Milan Fashion Week has always been renowned for its craftsmanship and creativity, but this season, the venue design has reached new heights. The setting not only showcases the garments but also serves as a vibrant stage for brand storytelling. At the 2025 Spring/Summer menswear show, the giants Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Saint Laurent reimagined the location, creating a visual symphony where architecture intertwines with fashion, filled with thoughtful details in both the site selection and the on-site design.
Three philosophies of space, three attitudes towards fashion. Let’s decode the designs of these venues together and unveil the stories and creativity behind each one!
Louis Vuitton
The Giant Snake Ladder Chessboard on the Railway
This season, Louis Vuitton has been infused with a fresh spirit by its menswear creative director, Pharrell Williams. The show took place at the Pompidou Centre, one of Paris’s iconic art landmarks, utilizing the blank space in front to create the runway. The conceptual design was crafted by Bijoy Jain, the founder of a studio in Mumbai, marking his first collaboration with LV.
The historic tall domes, railway window panes, and vintage clocks come together to create an atmosphere of a secret journey, representing the brand’s heritage of crafting luggage for travelers.
The runway transformed into a massive Chutes and Ladders Board, inspired by a folk game from India — Snakes and Ladders, reimagining the square as a playground brimming with endless possibilities. The checkerboard area spans nearly 2,700 square meters, with the play of snakes and ladders represented in earthy yellows and light browns, reminiscent of a timeline while alluding to the ups and downs of life and the choices we make, reinforcing this season’s theme Gaming as exploration. Pharrell Williams mentioned that the inspiration derives from the profound imagery of snake ladder games in South Asian culture, evolving the Damier pattern; while Bijoy Jain views the ancient Indian checkerboard as Cosmic Totem, emphasizing the philosophical depth of Rise, Cycle, Restart.
The collection seamlessly blends various elements and regional colors, featuring relaxed earth-toned ensembles, printed shirts, and lightweight trench coats. Connecting the snake ladder theme are geometric prints and tiered line cuts that amplify the visual rhythm and storytelling of the garments. The materials are showcased in lightweight wool, silk-cotton blends, or unique jacquard fabrics that provide both coolness and structure. The color palette is grounded in earthy tones like burnt umber, ochre, and sandy hues, complemented by accents of lake blue and chestnut red, subtly echoing the organic interplay of checkerboard floors and ascending trapezoidal shapes. Accessories include woven leather wallets, logo sun hats, and oversized travel bags, combining functionality with regional flair, while embroidered details offer delightful surprises throughout the collection.
The design of a giant chessboard has become one of the narrative vessels, paired with garments that reflect the game’s vocabulary through cuts and prints. Meanwhile, colors and accessories serve as elements that build the urban journey of characters, creating a dramatic bridge between fashion and architecture.
Prada
A Giant Floral Carpet in a Minimalist Space
This season, Prada’s menswear SS26 took a refreshing turn at the Milan runway, stepping away from complexity to embrace a serene and clean atmosphere of Miniature Garden. Helmed by creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, the collection unfolds a A Shift in Vibe journey of simplicity, allowing the garments and the venue to resonate with each other, expressing a cohesive narrative.
The SS26 show took place at the Fondazione Prada Deposito exhibition hall, which is a remarkable transformation designed by Rem Koolhaas’s AMO, showcasing the space’s industrial character. Beneath the raw concrete and orange window frames, an irregular floral carpet adds a whimsical touch to this industrial setting, providing the models and their outfits with a soft, poetic backdrop reminiscent of a tender wilderness, creating a truly evocative canvas.
(Image sourced from PRADA)
As sunlight streams through the skylight, accompanied by the soothing sounds of birds and electronic ambient music, the pieces like shorts, relaxed sets, and straw hats take on the essence of a mini garden. The tailored short styles are this season’s standout symbols, featuring high-waisted athletic shorts and paper bag waist pocket shorts, all perfectly paired with lightweight knit tops or utility shirts. Meanwhile, military shirt dresses and lightweight trench coats blend structure with soft comfort, reflecting the design philosophy of Escape the everyday, return to your true freedom..
