Brioni, Ralph Lauren, Corneliani, Valextra, Tod's, Bally and Brett Johnson

A dance to the sound of men's music, where two performances featured professional ballet dancers on a busy weekend at Milano Moda Uomo. In a season of alpine style at Ralph Lauren, Ibiza cool at Bally, super luxury at Brett Johnson and living archives at Valextra.

Ralph Lauren: Italian-American friendship

A happy meeting between Italy and America at Ralph Lauren, with an elegant Dolomite collection inspired by next year's Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, when Ralph will dress the American ski team off the slopes.

A Purple Label Fall 2025 collection, where Ralph Lauren combines American luxury with Italian art, inspired by the most elegant streets of Milan and the majestic peaks of Cortina.

Chunky sweaters with snow crystal print; RL Sci Club underpants; perfectly judged Prince of Wales green suits paired with shearling-trimmed parkas and hiking boots; gorgeous men's coats made in the fabric of the season (cashmere, herringbone Donegal tweed) and black Rocky Mountain leather cowboy shirts cut for an après-ski cocktail party in St Moritz.

“Purple Label has always been a way to express my vision of true luxury. Fall 2025 Purple Label mixes the beauty of rusticity with timeless elegance. It is a world of warmth and sophistication, tailoring and modern silhouettes,” explained Ralph Lauren, who has never been more true to his word.

Brioni: a dance to the sound of tailoring

Brioni made his presentation inside a palace that Napoleon called home in 1805.

Starring four dancers, whose elegant pirouettes and turns underlined the truly special lightness of the fabrics devised by the house's creative director, Norbert Stumpfl.

Cut wonderful tone-on-tone micro houndstooth check jackets and blazers, like one in gray and anthracite paired with a charcoal flannel shirt and a steel black tie. Talk about impeccable.

Stumpfl's leather looks were something else, too: whether it was a sleek, rugged doublet finished with black crocodile trim; calfskin jackets; or a remarkable gray coat made of American crocodile skin to take away the traditional shine. With a price of 45,000 euros, it was the most expensive gift in men's fashion this season.

Corneliani: London Ballet, Italian sartorial symphony

On Saturday, Corneliani invited London's Central Ballet School to perform a special performance in the 16th-century courtyard of Palazzo Durini.

Combining historical legacy with contemporary ideas, like the brand's latest collection. Curated by choreographer Kate Coyne, the school's artistic director, it featured three dancers imitating the many ways in which men can meet and greet each other.

While models from the latest collection paraded around an outdoor platform. Dressed in precision doublets, wide-sleeved trench coats or the most modern pea coats, all very easy to wear.

Bally: I love Leo Mas Muzak

There was a strange lack of collaborative laboratories in Italy this menswear season. Although one that caught our attention was the connection between Bally and Leo Mas.

The all-time great DJ created a super capsule collection for Bally, which the brand celebrated in style on Sunday night at its fresh and airy flagship. One of the best places in fashion: the corner of Via Montenapoleone and Via Manzoni. Sportingly, Leo signed autographs on maxi LPs of pin-up albums with two of his songs.

“Leo Mas is one of the great DJ legends of the club world and he should know I was quite present,” chuckled Bally's creative director Simone Bellotti.

The union resulted in elegant leather bags, covered in illustrations ranging from Mas' old logo, Muzak Muzak, to the interior of the clubbing world's holy of holies, Amnesia in Ibiza, where Leo once ruled.

Tod's: Pashmy, the leather pashmina

A display of four leather-clad artisans greeted guests at Tod's this season, all of them revisiting a crafty new research project: “Pashmy.”

Their goal: to find the finest skins, soft and silky skins that Tod's has called Pashmy, a soft and light material, which evokes the delicacy and refinement of pashmina, from which the name itself derives.

But it also has the robustness of real leather, in either of its two variants: fine suede or ultra-light nappa.

“Feel this,” insisted Tod's owner Diego Della Valle, “it has the feel of freshly shaved skin.”

Therefore, for this collection, creative director Matteo Tamburini reinterpreted men's wardrobe classics such as the bomber jacket and the Pashmy leather shirt jacket. Using natural earth tones, from sand, burnt tones to tobacco, enriched with the T signature.

Pashmy even walked around with the classic Gommino moccasins and, above all, with some truly eminent examples from the WG.. – or Winter Gommino – either in leather or suede. Collection boots.

Valextra and the living archive

This season, Valextra focused on updating some iconic silhouettes, from its Boston Babila weekend travel bag for gentlemen on the go to its briefcase, the Avietta.

On the latter, by adding Costa, the house's signature black lacquer trim, the Avietta looked refreshed and even more elegant.

While the MyLogo Bowling Bag got a new look in Sublime leather, exceeding all expectations of a traditional luxury travel bag.

“What I love about Valextra is that the archive is a living phenomenon,” enthused Weekender CEO Xavier Rougeaux. And well, it should.

Brett Johnson: always expanding with luxury

One brand enjoying a smart expansion is Brett Johnson, a Washington designer and brand that has made Milan its European headquarters.

Brett proudly showed off his ideally located showroom on Via Manzoni on Sunday, which has been renovated with pale gray plaster walls, fine wooden shelves and excellent modern neoclassical lamps.

Johnson focuses on the elegance of modern menswear and ethereal high luxury. Like a pair of extraordinary sheepskin shoes made of vicuña suede and priced at 7,000 euros.

It has clearly found an audience. Sales grew 50% last year and wholesale customers reached 38. This year, Brett hopes to bring that number closer to 60, and judging by his stylish knitwear, chic suede blazers and double-breasted cashmere hoodies, face, he will surely succeed.