see how that impacts the clothes. Prive, which showed in Paris in January, was pretty spectacular, so there’s reason to be optimistic.

Monday, March 2:
Dhruv Kapoor has a way with prints and embellishments that we are looking forward to, but we’re really hoping that Ivan Delogu Senes can bring some avant garde drama to this otherwise pretty lowkey day.

Check out the full Milan Fall 2026 Fashion Week calendar below.