Valentino, Fendi, Moschino and more: The best looks from Milan Fashion Week's autumn / winter 2021 shows

Free to show however and wherever they wish, designers are finding new inspiration amid the pandemic

Valentino delivered short capes for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Valentino

Although technically part of New York Fashion Week, due to various delays, Tom Ford presented his autumn / winter 2021 collection during Milan Fashion Week. Courtesy Tom Ford

Etro mixed its trademark prints with plains for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Etro

In his first fully fledged show for Fendi, Kim Jones opted for delicate femininity for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Fendi

Under the dual leadership of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, Prada's autumn / winter 2021 collection was about intricate layering, shown here as patterned leggings and shirts. Courtesy Prada

With a sense of the home-made, Marni presented a sleeping bag-turned-poncho for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Marni

According to Tom Ford, overscale jackets and bare legs will be the look for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Tom Ford

Max Mara offered a quilted green velvet house coat for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Max Mara

Etro mixed long boots with velvet and fringing for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Etro

At Moschino, there was a witty take on a silk purse, now made into opera gloves, knee-high boots and even a neckline detail, for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moschino

The ever-playful Moschino reworked potato sacking into a full look for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moschino

Kim Jones opted for a shimmery dress with glossy fringing at Fendi autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Fendi

A farm print look from Moschino for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moschino

Soft mustard velvet at Max Mara for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Max Mara

Giorgio Armani delivered a shrunken jacket with harem pants for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Giorgio Armani

An art gallery inspired this painterly look at Moschino autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moschino

A peplum jacket over fluid trousers at Giorgio Armani autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Giorgio Armani

Etro transformed its signature paisley print into a shimmery dress for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Etro

Clearly aimed at the TikTok generation, Dolce & Gabbana embraced the glitz and excess of the 1990s for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

In a show dubbed 'Italian style, with a British accent', Max Mara played with layers in complementary tones for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Max Mara

A slick leather shirt and trousers have a masculine edge at Fendi for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Fendi

Having opened the pandemic-shuttered Piccolo theatre for its show, Valentino offered a punkish slant, with slashed and perforated looks for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Valentino

At Prada, an old-fashioned stole is reimagined, and now lined with sequins for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Prada

A look from Moschino's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

A look from Moschino's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

Dolce & Gabbana's signature leopard print was transformed into an oversized puffer jacket, with matching boots and bodysuit for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

A look from Marni's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

A look from Fendi's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

Looking back to the 1990s at Dolce & Gabbana for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

A look from Valentino's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

A look from Prada's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

A look from Valentino's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

At Moncler 1952 JW Anderson, quilted satin reminiscant of vintage bedspreads became lustrous dresses for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moncler 1952

Max Mara proving why it is the king of tone-on-tone camel looks. Courtesy Max Mara

A look from Moncler 1952 JW Anderson's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

A look from Valentino's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

In proportions Mary Poppins can relate to, Marni offered its latest bag for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Marni

For autumn / winter 2021, Dolce & Gabbana revisited many ideas from the past, including the metallic fabric and metal corseting from 2007. Courtesy Dolce & Gabbana

A look from Giorgio Armani's autumn / winter 2021 collection.

With the pandemic having shaken up every aspect of life, the once rigid schedule of runway-only fashion weeks has been upended, with the almost exclusively digital presentations at Milan Fashion Week barely raising an eyebrow.

As part of ongoing adaptations, showings have been mixed up even further. Most notably, the big names of Gucci and Bottega Veneta were conspicuously absent, while Versace will show during Paris Fashion Week, but not as part of it.

Tom Ford, meanwhile, who actually closed New York Fashion Week, only delivered the images from his show during Milan thanks to various Covid-19 related hiccups. Confused yet?

A farm print dress by Moschino for autumn / winter 2021. Courtesy Moschino

However, scheduling chaos aside, the switch to digital has given designers an unexpected new freedom as, released from the runway-only format, they are now able to do whatever they wish.

Case in point: Jeremy Scott at Moschino delivered his autumn / winter 2021 collection against a series of five different backdrops, which shifted from cityscape to jungle to a theatre. Over at Prada, meanwhile, the duo of Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada reworked the same set they had used for their men's show a few weeks ago.

Valentino opened a famous Milanese theatre especially for its audience-free show, while Dolce & Gabbana embraced the future by having robots both open and close its runway display. Marni found a new home-made vibe for its show, with coats made out of what could well have been sleeping bags, as Giorgio Armani doubled down on his comfort-is-paramount philosophy. At Fendi, new women's designer Kim Jones delivered his first fully fledged collection, while Max Mara showed us that it is the king of tone-on-tone styling.

Scroll through the gallery above to see the most standout moments of the week.

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