When it comes to many of the labels that shape the Italian fashion landscape, it’s hard to ignore that fact that many often reproduce seasonal variations on the same silhouettes, suits and styles (albeit, with incredible craft and quality) season after season. Finding a well made piece of Italian tailoring isn’t the challenge—so much as finding a particular brand who speaks with enough voice and perspective to get shoppers to look twice. For brand like Z Zegna—Ermenegildo Zegna’s younger, fresher and sportier (especially since absorbing Zegna Sport) diffusion line—that’s hardly an issue.

With an offering that feels reminiscent of Thom Browne’s Moncler Gamme Bleu label, there’s a playfulness derived from the collection’s ability to mix wooly suiting with technically minded touches. If it all feels a bit like “Wes Anderson heads to the Alps,” then you might not be too far off; considering the already “youthful” label explained that the collection was inspired by Oasi Zegna (a mountainous nature reserve set up by Ermenegildo Zegna himself in the Piedmont region’s Biella Alps), that thought process seems fitting.

While it’s difficult to identify a singular garment that stands on top of the others, that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to fall for in the collection shown at Florence’s Pitti Uomo. Even when things like immaculately cut trousers, topcoats and suiting recall Italy’s traditional menswear affinities, unique and off-kilter details—in the form of cargo pockets, wooly fabrications (Casentino wool and corduroy) and down paneling—kept the offering fresh, and honestly...fun. Unlike other Italian labels (at least those with names related to other long-standing luxury tailors), the collection doesn’t even dodge trendiness—it’s hard to ignore the harnesses accenting certain pieces of outerwear. Considering that Moncler is planning on ending the Gamme Blue and Gamme Rouge lines after the Spring/Summer 2018 season, Z Zegna is positioning itself for major success with collections like this.

Having a showcase as Pitti Uomo’s guest designer is always going to result in a special collection, but presenting in a de facto “double feature” with friend and fellow designer Takahiro Miyashita cemented this show as one to watch.

With Jun Takahashi’s punk, cut-and-paste aesthetic firmly embedded into the shapes and styling sent down the runway, it was also his penchant for pop culture references that also came to the fore. Coming off of his last Stanley Kubrick reference (The Shining clearly emerged as a touchpoint in his Spring/Summer 2018 womenswear collection), Takahashi tapped 2001: A Space Odyssey in both subtle and obvious ways throughout the show. For every small ode to the film—HAL Laboratories and HAL 9000 text branding on pants, beanies and outerwear (among other phrases like “Logic Memory Center” and “Human Error”)—there were more overt references—sweaters and jackets utilizing stills from the film in the form of all-over print graphics. Perhaps the most on-the-nose callback to Kubrick’s masterpiece were the four mock-spacesuits served up in primary colors (if those ever see an official release, you can bet that those will become collectors items with the quickness).

Even if you’ve never actually seen the groundbreaking film, this collection simply and clearly injects several of the movie’s themes—both implicitly and explicitly—into the garments on display; the only downside of the collection might be how literally and liberally the show leans on its cinematic inspiration in order to get its point across. Sure, as the man responsible for the “Order/Disorder” portion of the double show, his choice to use HAL 9000’s descent into madness aboard the Discovery One is apt—but also a little obvious.

This offering may not go down as one of Takahashi’s greatest collections when compared to the wider Undercover oeuvre, but as far as making a future-facing statement in one of the world’s oldest cities, Takahashi delivered in spades.

Takahiro Miyashita is hardly an unfamiliar name to many who use Grailed. As the genius behind Number (N)ine, it was his vision that saw the brand become a cult favorite among the Paris fashion scene prior to its closure in 2009, and remains as a “grail-status” brand with several pieces that collectors have lusted over for years. While his current project—“The Soloist”—has already earned itself an equally robust cult following with its own share of grails, this trip abroad marks a major turning point for both The Soloist and Takahiro Miyashita as a designer on the world stage.

