I skated through the Milan men’s shows, which began Friday in earnest with Ralph Lauren and ended this evening with Giorgio Armani. This is the second season in a row that Ralph has shown here; Zegna-owned Thom Browne was a new edition. Generally, though, like every fashion week other than Paris, the calendar is shockingly sparse. There were only a couple shows a day, and really only one or two must-see shows. And yet Milan often tells the story of what’s happening in the fashion industry better than any other city, probably because it’s where so much business gets done. The takeaways? Wholesale is over, really, and it’s going to really hurt a lot of the Italian companies that are so reliant on it. For those that survive, quality matters. And so do great brands.