Six street style trends from Florence and Milan

The SS23 menswear season officially started last week with the Pitti Uomo men's fashion fair and Milan Fashion Week. Men in Florence and Milan were showcasing the latest styles, dressing up in slick formal looks despite temperatures soaring over 35 degrees Celsius. But in addition to the return of the suit, casual and colorful looks also shaped the Italian streets. In this article, FashionUnited presents six street style trends as seen in Italy.

Flower Boy

Already back in March, at the presentations of the women's collections in Milan and Paris, some looks in the style of the flower power movement were seen on the street, which went hand in hand with the hippie style of the 70s.

Floral prints also played an important role on the streets at the Italian menswear shows, but without direct reference to a subculture. Looks spanned from bright pink shirts with chamomile blossoms, to abstract graffiti flowers, to motifs from non-fiction books.

The floral pieces such as shirts, jackets and suits are clearly the focus of the looks and are therefore combined with restrained accessories and other pieces.

Aloha Italy - the shirts of the surfers

Again, florals resonate like Hawaiian hula dancers and find their place on shirts that showcase the US state and surfing theme.

Casual, unbuttoned shirts with colorful patterns ensure a real holiday mood while acting as a real statement piece for a relaxed but still dressed look. Depending on the style, you can combine it with dark flared trousers - for the 70s vibe - as well as wide jeans and of course Bermuda shorts - for the complete surfer style. Sporty sunglasses and accessories such as necklaces and bracelets round off the summery look.

Sea ​​dogs and sailors

Surfing on this summery wave are the nautical looks, which rely on blue-white and red-white striped t-shirts in the style of the sailors of the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who also hoist their flags with sea motifs such as anchors, mermaids and ships.

A suitable accessory for this is of course the fishing hat, which has become particularly popular in streetwear in recent years. But knotted scarves are also a good way to blow extra wind into the outfit's sails.

Must-have accessory: the scarf

The knotted scarf is not only a must-have accessory from Italy for sailors of the seven seas. Whether relaxed in the front in the Boy Scout style; whether tight at the back, at the side or at the front, this piece was donned by young and old visitors in Florence and Milan.

Apart from the fact that it can be used discreetly or as a statement piece with different patterns and colors and can be combined with tops from sweater vests to shirts, the trendy scarf also offers some important sun protection on the neck.

The military jacket

Uniforms also seem to have a high priority this season, with military jackets being spotted alongside sailor looks and Boy Scout scarves. The wearers particularly opted for oversized jackets and solid shirts with rolled-up sleeves. In terms of color, the focus is on green, beige and brown tones - colors which also come together in the camouflage pattern.

Aviator sunglasses and headgear such as peaked caps and hats round out this trend, which seems a little off-putting while a real war is raging in Ukraine.

DIY look and punk aesthetic

Those who rely on DIY elements show a much more individual style than the wearers of the stiff uniforms. With rivets, safety pins and needle and thread, pieces are upcycled and partially reassembled. The mainly silver decorations create an exciting contrast with the otherwise rather reserved basics such as trousers and undershirts in black and white.

The aesthetic is common on the streets with punks and brought to the catwalks in particular by English fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood or the London collective Fashion East. But the trend is also being shown on the catwalk in the current season. London-based label Natasha Zinko, the Ukrainian designer of the same name, unveiled looks that heavily used safety pins and studs during Paris Men's Fashion Week on Wednesday.

Now the men in Italy seem to be getting closer to this style. For wearers who still need to get used to an all-over rivet look, the classic rivet belt or rivet-studded shoulders are a good start. Matching silver jewelry, dark sunglasses and a wild hairstyle complement the style.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.DE before being translated and edited to English