Milan's Idyllic Affection
When I bring my clients on a style discovery tour in Milan, I am often asked, "Is the floral trend still in this fashion season?" What drives their query is the prominence of florals and styles depicting the idyllic and bucolic—an enduring "code" in Milanese fashion taste. This repeated fascination hints at the city's cultural inclination to romanticize life in the country. Unsurprisingly, 51% of Milanese respondents to The European House – Ambrosetti 2023 survey declared their intention to move to the countryside, with over 10% revealing they were already executing plans to do so.
In reality, even if you are new to Milan or just a tourist exploring the city, you are likely to sense their inclination towards a bucolic lifestyle: the Milanese's deep-seated fascination and endearment for the idyllic and bucolic are rather visibly evident. Parco Sempione, for instance, was once a ducal hunting ground for the Visconti. In the 19th Century, it was transformed into a civic park by Emilio Alemagna to resemble an English park, complete with pockets of woodlands, an artificial lake, and a focus on idyllic landscapes. Within the city itself, store designs often evoke that same sense of being in the countryside. Tea Rose, sheltered under a row of mulberry trees, decorates its entrance and windows with large terracotta pots of trees and shrubs. In a formerly industrial quarter southwest of Milan, Antonio Marras lovingly curated his store's courtyard garden, featuring vines and plants that change colors and textures with the turn of each season.
Despite its label as an industrial city, the urban landscape of Milan is interwoven with rustic quarters (often working-class settlements during the 19th century), giving a hint to the residents' insatiable longing for the country life. This longing is also evident in the residences of the wealthy. The silent quarter, which is the living quarter of Milanese industrialists dating back to the 19th century, is the area where families such as Invernezzi or Necchi built their residential homes, which resemble countryside estates. Now, even in dense urban residential areas, one doesn't have to look far for a touch of country living. A quick peek into the courtyards within the tall apartment building often reveals a garden, intentionally unkempt, that carries one away into the countryside.
The Milanese are not unique in this love for an idealized, picturesque, and simple rural life. Such a philosophy has been presented in poetry and art as far back as the 3rd century B.C. The Greek poet Theocritus wrote poems about shepherds, their songs, and their loves in a pastoral setting. This romanticized view of country life has been a recurring theme in art ever since, most prominently in Italy, where the idyllic landscapes of Renaissance art were particularly notable. The Milanese, inevitably, are steeped in a long-standing European tradition of the idyllic bucolic life.
This romanticization continued through the Industrial Revolution. Amid the rapid transformation of physical lands across Europe, landscape painting depicting an idealized, idyllic countryside gained popularity as cities became more densely populated and polluted. Much like its European counterparts, Milan was a heavily industrialized city, and the residents' longing for the idyllic and bucolic is, therefore, understandable.
Besides the pragmatic concerns of escaping the stress and pollution of the city, the Milanese display of fashion and interior tastes that exude the idyllic and bucolic lifestyle carries another story—one of social identity. If you have gained their confidence, you might be invited to their lake homes or ski chalets, where you will be greeted by them, dressed in florals or English tweed. For the less gracious social-climbing ones, you may occasionally have to lend your ears to their lamentations over the toiling weekends spent keeping their country homes in order. For those without a lake home or ski chalet, they will certainly let you know about their 'family estates' elsewhere, usually a rustic farmhouse with enough land for a handful of olive trees.
Whatever the intention—be it authentic love or social positioning—one cannot deny that Milan's obsession with the idyllic and bucolic has created a textured and charming urban landscape. In fashion, it also aligns perfectly with the Renaissance philosophy of sprezzatura, specifically where formal styles in Milan are often softened to depict idyllic country living, lending a nonchalant aura to one's ensemble.