A Very Americana Flavor of Prep Is Trending at Milan Fashion Week

From April until September, Americans dreamed of an Italian girl summer. We scoured The RealReal for vintage Pucci prints and tied silk scarves in our hair, with visions of la dolce vita—Aperol Spritzes, Vespa rides, Amal Clooney's general vibe—dancing in our heads. But as Milan Fashion Week's designers spent the summer preparing their Spring 2026 runways, they collectively tapped into a very different regional energy.

Polo shirts and pleated tennis skirts at Emporio Armani. Button-ups under academic cardigans and linen Bermuda shorts at BOSS. Oversize shackets in Masters Tournament green or Cape Cod salmon pink, set with a tiny crest logo over the heart, at Prada.

Judging by the styling on the Milan runways this week, "Italian girl summer" isn't the aspiration for Italians—it's a Nantucket sail or an afternoon at a Connecticut country club. In other words, it's Americana prep.

No one on the fashion calendar has cited the scions of American sportswear as their inspiration for these spring collections (at least that I've seen so far). Nor have they dropped references to a college near Boston in their look books. Still, the flavors of preppy American style have turned up time and time again throughout the first few days of Milan Fashion Week.

Fendi's kaleidoscopic Spring 2026 collection features sharp-collared shirts tucked into pleated minis, as well as very Jackie Kennedy collarless jackets topping polka dot skirts. Onitsuka Tiger—of celebrity-favorite sneaker fame—swaps sportier jackets for tweedy blazers and flashes of sailor stripes.

Of all the preppy motifs pioneered back stateside by the likes of Ralph Lauren and J.Crew, the button-up shirt is getting the most runway attention in Milan. Emporio Armani models wore them layered—one tied as a shawl, the other half-open beneath pendant necklaces—with beachy short-shorts. At BOSS, they tucked them into linen shorts and under linen trenches, while at Missoni they were ultra-cropped, revealed only when a heather gray crewneck sweatshirt was tied at the midriff. Druv Kapoor refashioned one button-up as a mini dress with a bubble hem—a fresh re-read on the Preppy Handbook staple.

This isn't to say that Milan's signature sprezzatura has gone MIA. Designers are simply reinterpreting the pieces Americans know and love, injecting them with an ease and a dash of sex appeal that's distinctly Italian. Prada's take on the polo jacket comes to mind, cut in exaggerated proportions and paired to teeny-tiny microshorts. So do MM6 Maison Margiela's riffs on conservative pencil skirts and button-front sweaters, made to feel futuristic with wraparound sunglasses resembling a stainless steel arc and strips of striped fabric sewn over the skirt in a "Y" pattern.

The "Americana, Italian style" theme kept going as the days rolled on. Tod's paired its signature leather driving shoes to oversize striped button-ups that would make a vacationing Kennedy circa the 1960s proud. The Attico, normally the home of rave-ready partywear, presented several looks built around tennis court button-ups and university library stripes. I didn't make it into Dario Vitale's super-exclusive Versace debut, but I saw videos of what resembled a long-sleeve polo over a sequin skirt making the rounds online. And, of course, Julia Roberts and Amanda Seyfried's shared outfit at the Venice Film Festival gave us all a look at what was to come, twice: a very American sportswear blazer and jeans, with a buttery yellow button-up.

This isn't happening only in Milan: Michael Rider, making his debut at Celine over the summer, showed his Ralph Lauren training with twists on rugby shirts and striped ties. The pillars of prep—polish made easy and a sense of no-nonsense dressing—are a language everyone seems to want to speak right now.

So, next summer, don't worry about booking a trip to Italy if shopping's on the agenda. The barn jackets, penny loafers, and striped button-up shirts you might need are right at home.