Milano—season after season, you seduce us with your enduring glamour and inimitable cool. As the home of Prada, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Fendi, Marni and more, the city thrums with creativity, and never more than during Milan Fashion Week. A high-shine confidence runs through its storied fashion houses. Unafraid of a little excess, Milan embraces sparkle, sequins and sheer with open arms, making other fashion capitals feel almost restrained in comparison.
Long considered a bellwether for the season ahead, especially when it comes to party moments, Milan Fashion Week’s autumn/winter 2026 collections delivered exactly what we hoped for: drama and decadence. After closely watching the runways and revisiting the standout shows, a handful of clear themes emerged—trends the city’s most influential houses seem unanimously aligned on.
Read on to discover the defining Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter 2026 runway trends to know now.
5 Runway Trends from Milan Fashion Week to Know Now
1. Royal Purple
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Style Notes: If the past few seasons were defined by sumptuous burgundies and decadent browns, consider this their bolder successor. For A/W ’26, designers leaned towards a richer, punchier palette, with royal purple emerging as the standout shade. Long considered a tricky, even divisive hue, it has suddenly found favour among the industry’s most directional houses, including Gucci, Ferragamo and Sportmax. Whether worn in saturated, head-to-toe sweeps or tempered with inky black and dark chocolate brown—royal purple reigned.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Shop Royal Purple:
Style with denim or pair with a tailored skirt.
Mango
Straight Mid-Rise Trousers
Wear this with the matching blouse or style with a simple tank.
Acne Studios
Micro Distressed Suede Shoulder Bag
The bow embellishment trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
2. Colourful Cuffs
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Style Notes: This season, designers punctuated looks with a flash of colour at the wrist. At Prada, Bottega Veneta and Ferragamo, sleeves were finished with vivid trims that peeked out beneath coats and knits. It’s a subtle styling trick, but one that feels primed for rapid adoption among the street style set.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Shop Colourful Shirts:
Add a pop of colour to your spring rotation.
With Nothing Underneath
The Classic Shirt
This also comes in nine other shades.
With Nothing Underneath
The Classic Shirt
With Nothing Underneath’s shirts are a fashion person’s favourite.
3. Frothy Collars
(Image credit: Launcmetrics/Spotlight)
Style Notes: A romantic mood swept the runways, as ruffled, voluminous and deliciously frothy collars crowned dresses, blouses and outerwear. As Victorian influences continue to permeate pop culture—fanned by the recent adaptation of Wuthering Heights and the enduring pull of Bridgerton—fashion’s embrace of the trend feels right on time.
(Image credit: Launcmetrics/Spotlight)
(Image credit: Launcmetrics/Spotlight)
Shop Frothy Collars:
Patou
Tie-Detailed Ruffled Cotton-Poplin Blouse
Victorian-inspired silhouettes are taking off right now.
COS
Ruffle-Collar Modal Blouse
Style this under a knit to dress up your daily rotation.
Chloé
Ruffled Tie-Detailed Floral Silk-Jacquard Blouse
The pale pink colour trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
4. Skirt Suits
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Style Notes: Perhaps the most polished pairing of the week, the skirt suit found its feet in Milan. At Gucci, single-breasted, slim-fitting jackets were styled with knee-grazing pencil skirts for a sharp effect. Fendi offered a softer interpretation, presenting longer hemlines with slouchier, elongated blazers, while Jil Sander leaned into minimalism with marl-hued sets that gently skimmed the frame.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Shop Skirt Suits:
Reformation
Georgia Two Piece
This also comes in a deep charcoal shade.
Zara
Wool Shoulder Pad Jacket
Style with the matching skirt or dress this down with jeans.
Zara
100% Wool Midi Skirt
The pencil skirt trend isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
5. Lace-Up Knee Boots
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Style Notes: In place of prim Mary Janes, designers embraced sharper, more commanding lace-up knee boots. A progression of the knee-high styles that have dominated in recent years, these iterations come tightly bound, laced from ankle to calf in a subtle nod to Victorian dressing. Witchy and dramatic they tap into the same romantic undercurrent seen across the collections.
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
(Image credit: Launchmetrics/Spotlight)
Shop Knee-High Lace-Up Boots:
The pointed-toe finish gives these such a witchy feel.
Free People
Miista Imogen Lace-Up Boots
Be quick! I can’t see these staying in stock for long.
Gianvito Rossi
Leather Knee Boots
These also come in half sizes, so you can find your perfect fit.