Milan Fashion Week has never been just about the runways: the city’s galleries, museums and design institutions time some of their biggest shows to coincide with the collections: Palazzo Reale opening its biggest exhibition of the year, Fondazione Prada running two major shows at once and Villa Necchi always surprising no matter the times you visit. So if you’re in the city, here’s where to go for art, architecture and genuine design culture right now, from the historic halls of Palazzo Reale to the industrial warehouses of Tortona.
1
Palazzo Reale
Timed to open on 24 September, right in the middle of Milan Fashion Week Donna, Palazzo Reale‘s Dalí e la Moda is the exhibition of the season: the first major international show dedicated to Salvador Dalí’s relationship with fashion, running through 31 January 2027. Over 200 works among paintings, drawings, photographs, garments, jewellery and film trace how the surrealist master shaped, and was shaped by, the language of clothing, with pieces on loan from the Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí and major international collections. Given its location right next to the Duomo, it’s the easiest cultural detour to slot between shows.
2
Mudec Bottega Design Enrico Bartolini
Designed by British architect David Chipperfield on the site of the former Ansaldo industrial complex, Mudec centres on a luminous glass Agorà that links its exhibition galleries. Inside, Bottega Design offers curated contemporary furniture and art objects, while the museum’s ever-changing programme makes it one of Tortona’s genuine cultural anchors.
3
Villa Necchi Campiglio
Tucked away in the heart of Milan, Villa Necchi Campiglio is a stunning 1930s architectural gem that offers a glimpse into the elegance and sophistication of Milanese high society. Designed by Piero Portaluppi, the villa seamlessly blends rationalist architecture with luxurious Art Deco interiors, creating a timeless aesthetic. Once the residence of the prominent Necchi Campiglio family, the villa is now part of the FAI (Italian Heritage Trust) and open to the public. Visitors can explore its beautifully preserved interiors, including the grand salon, the private quarters, and the kitchen, as well as admire the family’s collection of art and design pieces.
4
Prada Galleria
Newly reopened this September in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the very site where the Fratelli Prada shop first opened in 1913, Prada Galleria spans eight floors of retail, hospitality, archive and art. Above Prada Uomo sits the legendary pasticceria Marchesi 1824; below and around it, a handful of exhibition and dining spaces still largely under wraps.
5
Fondazione Prada
Rem Koolhaas’s sprawling reimagining of a former distillery remains one of Milan’s essential contemporary art institutions. Right now, Fondazione Prada houses Mona Hatoum’s site-specific Over, under and in between (through 9 November), while the Osservatorio, suspended above the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, shows Hito Steyerl’s The Island (through 30 October). Stop at the Formica-clad Bar Luce on your way out.
6
10 Corso Como
Since Carla Sozzani opened it in a former garage in the early 1990s, 10 Corso Como has become something that no one quite planned and nobody has successfully replicated: a concept store that is also a cultural institution, a restaurant, a gallery, a bookshop and, should the mood strike, somewhere to spend the night. The plant-filled courtyard anchors the whole enterprise in a way that feels genuinely unhurried; the edit, high-end fashion, design objects, niche fragrances, contemporary art, is as sharp as it has always been. Currently on view: Viktor&Rolf. Spectrum (through 22 November), alongside a rotating East Exhibition running for the week itself in collaboration with Xiaohongshu.
7
Triennale Milano
The city’s grand design institution inside its Parco Sempione palazzo is currently showing Andrea Branzi by Toyo Ito. Continuous Present (through 4 October), a monographic tribute to one of Italian design’s central figures, seen through the eyes of Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito. A site-specific installation dedicated to Branzi’s radical 1969 No-Stop City project anchors the show.
8
Pinacoteca di Brera
Milan’s great classical art museum, worth visiting on its own merits, but during Fashion Week, keep an eye out for contemporary interventions staged inside its historic courtyards and galleries, where installations by names like Sara Ricciardi have recently reimagined the space entirely.
9
GAM: Galleria d’Arte Moderna
As part of the Furla Series, GAM is currently showing Shilpa Gupta’s One Palm Closer to the Sky, opened just ahead of Fashion Week, worth folding into an itinerary for those who want contemporary art beyond the fashion houses’ own walls.
10
Cinema Mexico
For something quieter, Cineteca Milano Arlecchino hosts Cinemoda during Fashion Week — a programme of films exploring the relationship between cinema and fashion, promoted with Vogue Italia. Cinema Mexico, the neighbourhood’s own historic arthouse cinema, remains a quiet, analogue counterpoint to the week’s noise the rest of the year round.
11
Giorgio Armani Privé 2005–2025, Vent’anni di Alta Moda at Armani/Silos
Curated by Giorgio Armani himself, this exhibition traces two decades of his Haute Couture through pure form and precious fabric. First shown in Paris in 2005, Privé became couture’s rarefied counterpart to his ready-to-wear. Now in Milan, the garments are immersed in a full sensory experience: Bois d’Encens fragrance, an original soundtrack, and light as a recurring metaphor across pearlescent, jewel-embroidered surfaces.
