Milano Day 4

Saturday 27th June 2026

The two main industries of Milano are Fashion and Finance and I had the opportunity to take a closer look at Fashion today with a private tour of the Quadrilatero della Moda or Fashion Quadrangle.

Fashion is taken very seriously here with all of the well known houses of haute couture based in Milano having glamorous shop fronts along with many of the French brands.  It is noticeably quieter than the tourist hot spots, the streets are neatly paved and some lined with potted plants. The shop door fronts are closed and permission to enter is granted by one of the two security guards. It’s what is known to the ones in the know as ‘quiet luxury’.

 

My tour was with a fashion stylist who freelances as a guide in her spare time. Being a stylist means that she styles a photo shoot or a magazine feature layout bringing together every aspect of how the models should dress, how their makeup and hair is done and what props will be used. She was the perfect person to guide me through the area and our first stop was Emporio Armani where I tasted chocolate, visited the floral boutique, sniffed Giorgio Armani’s favourite scent and checked out the ladies clothing. Here I learned how to detect real silk from the polyester look-a-likes. There are three methods, scrunching, burning and tasting. Fortunately for the €5000 gown we only tested the scrunch method.

I also discovered that one of the boutiques, Loro Piana has a monopoly on the manufacture of certain top quality fabrics that in turn are supplied to other fashion houses in Milano.  These include the super-fine Merino wool from Australia and the Pecora Nera which is a dark wool sourced from one flock in New Zealand.  Their cashmere and baby cashmere comes from the native goats in Mongolia and a very unusual and exclusive fabric known as Vicuna is produced from the fleece of the vicuna (a relative of the Llama and native to Peru). As an example of the exclusivity of this fabric, a men’s suit tailored from this fabric could cost as much as two small cars at an eye watering €25,000.

 

 

 

 

 

There are 4 weeks each year that dictate the lives of everyone involved in fashion. These are the Milan Fashion Weeks. Two for women (September and February) and two for men (January and June). Open only by invitation or if a member of the public desperately wanted a ticket it would set them back a cool €2000 for a 10 minute show or thereabouts. Fashion for men is equally as important. Take one look at the finance district to see how well tailored all of the men are. No sneakers or running shoes in sight and jackets are kept on at all times even if it’s 36C.

My guide was also keen to share another shooting location for the recent movie Devil Wears Prada 2. The scene where Emily Blunt and Donatella Versace are sharing a meal in a bistro. No famous people dining in today but my guide snapped a picture of me as I posed with a copy of the Runway magazine.

 

 

After bidding her farewell I met with Geoff and we treated ourselves to morning tea in the Giorgio Armani cafe. Very nice. Spent a little more time browsing and shopping and yes I am now the proud owner of a beautiful Italian leather handbag.

 

Following our ritual of a siesta (we just have to escape the heat of the afternoon) we emerged at 8pm and dined down by the canal and finished off with an authentic Italian Affogato at Augustus, a well known gelateria just around the corner from our apartment.