When the old and the new meet in Milan, who are the real influencers of the city?

There’s something for everyone in Milan. Glorious in architecture and culture and known as one of the fashion hotspots of the world, the city has an intoxicating flair which becomes even more striking in the warm light of an October afternoon. I visited for the first-time last autumn and have returned twice since.

With a centre that teems with people of all ages and geographies, Milan serves up outstanding architecture, style, and food in a relatively concentrated area ruled unmistakably by the Duomo. Commercial and residential vias that neighbour it are either bustling or charmingly quiet. The former lure you; the latter speak of lives well lived.

There is a lot of class in Milan.

It is easy to find it in the landmarks that speak of its past – the basilicas, the castellos, the museos. Everything the city has once been and thrived as is still there to be enjoyed, hundreds of years later by the bewildered eyes of modern man. It instils a sense of respect – perhaps you should tread carefully in this place where so many others have fought so hard and lived so well before.

The same class is easy to spot on the discreet and exclusive streets, home to the great Italian brands. At Lavazza, where businesspeople take their espressos in the morning. At Peck, a local institution, where mothers and daughters lunch and solo gentlemen read the newspaper.

In an epic manifestation of this class, I have stopped in my tracks to watch an old couple dressed to the classical nines walk hand in hand on Via della Spiga on a Sunday morning. They were so elegant and timeless and spoke of a world I did not know was still among us. It was a picture-perfect moment I chose to keep on my retina instead of on my phone.

There are countless moments of class and magic across the city every day.

There are countless other moments of staged class and magic across the city every day, too.

They are represented by those posing in front of an architectural or cultural wonder and doing a double take on their phones in search of the perfect angle and the perfect look. There’s little sense of wonder about them, who they are and where they are going. It’s clear their endeavour will land on a Social platform for the world to see, take notice of and be influenced by.

There are countless other moments like these taking place every day – not just across Milan but everywhere we look. A friend and I were strolling through Notting Hill last month and noticed some folk nonchalantly take ‘spontaneous’ selfies in front of someone’s front door (the kind that say, I am a friend, I just popped by, except they weren’t). Washington Street in DUMBO, once a quaint corner, has long ago succumbed to hordes of people travelling in specifically to take a shot with a background featuring Manhattan Bridge.

All these photos get uploaded to Social to speak of fashionable and interesting places, style, and a life well lived. They were the ‘it’ behaviour a decade ago when Instagram exploded and everyone could be someone, wherever they went.

They are now part and parcel of our behaviour and daily life, but a part of me feels that this behaviour has gotten old and lost its lustre.

That is why I think the real influencers are those who do not necessarily show what they experience and how they live on Social. And why in the city of Milan – and everywhere else – I’ll always think the influencers are those who walk hand in hand with their spouse on Via della Spiga on Sunday morning or read the newspaper quietly in Peck.

Make of that what you will when you think about the type of life the influencer culture teaches us, its proliferation and work with brands, for that matter.