September 25, 2026

The Jil Sander spring 2027 collection. Photos: Samuel Hine

You can learn a lot about designers from how they dress, and you can learn a lot about how to dress by looking at Simone Bellotti, who may be the most stylish designer working today. The newish creative director at Jil Sander often wears vintage jeans, beat-up suede roper boots, faded T-shirts, Swatches, and sweat-stained American baseball caps. 

When I met him before his show in Milan on Wednesday morning, he flipped open the vintage tweedy Romeo Gigli blazer he wore to work that day to show me the holes in the pockets. “I bought it on eBay for €30,” he said. “This is sort of my uniform. There is always something a little bit off or undone in a way, which I like.” 

Besides his personal collection, Bellotti, 48, keeps racks of clothes for reference at the company headquarters on Piazza Castello. In his office at the Michael Gabellini–designed building, there are coats and jackets and blazers from his time at Gucci, where he spent 16 years, first working under Frida Giannini and, later, Alessandro Michele. There are others from his fantastic two-year tenure as creative director of Bally. 

At Jil Sander, whose namesake is known as the Queen of Less, Bellotti is giving minimalism a sexy new edge. Over a year in, his efforts seem to be working, if the front row at the show was any indication. In addition to Prada, Jil Sander is one of the only labels on the calendar that editors and buyers appear to be shopping for themselves. “The moment where you think that you’re doing well, it’s not good,” Bellotti said after I asked him about the hype that has followed him over three seasons. “I’m happy to see the very strong support from people who believe in this, but I can’t be satisfied with what I do. I don’t feel that.” 

Simone Bellotti. Photo: Samuel Hine

The spring show started with Bellotti’s idea of a Jil Sander uniform: The first few looks included a crisp blue button-up, low-waisted navy trousers, and an austere three-button suit. Then he made the uniform stranger. One suit jacket had an oversized, billowy drape and chest-high jet pockets. Bellotti described it as “wrong.” Trench coats came out scrunched at the waist, revealing intricate pleats at the back when the models walked by. Several trousers were ironed with accordions of wrinkles, and washed-leather moccasins were fitted with strange moldable leather tongues. Just about everything looked invitingly awkward. “I wanted to manipulate this perfection to make it more real in a way,” Bellotti said. 

“Real” has been turning up in a lot of show notes lately, but only at Bellotti’s presentation could I imagine the clothes on the runway actually walking out into the world. Or maybe I’m speaking for myself: Those moccasins are at the top of my shopping list for next season, as is one particular trim washed-silk blazer.

During our preview, I asked Bellotti about what he was into for himself these days, and he laughed. “For my taste, what I see out there for men is already extravagant,” he said. “A lot of it is probably something that I cannot wear. It’s very interesting to me, and I would love to wear it. But I’m not in my 20s anymore.”

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➼ One thing I didn’t have on my MFW bingo card: Demna going prep. But he kicked off his epic Gucci show on Friday with a parade of hunks in popped collars, striped rugby shirts, and white jeans. Ankles bared, the models walked with a hungover swagger through the set, a fake Gucci store merchandised to the hilt. They reminded me of Homer Gere’s character in The Shards, and, in fact, the actor was in the front row near Donatella Versace, Jannik Sinner, and Bianca Jagger. After a year playing with a bunch of Gucci archetypes — super-Italian, Tom Ford ’90s, body con — this was Demna’s strongest effort to make the label his own. “I was trying to understand the part of Gucci that triggers excitement or curiosity in me,” he said backstage. He found it in a character he described as a “rebellious aristocrat”: “There is something sharp and glamorous and deliciously snobby about Gucci and about fashion for me.”

➼ For his swan song at Diesel, Glenn Martens pulled off one last stunt on Tuesday, seating among his guests some 200 performers who writhed, moaned, and furiously made out with one another during the finale. “When I started six years ago, this was just a T-shirt and jeans brand,” he said backstage. Now, Diesel is all about distressed ravewear and ass-baring, laser-cut denim dresses with an intentionally disheveled, walk-of-shame vibe. While sex has always been on the mood board, Martens, who is leaving to focus on Maison Martin Margiela, acknowledged this was especially suggestive. “I hope the show won’t be too intense for you guys,” he said. The audience mostly played along but when the horny flash mob hit, even legendary Berghain bouncer Sven Marquardt was taken aback. I’d thought he would be used to this sort of thing?

