As an online retailer, staying ahead of the fashion curve is crucial to your success. Milan Fashion Week sets the tone for the upcoming season, and our comprehensive report breaks down the essential trends, colors, materials, and key items you need to know. We’ve leveraged cutting-edge AI technology to provide you with data-driven insights that will help you make informed decisions for your A/W 24/25 collections.
Table of Contents
1 Key trends
2 Sustainability in focus
3 The power of personalization
4 Colors
5 Prints and graphics
6 Materials and details
7 Key items
8 Footwear and accessories
9 Denim
Key trends
Elegant comfort emerges as the most consistent trend across the A/W 24/25 collections, as designers adapt pandemic-inspired comfort into office and occasion wear. Sartorial styling makes a triumphant return, with a focus on classic colors like black and neutrals that offer timeless appeal. Low-key luxury continues to inspire, with tactile surfaces celebrating the imperfections of craftsmanship. Minimalism and futurism take center stage, as streamlined silhouettes and block colors dominate. Twisted tailoring hits the sweet spot between timeless and timely, appealing to contemporary and youth consumers.
Sustainability in focus
As consumers become increasingly aware of the fashion industry’s environmental impact, it’s crucial for online retailers to prioritize sustainability in their A/W 24/25 collections. Milan Fashion Week showcased a growing emphasis on responsible materials and production practices, particularly in the realm of leather and denim. Designers explored the use of raw denim, which minimizes the need for heavily washed and finished fabrics, while also experimenting with innovative alternatives to traditional animal skins. As an online retailer, consider partnering with brands and suppliers that share your commitment to sustainability, and communicate these efforts to your customers through your product descriptions and marketing campaigns.
The power of personalization
In an increasingly competitive online retail landscape, personalization has become a key differentiator. By leveraging the data-driven insights provided by WGSN’s Fashion Vision tool, online retailers can gain a deeper understanding of the key trends, colors, and must-have items that resonate with their target audience. Use this information to create personalized product recommendations, curated collections, and targeted marketing campaigns that speak directly to your customers’ unique preferences and needs. By offering a tailored shopping experience that reflects the latest trends from Milan Fashion Week, you’ll foster a sense of loyalty and engagement among your customer base.
Colors
The Milan runways showcase a palette that balances classic hues with pops of color. Grey on grey reflects the low-key luxury trend and 90s minimalist theme, while warm neutrals and timeless tans harken back to brand heritage. Greens punctuate the restrained palette, with minty tones, shades of WGSN’s Green Fig, and dark olive green making a strong showing. Black remains a perennial favorite, with textured finishes adding depth and interest. Deeply saturated berry hues, anchored by WGSN’s long-term color Cranberry Juice, round out the season’s color story.
Prints and graphics
Nature-inspired prints take a departure from S/S 24’s florals, incorporating forest-like motifs such as tree bark, sediment layers, and mossy patterns. Placement prints inject a sense of fun into otherwise minimalist pieces, while trompe l’oeil creates the illusion of draped fabric, offering a more ethical alternative to animal skins. The evolution of nature’s texture sees fire-inspired prints, with charred looks and burnt textures providing an alternative to camouflage. Bold brushstrokes and inky markings offer an early confirmation of WGSN’s S/S 25 forecast.
Materials and details
The classic appeal of leather reflects the season’s appetite for timeless luxury, with sleek black finishes dominating footwear, accessories, and blazers. Hyper-texture meets hyper-hactic surfaces, as knitted loops, slashed effects, and frayed details create visual interest. Transparent sheers speak to modern romantic dress codes, while draping upgrades classic knitwear essentials. Statement bows add a touch of girlish embellishment, channeling youth-led pretty extravaganza codes.
Key items
Versatile and timeless, the topcoat emerges as a seasonal essential, with pared-back neutrals and classic black and grey emphasizing tailored details. Matching sets, from knitted to denim, offer a modern take on the twinset. The roll-neck proves indispensable, with designers exploring structured pleats for an elegant touch. The elegant comfort dress comes to life through modern occasion dressing, harnessing the sheer dress trend with varied yarn opacities. Shaggy coats, fusing cocooning softness with hyper-texture, provide winter warmth in knee to maxi lengths.
Footwear and accessories
Classic knee boots in investment leathers offer transseasonal appeal, with design features like metal hardware and Western-inspired elements adding newness. Pointed toes bring day-to-night glamour to minimalist boots and slingbacks. Top-handle bags revisit low-key luxury with minimalist silhouettes and padded trims, while clutch bags favor mono-material and monotone designs. Oversized aviators and rimless shield shades make a bold statement, capturing the trending bold minimalism mood.
Denim
Denim on denim looks offer multiple coordination opportunities, from trucker jackets to oversized blazers. Sartorial styling informs a new focus on tailored denim, with the denim topcoat emerging as a versatile and gender-inclusive option. Raw textures, a key direction for A/W 25/26 materials, come through in responsible raw denim across all categories. Slouchy wide-leg trousers dominate, fusing comfort with sartorial styling. Smart denim blurs the boundaries between casualwear and formalwear, with pencil skirts providing a new direction for denim suits.
Conclusion
By leveraging WGSN’s cutting-edge AI image recognition tool and the expertise of our fashion analysts, we’ve provided you with a comprehensive overview of the key trends, colors, materials, and must-have items from Milan Fashion Week A/W 24/25. As an online retailer, this information is invaluable in helping you curate a collection that resonates with your customers and keeps you at the forefront of fashion. Use these insights to inform your buying decisions, marketing strategies, and product development, and stay ahead of the competition in the ever-evolving world of fashion.
