By mid-January, Milan gains main character energy with its Men’s AW show. This year, as the high-octane fashion week begins on January 16, the Italian capital proves that a lean schedule can still deliver heavyweight impact. With 17 shows on the calendar, the fashion show played to its strengths, empahsising on functional clothing, immaculate tailoring, lean models to convey a meaningful message, and capturing the imagination of youth with playful outerwear. It was a display of precision over excess, and sharp ideas over safe bets.
“The new Milano Fashion Week campaign continues to shine a light on emerging talents and the iconic places that shape Milan’s identity. As the Olympic Winter Games are approaching, our narrative expands through the ongoing collaboration with Milano Cortina 2026. As part of the Cultural Olympiad we celebrate together the dialogue between art, culture and sport,” says the organising body Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.
The result? A fashion show that felt less like trend-spotting and more like cultural commentary on body politics, comfort, power dressing, control and identity. Here’s a look at all the star-studded celebrity debuts, fashion trends and viral moments at Milan Fashion Week Men’s AW 2026.
Hudson Williams’s Runway Debut
One of Hollywood’s fastest-rising fresh faces, Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams, made his suave fashion week debut at Dsquared2’s show at Milan Fashion Week. Opening the show, the 24-year-old Canadian actor walked on a snow-covered runway in an après-ski look. It featured layered outerwear, scrunched leather trousers and glossy ski boots that looked like a re-imagination of ice skates.
The dramatic alpine set amplified the brand’s love for drama, making it the perfect runway to dish out oversized puffers, denim jackets, fur collars, sexy ski suits, latex pants and innerwear in a winter-inspired collection.
Ralph Lauren Returns to Milan
Marking its first men’s runway show in nearly 20 years, American luxury fashion label Ralph Lauren staged an intimate presentation at its Via San Barnaba atelier, showcasing both Purple Label and Polo collections. The runway presented striped rugby shirts, tangy orange puffers, racing jackets, and backwards baseball caps paired with slouchy beanies and oversized bags in a collection that moved from western styles to Ivy League preparation, perhaps to garner attention of a newer, more youthful audience like Gen Z.
Further, the front row had 21-year-old Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp alongside 63-year-old Hong Kong screen legend Tony Leung, reflecting the brand’s attempt to widen its reach.
Prada and the Ozempic-Era Debate
Co-creative directors at Prada, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented a Fall 2026 menswear show with ultra-thin models. The collection spurred a conversation on the Ozempic era shaped by weight-loss medications that mirror a larger cultural anxiety around discipline, control and body image issues.
The runway had trench coats, jackets, tabular topcoats, utility capes, bucket caps, and quilted coats on thin models, revealing uncomfortable conversations about body politics, wellness versus desirability, and where fashion stands in normalising extreme ideals.
Mark Lee’s Milan Moment
Ralph Lauren’s show turned into a fan frenzy as Canadian-born rapper and K-pop star Mark Lee arrived in Milan. Hundreds of fans gathered outside the palazzo, screaming as Lee greeted them with a heartfelt gesture. Inside, he joined a global front row alongside Nick Jonas and Liam Hemsworth.
Dressed in a pinstriped, double-breasted Polo Ralph Lauren suit layered under a tailored wool coat, Lee effortlessly bridged pop culture and classic menswear cool.
Zegna’s Case for Quiet Luxury
Zegna delivered one of the week’s most refined statements as creative director Alessandro Sartori leaned into softness characterised by fluid tailoring, relaxed proportions and earthy mineral tones instead of rigid formality. The runway came alive with trench coats, suit sets, and checkered coats, cementing Zegna’s vision of modern masculinity: confident, calm and silently powerful.
Not just the collection, but even the front-row attendees dressed in tactile tailored pieces, including American actor Lee Pace, English actor Matt Smith, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, and Squid Game star Lee Byung-hun’s echoed quiet luxury that needs no scream to make headlines.
