If part one of Milan Fashion Week was about clarity, part two was about craft, in all its guises. Marco Rambaldi turned crochet and tablecloths into a manifesto of radical joy; INSTITUTION wove Azerbaijani traditions into strikingly modern forms; and Moschino reimagined Arte Povera with cheeky wit.

The through-line was unmistakable: a belief that fashion’s future lies not in speed, but in making. Whether through reclaimed yarns, community weaving, or the transformation of humble materials into luxury, these collections celebrated the ingenuity of hands at work, proving that craft is as radical as it is enduring.

Marco Rambaldi
Eve Bailey 

Marco Rambaldi’s SS26 was radical joy crocheted into memory. Curtains, doilies, and tablecloths - the stuff of grandmothers’ cupboards - became bridal gowns, crystal-trimmed tops, and artisanal shirts. It was rebellion dressed as innocence: play turned into protest, sweetness made subversive.

Crochet sets of cardigans, skirts, and dresses came in reclaimed yarns and flower trims, while layering built complexity with trousers over miniskirts, lingerie slipping out from ribbed tanks, men’s boxers reborn as culottes. Even bridalwear refused tradition, white gowns unravelled into cocktail looks and hybrids laced with crochet. 

And then the casting. Always a Rambaldi hallmark. Friends, street-cast locals, and models walked side by side, embodying the collection’s dualities: softness and struggle, tenderness and rebellion, radical joy as survival strategy.

Francesco Murano 
Caterina Guarna

Francesco Murano’s SS26 collection is directly inspired by futuristic artists Giacomo Balla and Umberto Boccioni. Balla’s painting Velocità di Motocicletta (1913) dictated the palette that spanned the whole collection: starting from whites and creams, into sandier tones, from neutrally mauve to baby blue, finally closing the runway with black. Every look was monochromatic and the turn from one hue to another was always seamless. 

Yet the real defining characteristic of the collection wasn’t colour, but movement. In fact, Murano aspired to transform flowing motions into visual language, just like Balla and Boccioni have done in their paintings. 

Every piece ripples with each model down the runway; irregular cuts create unusual shapes that fall along the body and frame it, whilst deep organza v-necks flow against the chest. Cut-outs show fragments of hips or stomachs. Each garment is an expression of the motions of the body that wears it: movement becomes a design tool.

INSTITUTION by Galib Gassanoff
Eve Bailey 

A true standout from this Milan season, INSTITUTION’s Collection 04 flowed from the word Su, water as spirit, mirror, and metaphor. Founder Galib Gassanoff, Georgian of Azerbaijani descent, grounded the show in heritage craft while pushing it into strikingly modern territory.

But it was the community-driven pieces that resonated most: handwoven rush garments made by women in Masallı and Lankaran, knotted and fringed textiles from Georgian Azerbaijani craftspeople, and cotton shoelace weaves that reimagined Borchaly carpet traditions through the brand’s own DNA. Each garment carried the trace of hands, of knowledge passed between generations.

The performance heightened the concept. As models walked, Insta360 cameras reversed the gaze, capturing the audience instead, a reminder that in today’s culture, we are as much observed as observers. Paired with INSTITUTION’s collaboration with eBay Endless Runway, the message was clear: craft, continuity, and circularity aren’t side notes, but the centrepiece of fashion’s future.

Moschino
Eve Bailey 

At Moschino, Adrian Appiolaza's SS26 collection reimagined Arte Povera for the runway,  anarchic, ironic, and rooted in the joy of making. The premise was simple: reuse, recycle, reimagine. The result was anything but.

Potato sacks became an evening top and skirt; naive flowers scattered across tailoring and dresses as poetic embroideries; a crinoline, normally hidden, swelled into a showpiece bouffant. Accessories winked at perception: handbags disguised as bundles of apples or newspapers, leather reworked to look like taped-up cardboard stamped “Fragile.” Even Moschino’s iconic “Tie Me Bag” was reborn in rubber and cloth.

Heritage codes resurfaced, trompe l’oeil, smileys, newspaper prints, but with a twist of optimism, updated as “good news.” A T-shirt from Franco Moschino’s 1992 season reappeared too, emblazoned with “Niente” and destined for auction on eBay to fund circular fashion.

It was cheeky, crafty, and deeply Moschino: proof that in fashion, nothing is ever just nothing

Gucci
Caterina Guarna

As people gathered at Palazzo Mezzanotte in Milan to watch The Tiger, Gucci’s star-studded short film, the red carpet turned meta as characters from the film (and Demna’s first Gucci campaign La Famiglia) arrived at the premiere. 

The film features Demi Moore as Barbara Gucci, Head of Gucci International and Chairman of the state of California — yes the whole of California. As Barbara gathers her famiglia together to celebrate her birthday, looks from SS26 define the characters. 

Alia Shawkat wears l’Ereditiera’s burgundy monochrome look, from the hem of her dress to the tip of her fur. Kendall Jenner has the whole Miss Aperitivo look on, a mini tube dress covered in sequins accompanied by Gucci logo tights. Even the men’s outfits tap into Famiglia ones; Elliot Page wears Il Rubacuori’s suit, down to the flower on his chest. 

Demna’s debut at Gucci was a highly anticipated one: after his very successful tenure at Balenciaga everyone was wondering what his Gucci would look like. With this collection the Georgian designer was able to conjugate his style into looks that play with the core essences of the Italian fashion magnate. It’s campy, it’s Milanese, and it’s Gucci.