Street style highlights from Milan Fashion Week

Shows may take place behind closed doors, but some of the best looks can be spotted al fresco

Milan Fashion Week's styles extend beyond the runway, with many visitors also wearing their finest attire at the event. All photos: Sarah Maisey / The National

One visitor in a waistcoat made out of jeans over a bright red coat. Extra points for the buckled shoes

Patterned denim and oversized suiting for this couple

A tangerine, velvet suit and face veil, spotted outside the Gucci show

In a vintage fur coat and a beanie hat, this man looks very stylish, while his friend matches a patterned scarf with green trousers

One visitor's striped dress and bucket hat

Bleached denim boots and a leather shirt dress

Inside the Gucci show, a mix of styles with one visitor wearing a printed, maxi dress and another in a pink satin jumpsuit

Looking sharp in a tailored suit and pointed pumps outside the Gucci show

The Gucci show prompted some wild outfits, including this feathered trousers and Mickey Mouse handbag

A striped gold jacket and quilted patent leather at Gucci

A velvet suit and cravat and monochrome swirled Gucci dress, spotted on the street

In matching florals heading into the Gucci show

Low-key style with a beanie and bold graphic bag, outside the Gucci show

Looking chic in a trench coat and jeans

Teaming a navel jacket with jeans in Milan

Walking the dogs in rust and yellow

Two women in home-made outfits using recycled leather

Fashion week is about seeing and being seen.

In Milan, despite the cold weather, crowds have been turning out to every event, providing a colourful backdrop to proceedings. While some are clearly there for a "look-at-me" moment, others are there for the sheer love of fashion.

Orbiting the shows unfolding on runways around the city, meanwhile, are scores of fashionable influencers, fashion students and enthusiasts who throng the streets dressed to the nines in the hopes of being, well, seen.

A Gucci show on day three's agenda was always going to raise the fashion stakes, and the queuing crowds did not disappoint.

Whether milling outside waiting for stars such as US rapper A$AP Rocky, Italian band Maneskin and Chinese actor Xiao Zhan to arrive, or lucky enough to bag an invite to the show, everyone seemed to make extra effort to look the part.

Several members of the fashion pack had made their own looks, even down to the boots (fashioned out of thrift store leather coats), and home bathtub-bleached denim trousers.

Inside, the well-heeled crowd naturally turned out in Gucci, from sequined floral dresses and vast crystal-strewn capes to colourful looks in pops of shocking pink, purple and orange.

Scroll through the gallery above for some of the best street looks spotted on day three of Milan Fashion Week

On day one, meanwhile, one lady was wearing a white lace cape that had the feel and drama of a wedding dress, while another was in a vintage kimono with a net skirt and feathered headdress.

And it hasn't only been women dialling up the dress code. There have been plenty of dapper gentlemen wandering around in looks from suits to kilts. We spotted Filipino fashion blogger Bryanboy outside of the Max Mara show wearing a tan coat over a burnt orange jumper and tailored trousers.

Many attending shows have also been unafraid of dressing down for their fashion week appearances, proof that bomber jackets, cardigans, jeans and beanie hats, too, can have a place at fashion week.

The best street style looks spotted on day one of Milan Fashion Week