Our London street style coverage offered a small glimpse of what people are wearing to IRL shows and socially-distanced appointments: masks, comfortable boots and sneakers, and practical layers. Milan may look similar, though the city isn’t known for its subdued spirit or pragmatism; scrolling through our archive of Milan Fashion Week photos backwards from 2020 to 2011 was a reminder of the joy and exuberance we typically find there, even before the streets were awash in Gucci glitter.
In so many of these photos, women are smiling, linking arms, or winking at the camera; you can almost taste the pasta and Camapri they’re going to enjoy together at the end of the night. It’s as close to la dolce vita as it gets during fashion month, and editors around the world are missing it right now.
To remember those good times—and get inspired by their colorful, mood-lifting clothes—we’re revisiting 45 of our all-time favorite Milan street style photos. Scroll through them all below, in reverse chronological order, and don’t forget to submit your own look in the #VogueStreetStyleChallenge.