When I boarded a plane last weekend to attend the spring/summer 2026 edition of Milan Fashion Week Men’s, which concluded yesterday, I knew that this would be a different kind of show season. First, there were notable absentees: many of the usual headliners, from Gucci and Fendi to JW Anderson, chose to sit out this year’s event as they attempted to rebrand and rethink their strategy under new executive teams.

Given the wave of hirings and firings that has been sweeping through luxury houses, it didn’t come as a surprise. But this was the first season in which the effect of the industry’s HR crisis was so visible. There was less excitement or novelty on the runways than in recent years and fewer international attendees too. The disruptive cycle doesn’t seem to have reached its end either: yesterday, Prada announced the departure of its CEO, Gianfranco D’Attis, just a few days after Francesco Risso stepped down from his position as creative director of Milanese label Marni and Ben Gorham left beauty label Byredo, which he founded in his native Stockholm in 2006. The biggest news, though, was François-Henri Pinault handing the reins of Kering, the luxury group founded by his father, to former Renault CEO Luca de Meo.

However, there are brands proving that they have lasting power, delivering artisanal quality and desirable collections season after season. At Brioni, Norbert Stumpfl has continued to refine his tailoring with feather-light fabrics; Canali has crafted leather outerwear inspired by vintage cars; meanwhile, Zegna’s Alessandro Sartori continues to raise the bar with new fabric innovations, from washed silks to hand-woven suede cardigans that take as long as a year to craft. In most cases, the winning businesses are still run by their founding families, with a clear vision about who they are and a strategy of pursuing slower growth.

Like other industries, fashion is also having to grapple with the current geopolitical situation. News of the US bombing of Iran broke hours before the Prada show in Milan, where models walked to an ominous soundtrack, though they were wearing optimistic primary colours. “What can we do but try to put a smile on people’s faces?” said Raf Simons, the brand’s co-creative director, while a pensive Miuccia Prada nodded in the background. “We have been trying to change the tone to something more gentle, looking to nature,” she said. “It’s the opposite of aggression, power and nastiness.” In such moments, big thinkers such as Prada are the ones who will hold on to their relevance. As Milan passes the baton to Paris Fashion Week Men’s, which starts today and runs until 29 June, all eyes are on the larger-scale luxury houses to see who will rise to today’s challenges.

Natalie Theodosi is Monocle’s fashion director. Look out for reports and interviews from Paris this week on monocle.com and Monocle Radio. And subscribe to never miss a beat.

Europe’s arms sector is booming as countries across the continent bolster their defence budgets in a bid to reduce their reliance on the US – but there’s a crucial shortfall. Europe’s supply of TNT, the explosive that goes into every missile and grenade, largely comes from a single factory in Poland, with the rest imported from Southeast Asia. “Russia has the capacity to make five million more artillery shells per year [than Europe],” says entrepreneur Joakim Sjöblom, who is working to open a new explosives factory in his native Sweden.

Swebal, his start-up, recently secured a €3m investment to begin construction by the end of the year, with backing coming from private equity firm EQT and a former Swedish army chief. “I’m not doing this to make any short-term capital gain,” says Sjöblom. “I want to ensure that we prevent a future conflict and strengthen the resilience of Sweden, the Nordics and Europe. That’s what drives me.”

Looking to brush up your defence know-how? In Monocle’s June issue, we meet 10 European firms taking aim at modern warfare. For more inspiring tales from smart start-ups, head over to Monocle Radio’s ‘The Entrepreneurs’.

Looking for some hotel inspiration? Our hospitality leadership round table features four general managers of luxury hotels sharing their strategies for increasing bookings and enhancing guest experiences.

If you’re more interested in a guest experience of your own, explore our favourite boltholes on the French Riviera that offer timeless escapes in a fast-moving world.

If you were too busy touring or planning a move to one of Monocle’s most liveable cities over the weekend, you might have missed out on the latest developments in New York’s hotly contested mayoral primary. David Kaufman has the lowdown on the leading candidates’ views of what constitutes quality of life. Voters decide today.

Singer-songwriter Giorgio Poi hails from northern Italy but he found his groove in London and Berlin, where he lived in his twenties. After releasing his debut Italian-language record in 2017, he befriended French band Phoenix and went on tour with them. Now, Poi is back with his fourth album, Schegge, a fitting soundtrack to hot summer days spent floating across a swimming pool. Monocle caught up with him during the London leg of his tour.

Tell me about the title of your album, ‘Schegge’ [‘Shards’].
When there’s an explosion, there are shards everywhere. The idea is that, with the Big Bang, everything started to explode – and it is still exploding. We’re in the middle of it. We live our lives – we are born, we have kids, we have friendships and relationships. There are people we love. Many things happen in life but I like the fact that we are all exploding together. It makes me feel that I’m part of something.
 
Do you have a favourite song on the record?
I like them all the same amount once I’ve reached a point where I’m satisfied with them. Your relationship with songs that you’ve written can be difficult – you love them while you’re in the process of working on them but you hate them too. There’s one called “Un Aggettivo, Un Verbo, Una Parola”, which I’m into these days. But tomorrow it will be a different one.
 
Where will we find you this summer?
My uncle has a small flat in Monte Argentario, Tuscany, so I’ve been going there for a few years. I like it but the Italian seaside does get busy in the summer.
‘Schegge’ is out now.
 
For more musical inspiration, from an interview with the man behind Eurovision to an on-the-ground look at Lithuania’s Song Celebration, visit monocle.com.