Milan Fashion Week was filled with design surprises and statements, which showcased Milan-based style and beyond.

Here are some of the highlights you may have missed from the week…

Baguettes at Moschino

All eyes were on Moschino’s new Argentinian designer, Adrian Appiolaza during the 2024 autumn/winter show.

He made his debut as the new creative director of the fashion house, and during an interview with Vogue’s contributor, Luke Leitch said: “My first reaction was: volume. One of [Moschino] Franco’s great strengths was his creation of silhouettes.

“Then I started identifying archetypes, and recurring obsessions, and I started thinking that Franco’s fantasy universe was not only about the creation of clothes – it was about the creation of characters.

“What I’ve already learned from him is that clothing is meant to be played with. There is an irony that runs through the work and a sense of joy and that’s also something I want to translate into this new chapter.”

Appiolaza took his inspiration literally and built a collection that included quirky oversized jumpers, trench coats, denim, and frilled maxi skirts. And for accessories, he went with aviator sunglasses, silk scarves worn over the head, crocodile leather, yellow smiley tote bags, and the star of the show – handbags that looked like baguettes, flowers and fresh produce all wrapped in paper grocery bags.

The bakery-inspired clutch bag, which made its debut in 2020, is a three-dimensional leather bag, with a baguette embossed onto it and a gold-plated Moschino logo.

Extreme glamour at Tom Ford

As the long-term right-hand man to Tom Ford himself, British designer Peter Hawkings unveiled an autumn/winter collection that was slinky and sleek.

There were skin-tight black catsuits, deep-plunge gowns, tailored suits for both men and women, embellished and sharp tailored coats, and fur jackets. It was extreme glamour and inspired by Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct – which had been on Hawkings’ mood board “forever”.

But he was also inspired by “power and seduction – you know, it’s an edge of Françoise Hardy and some stature of Helmut Newton’s Pola woman,” he said, during an interview with The Guardian.

It’s “about the power of a woman… that’s exactly what I want to evoke with the Tom Ford man/woman – the power of the glamour”.

The front row was star-studded, including Hollywood royalty Stone, Uma Thurman, Amber Valletta, Eva Green, Alek Wek, Sam Claflin, Iris Law and Callum Turner.

Mob wife trend at Dolce & Gabbana

The mature and brazen attitude of the ‘mob wife’ aesthetic found its way onto the Dolce & Gabbana runway on Saturday.

The Italian fashion house fixed ultra-sexy underwear with tailored looks, such as a cropped, boxy black tuxedo jacket, and a sheer open skirt that had a trail, worn over lace underwear.

It’s what British supermodel Naomi Campbell, 53, was spotted wearing with a silk grandad hat, net veil and gloves – minus the cropped jacket – as she closed the show. The 53-year-old also recently walked for Burberry during London Fashion Week.

The collection, titled Tuxedo, also included an oversized bird feather coat, with tie-belt detailing, alongside different interpretations of deconstructed tuxedos.

Protest at Fendi

A Peta protester disrupted the Fendi autumn/winter 2024 show as they walked onto the catwalk with a sign that read ‘Animals are not for clothing’ with ‘Turn your back on animal skin’ written on their back.

The American animal rights non-profit organisation posted a video of the incident on Instagram with the caption: ‘Activists from @petauk stormed the runway once again at the @fendi #MilanoFashionWeek show to remind everyone that animals are KILLED for something as frivolous as a fashion accessory! We don’t plan on stopping until all animals are free from the leather & fur industries! #FendiFW24’

Since the Italian luxury fashion house was founded in 1925, the use of fur and leather has been central to the creation of its garments.

Peta has also targeted other bigger shows during fashion month, including the recent Coach presentation at New York Fashion Week, where a protester held a sign that said: ‘COACH: Let Cows Live’ as they walked onto the runway.

Beautiful bags at Bottega Veneta

Inspired by everyday news and the current state of the world, Bottega Veneta’s Matthieu Blazy collection experimented with new proportions and silhouettes.

As models walked down the wood-floored runway, which mirrored a desert landscape filled with cactus-shaped light sculptures, they carried beautiful bags, including a cross-hatch and orange crocodile leather envelope clutch bag, to accessorise the pieces that incorporated broad shoulders, voluminous shapes and a colour palette you would associate with the night.

Supermodel Kate Moss was in attendance, alongside Salma Hayek, A$AP Rocky and Julianne Moore.

Diesel brought fashion to the masses

Staying true to his goal of revolutionising fashion shows since his appointment as creative director in 2020, Glenn Martens invited a few thousand of the general public to watch the Diesel autumn/winter 2024 show virtually.

Zoom-style videos of viewers were projected onto the walls – which made up the show space – as models walked the runway to showcase all 63 looks.

The collection – dedicated to outerwear – also pushed the limits on how materials can be combined and showed how fur and denim can work together through both casual and tailored coats.

Feben champions diversity on the runway

Supported by Dolce & Gabbana’s talent incubator programme, set to take place in Milan and champion young names in the fashion industry, London-based designer Feben had her first Milan Fashion Week show that featured after-dark-ready dresses and textured garments.

Playing around with the feminine-masculine duality, the Ethiopian and Sweden-raised designer, who has worked with Beyoncé, Erykah Badu and Michaela Coel, to name but a few, had plush and figure-hugging clothes, a sophisticated take on outerwear and animal print that paid homage to “the eternal joys of readying oneself for a night out, and the adrenaline rush which comes as a result of rapidly creating a collection”.

For the collection called Speed, “I was thinking [about] how quickly you have to make a collection,’ Feben said during an interview with Elle Magazine. “I really related to the 1990s archive animal prints – for me, that is very Dolce & Gabbana!”

Supermodel Ashley Graham was also on the runway for Feben wearing a v-neck dress that had sheer ruched sleeves.