Walking on cloud nine

The excitement has elevated once again in the ever mundane life of mine, as I will be in Milan and Paris for Men's Fashion Week AW13/14! I've never imagined this day will come (as you might have known I'm a fashion outsider with a contrasting day job which does not involve fashion/retail at all) and am eternally grateful for the chance to witness runway shows by globally successful designers. If previously I could only ogle at the images and videos on the Internet, now I will finally have the chance to enjoy them in-person and even partake in covering the shows/presentations for Dunia Fashyon, together with the ever-resourceful Arman.

We arrived in Milan on Friday morning at the comfortably spacious junior suite at Four Points by Sheraton which is conveniently located just a few blocks away from Milan Central Station (long gone are the days of backpacking, hopping on and off public transportation to reach my place of accommodation). Since the runway shows will only be commencing the next day, we took the opportunity to explore Milan's luxury retail center for people watching and of course, some serious (window) shopping…

Milanese men are generally impeccably dressed, thanks to Italian's world-famous tailoring tradition and the abundance of appropriate clothing and accessories shops for gentlemen. This all leads to a generation of fashion-conscious male, and the sight of them in sartorially impressing outfits like this one is an everyday norm. Come fashion week the streets will be undoubtedly full with gorgeously clothed gents!

It looks like Via Manzoni (the street where the majority of big fashion powerhouses are located) is ready for springtime, and Burberry Prorsum's metallic jackets are particularly eye-catching on the window display…

You know I switch on my stealth paparazzi mode when it comes to photographing the insides of painfully luxe designer stores - Tom Ford has luxury-oozing beautiful winter footwear which are all half-price!

So does Jil Sander with runway pieces such as the whale and dinosaur knits on sale. And unlike Mr Porter, they are still available at the Milan flagship at fifty percent off! 

You are also aware of the fact that we are constantly on the prowl for good designer bargains. When in Milan one cannot miss the infamously bargainous designer outlets DMagazine (the two out of three outlets in Milan are very near to each other - one is on Via Montenapoleone and the other's on Via Bigli). If you could recall I snagged the discontinued Miu Miu men's espadrilles during the good old student days and this time around I'm pleasantly surprised by the discovery of a Raf Simons AW2009 vest at a VERY affordable price!

Strolling around via Manzoni also provides a sneak peek of how developed Milan as a design-centric city is. Shops selling designer home ware and furniture line the streets and the neon plastic items at Sawaya and Moroni are striking especially under blue-hued light...

We could not help but to be overtly touristy when it comes to being around grandiose classical buildings like Duomo di Milano, so much so that the building requires photography both in the day and at nighttime…

Stay tuned for more as we share our fashion week experience!