➼ I’m calling it now: Driving shoes are the next big thing in men’s footwear. I came to this conclusion when I dropped by the laid-back Yali Milano presentation, where models lounged on rare Italian furniture at the Cambi auction house. Yali may be the local equivalent of Bode or Maryam Nassir Zadeh. Founder Pia Zanardi, who has a growing fan club that adores her velvet Tang-dynasty-style jackets, put the guys in the presentation in suede driving loafers and they looked fantastic. I can’t be the only one who’s been searching for a penny-loafer alternative. I like the ones from Car Shoe, which invented the silhouette in the ’60s and is now owned by Prada.

➼ Speaking of, I was impressed by the renovated Prada Galleria store at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. It reopened earlier this week with an OMA-designed library, an exhibition space dedicated to important collections, and a private salon for VIP shopping. In the salon, which has silk-moiré-lined walls and furniture selected by Miuccia herself, there was a rack of pieces from the fall 1999 men’s runway collection that have been remade for sale, which is a clever way to capitalize on the craze for vintage Prada.

Photo: Samuel Hine

Elias Medini, better known as Lyas, is a funny and opinionated presence on Instagram, where he entertains nearly 500,000 followers with quippy fashion takes and interviews with designers. His events livestreaming runway shows, called La Watchparty, are enormously popular, though these days he is just as often sitting in the front row. I interviewed him earlier this year about Quen Blackwell, another social-media goofball, and I ran into Lyas again in Milan, where he recorded me sitting next to the guy swallowing his own fingers at the Diesel show.

What did you think of the orgylike performance?

I loved how uncomfortable it made you and a lot of people. Whether you hated it or not, this showed we need more fun in fashion. We need to bring back that kind of excitement. 

Has anything else happened recently at a show that shocked you? 

I thought the PETA intervention at the H&M show in London was quite shocking because everyone saw what happened in New York at the COS show. We were like, Okay, how are they gonna deal with that? There seems to be a shift or at least tension between those who want to hold on to power and those who want to fuck shit up.

I would put you in the latter category. Do you play nice with the Establishment?

I don't really like the old guard. It bothers me when they lose touch with what young people want. We should be more progressive and not always so conservative. When I started going to shows, I really didn't have an idea of what I should be doing or how I should behave. I was just being myself. I would clap during shows or cheer on a friend modeling, even though some people in the front row got mad at me. Before I ever got invited, I just voiced my opinions online because I had nothing to lose. And it turned out the more shit I talked, the more brands wanted me. 

Have you ever been banned from a show?

At Sarah Burton’s first Givenchy show, we were sitting on piles of paper, like we were in an office, and everyone’s name was written on one of the files. At the end of the show, I tore off the file with my name on it because I wanted to sell it for one euro online so someone could buy a piece of fashion history. And when Givenchy saw that, they got so mad. They were like, How dare you tear away our set design and make money out of it? I was like, Babe, it's one euro. 

Everyone who was in London, like yourself, came to Milan and said London Fashion Week is back, the energy was great. Is that true?

I do not believe so. I think there is potential for London to be back. If Vivienne Westwood goes back, if Stella McCartney goes back, and if McQueen stays. London now is about rules, following codes, and what it once was is nowhere to be found. The energy this time was cool because of PETA, because of the designer Mowalola Ogunlesi, and that's it. PETA brings excitement. It brings a clash, you know? That’s what London is supposed to be: disruptive. That's what’s gonna make the city a fashion hub again.

Photo: Samuel Hine

Sweater: Extreme Cashmere / Pants: Vintage via Mothfood / Sneakers: Miu Miu / Tote: Polo Ralph Lauren / Suitcase: Rimowa / Sunglasses: Ray-Ban

Got a question for Sam? A topic you want him to cover in the newsletter? Drop him a line at [email protected]. 

ADVERTISER CONTENT

This Negroni Week, Campari is celebrating those who Stay Bitter. Award-winning actor, host and producer, Alan Cumming, and The Bitter Nine are putting individuality, creativity, and a little edge at the center of Campari’s Stay Bitter campaign. Inspired by the brand’s iconic advertising heritage, the campaign celebrates those who aren’t afraid to embrace their bitter side and what makes them stand apart – with the world’s #1 best-selling cocktail, the Negroni, at the heart of it all.

Learn more at www.campari.com.

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