If you haven’t already noticed, love is the world’s big message right now. Love, equality and justice, that is. And at the Ports 1961 SS18 Menswear show in Milan yesterday, the idea was rife.

When it wasn’t the body of the jumpers that read, ‘Love’, ‘I love you’, or ‘Only love matters’ emblazoned on them, it was the sleeves of the shirts declaring ‘#Love.’ Add to this a combination of sharp tailored trousers with a muted pair of black shoes and you get the idea. 

For the past few seasons, creative director Milan Vukmirovic has been exploring the urgency of love and the importance of unity and solidarity. This collection, inspired by Jean Michel Basquiat’s work and the early 80s hip-hop scene in New York, aligns as a message of solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement. The most powerful look of the show was the first model to walk, sporting a black sweatshirt with the synonymous Black Lives Matter symbol, and trousers embroidered with ‘#Resist.’