In terms of color, Prada infuses a multitude of soft pink tones and vibrant color blocks that evoke a summery vibe, allowing each piece to stand out elegantly within its simplicity. Neutral shades like gray, khaki, and olive green serve as the foundation of military aesthetics, complemented by utilitarian bags, functional pockets, and raffia sun hats, creating an image of Traveler and urban deconstructor. Accessories such as nylon bags and functional backpacks not only cater to travel needs but also resonate with the casual essence of the collection.
(Image sourced from PRADA)
Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada have redefined menswear language through a minimalist aesthetic and functional storytelling, creating a mental refuge through textures, light, and sound, ultimately weaving together A non-aggressive, carefree style of dressing. This show doesn’t compete for tension; instead, it seeks a sense of calm and humanity after the deconstruction of the world, resembling a poetic space found within the empty spaces, attempting to return to purity.
Saint Laurent (YSL)
Cold Hard Elegance X Floating Ceramic Pool
The 2026 Summer Menswear Collection, crafted by YSL’s creative director Anthony Vaccarello, debuted in the circular hall of the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, beautifully complementing the cylindrical structure designed by Tadao Ando and the immersive installation by contemporary French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, Clinamen.
(IG: eunwo.o_c, keshi)
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot skillfully employs physical principles and acoustic effects to allow pristine white porcelain to move freely in water, creating a unique blend of visual and auditory experiences. What may appear as random collisions are, in fact, the result of precise calculations; the control of water flow speed crafts a continuously evolving natural symphony from the sounds of the porcelain bowls clashing together. Set within the circular hall designed by Tadao Ando, these elements enhance one another, creating an immersive dialogue that transcends time and space.
This artwork transforms the circular exhibition hall into a poetic waterfront theater, where dozens of white porcelain bowls float gently on the water, colliding to produce crisp, heavenly melodies. The natural light flowing into the domed venue creates a rare No-glare mode, showcasing the softness and clarity of daytime—porcelain bowls gently bobbing and producing subtle sounds. The mirror-like reflections blur the lines between the background and the garments, perfectly complementing the Saint Laurent 2026 Summer Menswear Collection. This setup highlights the brand’s signature cool elegance, resembling an immersive art experience that intertwines visual, auditory, and spatial elements, merging strength with sensitivity in a rhythmic space.
Beneath this calm and sophisticated aesthetic, the garments retain the brand’s elegant silhouette: sharply tailored leather jackets and signature broad shoulder designs. While the clothing’s structure evokes the powerful shoulder shapes of the 80s, the lightweight, sheer trench coats and gradient-dyed silk tops create a striking contrast between strength and softness. The color palette expands beyond classic blacks and grays to include soft greens, mustard yellows, ochre reds, duck egg blues, and smoky browns, infusing the menswear with a summery vibe and delicate layers.
These color palettes offer a gentle touch of summer and a hint of sophistication, bringing warmth to menswear without feeling out of place. Under the bright summer light, YSL menswear unfolds a serene urban poetry.
The venue is the message; design is the narrative.
The choice of location for the three major brands is not just about aesthetics; it’s also The story continues, grounding a show in both cultural contexts and urban memories.
The 2025 Milan Fashion Week once again proved that the venue is not just a backdrop for showcasing designs; it’s a narrative space that extends a brand’s philosophy. From LV’s traveler sentiment and Prada’s soft deconstruction to YSL’s industrial elegance, elements like architecture, sound, materials, and lighting echoed one another harmoniously. These spaces are imbued with the cultural DNA of the brands, inviting everyone to step into their stories and witness a visual theater where designers and venues weave together a blend of thought and aesthetics. This makes Milan not just a fashion stage, but also a laboratory for aesthetic experimentation.
Source @louisvuitton @prada @ysl @eunwo.o_c @keshi @boursedecommerce @emmalavigne_ @celesteboursiermougenot
