Prada has spoken: The skinny jean is back | Canada Voices

Will skinny jeans overthrow oversized denim? Are open shirts the new norm? Is the slouchy suit replacing fitted and boxy formal wear? Are fauna – not florals – groundbreaking for spring?

These were some of the questions lobbed at Milan Fashion Week’s front-row crowd, which included F1 star Lewis Hamilton; actors Tom Hiddleston, Colman Domingo and Jaafar Jackson; and music chart-toppers Troye Sivan and Maluma. Runway audiences in Italy’s fashion capital this week witnessed a major shift in cuts and proportions: Prada thinned out silhouettes, Giorgio Armani retreated to its relaxed roots, Ralph Lauren served laidback looks and Thom Browne toyed with masculinity and entomology.

Here’s a breakdown of the major spring/summer 2027 trends.

Skinny jean revival

Leave it to Prada’s disruptive design duo, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, to take aim at the wide-leg denim and trouser trend that’s dominated runways for the past four seasons.

For spring 2027, out went the clownishly oversized jeans and easygoing dad-pant silhouettes; in came constricted fits and fixed fabrics that saw models striding with stiffness to the tune of Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” concerto.

Although the collection contained references to the archives (via a flash of the Prada Rhombus print), it embraced a nineties Tom Ford sensibility, with denim and other pants – many in white and yellow – that hugged bums, cinched thighs and gripped calves and ankles.

Unsuitable behaviour

Ralph Lauren’s suit lineup looked like it came straight out of the after-party scene in Saltburn: neckties hung slightly askew, jackets were cut loose and models carried an easy swagger in clothes that moved with them. Showstoppers included Ralph Lauren’s shawl-collar dinner jacket and a series of formal wear looks with drooping velvet ties, roomy vests and a suit styled with a silver-and-champagne bomber. There were also country-club-inspired knits, including sweaters featuring the brand’s preppy Polo Bear motif.

Paul Smith’s collection showcased an army of grey, black, cream and white suits similarly constructed with roomier silhouettes. Shirts were styled with buttons undone, and longer dress shirts were untucked and fell past the hips.

At Giorgio Armani, the mood was soft and relaxed. The Italian house embraced airy, slubbed fabrics such as delicate linens, easy tweeds and lightweight wools in earthy palettes of moonstone, Calacatta marble and beach pebble. Designed by Armani’s right-hand man and head of menswear, Leo Dell’Orco, the collection offered fresh takes on archival designs that were worthy of the late leader’s approval.

Gardencore

Beyond his usual fixation on pleated skirts for men and madras plaid, Thom Browne’s spring/summer collection drew inspiration from the 1998 Pixar film A Bug’s Life, according to a pre-show interview with Vogue.

The result was the week’s only instance of insectmaxxing: jackets featuring giant embroidered moths and grasshoppers, a trench swarmed with bee motifs, ties threaded with tiny frog patterns and seersucker suits with matching watering cans. A few looks were topped with beekeeper hats with mesh veils, hinting at the show’s bride/groom hybrid finale look: a white wedding suit adorned with a voluminous white tulle train.

Next-gen reset

The coolest news of the week was the debut of Garcias, a house designed and conceived by Nicolas Martin Garcia, the first Colombian designer to join the official Milan Fashion Week calendar.

Titled Latin Dreamers, the collection lived up to its name. The looks delivered a sharp, assured creative vision and offered a dramatic reset amid big-budget heritage brands. The title works on multiple levels – reclaiming Latin identity within European fashion, cultural futurity and migration-linked “dreamers” symbolism.

Urban-informed textiles drew on Indigenous histories, such as Andean knitting in poncho vests and Wayuu geometry in Bermuda shorts. Garcias, who previously worked at Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana, nodded to the sensuality of his past design experience in tees and logo belts. Yet the collection’s signature pieces felt completely fresh.

Standout looks included a blinged-out sleeveless denim shirt, a powder-pink sleeveless jacket and a refined, chestnut-hued tank top styled with a large brooch. Best-seller contenders are a pair of sand-coloured trousers with deep folded pleats and a pale blush shirt embellished with the brand’s logo: a Taurus-inspired motif stitched in silver.