While his companion, Undercover’s Jun Takahashi, had a show that utilized its “Order/Disorder” theme explicitly through the lens of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and the events therein, Miyashita’s work was a little more abstract. It was his responsibility to handle the theme in the opposite direction: “Disorder/Order”. It’s hard to ignore the post-apocalyptic vibes emanating from the collection; with faces obscured and layers of techy details and tough fabrics, the offering’s function-meets-abstraction sits at the aesthetic intersection between Craig Green, Aitor Throup and Stone Island. But it wasn’t just bleak futurism Miyashita conveyed in his work; there was a distinct “Japanese” quality that came through as well, be it in the form of the Kendo men (mask)-like headpieces or the rubber geta sandals.

But as the collection moved into the concept of “Order” near the end of the show (especially within Looks 31 through 34) it appeared as though the deconstruction had given way to tailored garments. In other words: the survival gear had morphed into suiting (keeping thematic headgear fully intact, however).

Considering that practically every piece was deconstructed and then rebuilt again into its current form, one could really take on the “Disorder/Order” paradigm on both a micro (look-by-look) and macro level. “The Day the World Went Away” adorned the crumpled ponchos that closed Miyashita’s portion of the show. With that in mind, the collection felt as though it was chronicling a recovery of society following a massive disaster; from repurposing the clothing on our backs in the name of survival, to co-opting that survival gear into something that’s less utilitarian and more creative, artistic and abstract. Considering that several elements of “techwear” and military gear have crossed from the outdoors into white collar offices (thanks to the work of brands ranging from Arc’teryx Veilance and The North Face to Acronym and Stone Island), this parallel seems to represent a highly believable sartorial evolution.

Of course, even Miyashita himself didn’t diagnose the logic behind his collection publicly—as Vogue’s Luke Leitch put it: “when asked to explain this interpretation of Disorder/Order: [Miyashita replied] ‘I don’t remember!’”

Miuccia Prada divided up her Fall/Winter 2018 collection into several different “species,” noted Vogue’s Luke Leitch after speaking with the designer following the show. But how else could you even begin to describe this amalgamation of garments—with some looks amalgamations in and of themselves. Part archival and part forward-facing, this collection hit not just upon a single idea from the brand’s past, but a collection of sublines and graphics as well; the joy in seeing the collection on shelves in the near future is going to be deciphering what graphics mean what, why they were put there and what collections Miuccia’s mashed up together.

“I have a passion for nylon,” Miuccia explained to WWD. “A love I could die for. Nylon is the emblem of the industrial side and when we started doing it, it was completely unusual.” Perhaps it’s this current passion that had Miuccia digging deep into her Pocone past. As Vogue pointed out in its review, Prada’s use of the nylon material (primarily used for packaging) in 1984 helped turn Prada from “old guard” to avant-garde.

It’s no secret that the brand’s ability to embrace the ugly or the unconventional has made it the “thinking man’s brand” for decades. But uniquely, aside from ruminating on the references and callbacks to other Prada collections, an even bigger question emerged: “when do these pieces hit stores, and how many can I cop in my size?” It's trite to say, but with so many different takes on Prada history, well...there really is something here for every Prada fan.

The early lineup of Pocone garments (shown until roughly look 26) give off various takes on the idea of “industrialism.” Of course the material being used conjures up the durability and stiffness of workwear (even when worked into smooth, boxy, slightly-shiny coats, camp shirts, anoraks and bucket hats). But it’s the workbadge-esque accessories—featuring logos that feel ripped from both the 1970s and the early-2000s at the same time—take the “workwear” and industrial elements into a more literal (albeit still charming) territory.

After tapping into her nylon-laden past (shout out the Fall/Winter 1994 collection) the show swerved from dark and stoic to bright and referential. If Miuccia had spent the last few months cutting and pasting collages of Prada graphics found within the archives of the Fondazione, then one could certainly believe these looks were the fruits of her labor. Flame prints from Spring/Summer 2012 paired with bananas from Spring/Summer 2011 to start, evolving and cross-referencing a timeline that seemed to span from 1996 to 2016. If you missed out on the Kanye West-favorite “Impossible True Love” shirt from [Fall/Winter 2016]https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/fall-2016-menswear/prada#collection), you’ll have another crack at it here; albeit adorned with horizontal stripes or crossed-up with floral prints.

