You’re sat in a cobbled piazza, watching a middle-aged woman in a resplendent fur coat leisurely sipping a cappuccino at a terrace café across the way. Decked out in cashmere, gloves and an inconspicuous brushed leather luxury handbag, she might be the most elegant woman you’ve ever seen. You ask yourself, “Who is she? Where did she come from?” And, most importantly, “How do I become her?” She’s a sciura, and she’s from Milan. As for becoming her, you needn’t look any further than the AW23 shows.
So, what is a sciura, you ask? The epitome of Italian elegance. Her look is classic and timeless, if a little dated and bourgeois. She’s the kind of woman who would be a prime candidate for The Real Housewives of Milan, but she would never deign to do anything so tasteless as appearing on a reality TV show. She’s everything Jennifer Coolidge in The White Lotus wishes she could be, and, this season, she was everywhere at Milan Fashion Week, emerging as the season’s unexpected muse.
Granted, it’s not that out of the ordinary to see the influence of the sciura on the runway – especially in Milan – what’s interesting this season is the designers who presented the lashings of luxe faux fur, rich cashmere and muted day dresses for lunching ladies. The most direct allusions to the Milanese upper classes came from Trussardi. Founded in 1911 as a leather glove manufacturer, the brand is as sciura as they come. But when GmbH’s Serhat Isik and Benjamin A. Huseby joined the label last year, such traditional, bourgeois influences weren’t what was first expected of them. For AW23, though, the duo took direct inspiration from the sciuri that stroll the streets around the brand’s recently refurbished flagship, slap bang in the heart of Milan’s chi-chi shopping district; sending out classic cut duchess silk blouses, sleek wool coats, cashmere turtlenecks and refined shift dresses. Quilted leather pieces, skirts with diagonal zippers, flirtatious minidresses and sci-fi sunglasses modernised the offering, twisting convention to blend the old with the new.
Similarly, at Ferragamo, Maximilian Davis presented mid-century smart buttoned sweaters, resplendent draping and gorgeous coats crafted from faux fur or suede. The collection felt mature and timeless, but jeans, tank tops and a PVC minidress added a refreshing touch of the contemporary. Despite hailing from Berlin and London respectively, the new creative directors behind Trussardi and Ferragamo put the edginess of their home cities to the side in favour of something more restrained. Yet both reimagined this dated Italian stereotype, infusing it with a youthful energy that made it seem aspirational rather than old-fashioned.
The sciura cropped up at other Milan shows too. At Prada there were full skirts, elegant coats and sensible top-handle handbags crafted for the everyday city woman – this Milanese muse may be elegant but, above all, she is practical. Meanwhile, over at Giorgio Armani, the archetypal look was rendered in long silk dresses, trouser suits and wrap dresses in a palette of understated camel, pink and black hues. Models wore sensible pumps or patent brogues along with chic, understated leather bags that offered a refined finishing touch.
So, what’s the appeal of the sciura right now? Well, for most of us, she’s a fantasy. Think of her as the escapist antidote to recessioncore. Because who wouldn’t want to ensconce themselves in lush fabrics to spend the day gossiping over a Barolo-fuelled, three-hour lunch? Beyond that, though, this fallback on such a perennial fashion archetype – one who is a devoted high fashion client at that — seems to align with the rise of gimmick-free fashion while still offering that coveted main character moment. The sciura, after all, doesn’t flaunt her wealth with logos, monograms or viral garments, but rather suggests it through the calibre of the cashmere she wears; so fine you don’t even need to touch it to guess the price tag. Hopefully, her figurative return to the runway will also lead to more real representation of older women on billboards and in magazines and shows. After all, we could all learn a thing or two from the sciura; not least that life certainly doesn’t end at forty.
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Images via Spotlight