MILAN FASHION PHOTOS: From Emporio Armani to Max Mara, designers are cocooning for next winter

MILAN (AP) — If there is one theme emerging at Milan Fashion Week, it is cocooning, hunkering down, enveloping one’s self in comfort clothing.

No one is mentioning the wars and political divisions cleaving the globe, but it's clear that if they aren't in the forefront of designers’ minds, the drive for self-protection is a subliminal part of the Zeitgeist.

Here are some highlights from mostly womenswear previews for fall-winter 2024-25 on Thursday, the second day of Milan Fashion Week:

STARRY NIGHTS AT EMPORIO ARMANI

Outside it poured rain. Inside the Emporio Armani showroom, models delighted in a dusting of (fake) snow, some twirling down the runway with umbrellas aloft.

Giorgio Armani said he instructed models to smile. “And it worked!” he told reporters after the runway show.

The Emporio Armani collection for youthful dressers projected a sense of fun-loving frivolity, easy-to-wear day-to-day looks for women of all ages.

Jackets were soft, sometimes layered. A shearling coat opened into a fun, furry shawl collar. Trousers gathered casually at the ankle. Polka-dotted poet blouses with berets offered a romantic, even Bohemian air. Tulle skirts paired with sequin tops in a nostalgic gesture.

Stars gave a dreamlike motif to dark velvet looks. The closing evening looks, including sheer tops and full skirts, glistened under the paper snow that gathered on the runway.

"I wanted to be coherent with myself, that is to make clothes that are wearable," Armani said, with “just a little showmanship.”

MAX MARA DEFINES MODERN, SPARE SILHOUETTE

The silhouette is everything at Max Mara for the next cold weather season.

Creative director Ian Griffiths’ mood board included silken teddies, Belle Epoque’-inspired boule coats and photos of the French novelist Colette, whose spare...