Between the Brit of Paul Smith and the Orient of Setchu, clothes connect cultures

It is clear that generalist tendencies are the legacy of a past consigned to history. However, it cannot be denied that there are shared themes for reflection. The main one at the moment, in clear contrast to a rampant sovereignism that is as belligerent and divisive as ever, is clothes as connectors and bearers of harmony: between generations, mostly, but also between cultures.

To quote the title of a seminal Miguel Adrover show, in the end we are all citizens of the world. The Japanese Satoshi Kuwata, aka Setchu, is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most interesting new voices on the Italian and international scene. He is growing in business, maturing in aesthetics, moving away from overwhelming abstractionism towards an inspired concreteness. "I started in my flat, and now I'm moving into my headquarters. In what had been a print shop and then a non-profit art gallery, Paradise, with its particularly progressive programme, Kuwata presents his vision of the season in the first person, illustrating the multifunctionality of garments that from bags can become jackets, and then skirts, and then more.

The idea that a single piece contains many uses is foundational to Setchu, but in this collection, inspired by a trip to Greenland to practice fishing - of which Kuwata is passionate - it is declined in a more raw and dry manner, a reflection of a barren land swept by impetuous winds and of the Inuit who inhabit it dressed in the skins of the animals they eat, champions of a portentous economy as survival. Inspiring.

Again a journey, again ways of living that influence ways of dressing: at Mordecai, Ludovico Bruno evokes a few weeks spent in Mongolia not through shapes, but in spirit, in the idea of caring for one another. He does this with soft silhouettes, pure forms, volumes of empathic calibre, and a presentation in which clothes are constantly exchanged and everything goes with everything. Drawing on the already made is another dominant theme.

Paul Smith creates the new collection by looking at his own archive with the fresh eyes of a newly hired design director. He re-edits, re-reads and mixes without nostalgia but with the verve of someone who practically invented the classic with a twist, rightly proud of a 55-year career spent in total independence - a titanic feat in the age of conglomerates. The fashion show takes place at Smith's Milan headquarters. It is intimate, a little chaotic, real. Says Sir Paul: 'I love this presentation format, now that everything is out of scale, budgets are disproportionate and there is no soul. Better small, but authentic'.