Machine Gun Kelly knows his way around the runway.
Celebrity cameos bring star power to fashion shows. Designers know this: throughout fashion history, high-profile stars like Beyoncé, Dua Lipa, Jared Leto and Jennifer Lopez have been tapped to add an extra air of excitement to the catwalk.
With each celebrity casting, the mood of the collection is set by the personality of the star featured. And despite faded novelty, the wonder of seeing a public figure on the runway remains. Since Men’s Fashion Week in Milan kicked off on January 14, celebrity sightings have been the theme of the season.
On January 16, audiences were pleasantly surprised to see OG Hollywood actors Kyle MacLachlan and Jeff Goldblum respectively bookend the Prada Fall/Winter 2022 show. Clad in a black overcoat with fur trim and armbands, Goldblum made his way down the runway with ease — looking perfectly at home.
Alongside MacLachlan and Goldblum, Prada enlisted eight other Hollywood actors, including Asa Butterfield (Sex Education), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen’s Gambit) and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight).
The show sparked comparisons to Prada’s Fall 2012 star-studded catwalk, which included celebs like Willem Dafoe and Gary Oldman, but the theme this time around was distinct. Co-creative directors Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada were focused on the concept of work and what it means to redefine it.
“Work is a state of reality — a vital component of life. Into the idealized, fantasized aesthetic vernacular of the fashion show, a reality interrupts,” the brand said in a press release, adding that theatre and cinema mirror reality.
Fondazione Prada’s Deposito venue was transformed to resemble a stage, with models emerging from an illuminated blue-light tunnel.
“Actors are interpreters of reality, employed to echo truth through their portrayals,” the brand’s statement continued. “Real men, recognized figures, they bring a new facet of reality.”
The collection offered a formal spin on wardrobe classics. Suits were accentuated with waist-cinching belts, broad shoulder padding, fur detailing and contrasting gloves.
To debut its Fall/Winter 2022 menswear collection, Dolce & Gabbana also opted to enlist celebrity star power. On January 15, at the Italian fashion house’s runway event, Machine Gun Kelly stole the show. The singer performed and graced the lit-up, graffiti-adorned catwalk — opening and closing.
MGK and fiancé Megan Fox are a fan-favourite celeb couple among Gen Z, and since his viral 2021 VMAs look was by Dolce & Gabbana, MGK’s presence as the show’s headliner was fitting.
The star donned three suits throughout the event: a pearled getup with spikes; a bedazzled all-black ensemble; and a leather-print outfit with shoes to match. Known for his gender-blurring style and punk-rock aesthetic, MGK fit in well with the colourful production.
Pieces in the collection featured graffiti prints, enlarged logos, shimmery metallics and contrasting colour-pattern combinations, with nods to digital fashion throughout. The show felt like an ode to audacious style and MGK’s more-is-more aesthetic.
Fashion houses rounded up the men of Hollywood for a very star-studded Men’s Fashion Week in Milan. With both collections defying gender norms and promoting avant-garde style — all while being endorsed by A-list celebs — the future of menswear is looking exciting.