But, seemingly not to leave anything (or anyone) out of the offering, Miuccia dug into the Linea Rossa line—perhaps better known as Prada Sport. Originally founded in 1997, the diffusion line seems nearly tailor-made for today’s interest in the intersection between fashion and sport. But while the tech-infused line has faded from its late-’90s glory (those Phil Poynter campaigns…) into a focus mainly on eyewear, the reappearance of the line seems so perfectly modern that it’s hard to feel like the diffusion label has gone anywhere at all. As a testament to Miuccia’s genius, the designer worked in just enough of the line without distracting from her original thesis, tucking the brand right into the middle of her offering in a way that felt organic, but still future-facing.

While only your personal opinion will tell you if this one of Milan’s best shows of the season, we can say with confidence that this is certainly going to be one of the most talked-about collections well after fashion month wraps up.

Intersecting with Russia’s hosting of the 2018 World Cup, Gosha Rubchinskiy has been hosting the last three of his collections in his native country, taking fashion followers to different areas of Russia to seemingly showcase more than his uniquely popular garments. More than mere runway shows, they’re a de facto tour of Rubchinskiy’s home nation—a showcase of what Russia was (and is) both before and after the reign of Soviet leadership. While many were following along with the happenings in Milan, Rubchinskiy sent reporters to Yekaterinburg this season—a place known simultaneously as a breeding ground for Soviet rock music, the site of the Romanov executions and the home of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center (named after the first President of post-Soviet Russia, who was born in a smaller town nearby). The collection was shown at the Presidential Center.

It wasn’t just the location that had an intriguing blend of historical milestones—As followers of Rubchinskiy’s work well know, his aesthetic perspective is viewed through a blended lens that’s equal parts football die-hard, Moscow street skater and European chav (better known as gopniks in this part of the world). This trilogy has introduced two major collaborations for the young label: A partnership with adidas (which naturally centers around the upcoming global football festivities) and a partnership with Burberry (which Rubchinskiy has used both as a callback to post-Perestroika Russian fashion sense, as well as a modern take on the stuffy English heritage label)

For his work with adidas, sweatpants, tracksuits and trainers are easy and obvious fare that hint as much at Rubchinskiy’s perpetual connection to street culture as much as they are a co-branding exercise and tie-in to the World Cup. But it’s the more abstract pieces—namely, a broad, full suit with “three stripes” branding on the shoulders and chest—that really establish that Rubchinskiy is trying to do more than leverage adidas’ sportswear “cool” to signal boost his own designs. Though, if you were doubting his commitment to this particular partnership, the fact that he made one of his models shave the adidas logo into his head shows that Rubchinskiy is certainly serious (albeit, with a significant sense of humor).

The collection’s first looks however expanded on the Burberry partnership first shown last season, offering the designer’s take on the once-derided (but permanently iconic) Burberry check. What Rubchinskiy sent down the runway wasn’t just a fitting reexamination of a chav staple, reworked and tailored for today’s youthful Dover Street Market-shopper, it also dovetailed nicely with the venue’s namesake; Russian President Boris Yeltsin was known to be a fan of the brand and can be seen sporting Burberry in photos, Rubchinskiy noted in a statement.

Of course, the wider theme of the offering was far more noble; With svoboda (“freedom” in Russian) plastered above the runway, not to mention the venue’s namesake, the collection showed what Russia was able to do with Western cultural icons (including, and especially, personal style and luxury brands) once exposed to them. If anything, it’s that cultural cross-pollination that makes people so interested in Rubchinskiy’s fashion-focused interpretations each season.

Keep an eye out for the ersatz adidas pieces and the several remixed Burberry items. While they’ll definitely be the result of queues outside of your nearest fashion hub’s Dover Street Market, they should grow to become interesting perspectives on how both adidas and Burberry—with their respective histories in both “high” and “low” fashion—can be reborn into something exceedingly relevant...if only you know where on Earth to look.