Fashion
Milan is more than ready. It hums and thrums with all things beautiful. For days, an army of multilingual and slender models has been wandering the streets of the city center, waiting for it all to start: the Spring/Summer Women's Collection Fashion Week, which, from Wednesday 22 to Monday 26 will feature a packed calendar of fashion shows and events for people inside and outside the industry. And, finally, there is the return of fashion shows with live audiences, some–and this truly is something new–even open to the public, while still applying what has been learned from the online experience, confirmed for this edition too by a few designers
Milan is more than ready. It hums and thrums with all things beautiful
To be clear, of 68 fashion shows, only 7 will be 'virtual', for a total of 210 events. This is a revolution, if we recall that last year, precisely in this period, when the pandemic had in any case lost some of the fear factor, the numbers were more than halved: in September 2021, of 65 fashion shows, only 43 were with a live audience and 22 online.
Now fashion 'can be seen and touched', so to speak, and for buyers, this is fundamental. ‘Live streaming' can help those on the other side of the world, such as the Chinese still in lockdown, but it cannot replace the experience of witnessing a catwalk show live. New York, followed immediately by London, initiated this season's fashion weeks, flaunting the beauty, the trends with pastel shades, especially yellow and peach, which will be the in colors next spring.
We shall now see what the designers’ creativity has come up with for Italy. There is an air of optimism and enthusiasm. In part, because the numbers for the fashion industry are good...very good. As explained by the President of the CNMI–the National Chamber of Italian fashion–Carlo Capasa, in 2022, the Italian fashion industry had the highest turnover in the last 20 years, with growth of 25% in the first half. What will happen in the future remains to be seen, with the hike in energy bills.
In 2022, there was the highest turnover in the last 20 years, with growth of 25% in the first half
For now, even for Milan this fashion week “is a breath of fresh air” with hotels as far as the suburbs fully booked with people from inside and outside the industry. As we said, for the first time ever, Milan Fashion Week is opening its doors to the wider public of fashion addicts. Designers offering this opportunity include Diesel, on September 21 at the Allianz Cloud Arena, open to the public, or rather to the lucky few who managed to book online. Tickets sold out in an hour and a half with 2,000 bookings. The show will feature the new Diesel collection by the creative director Glenn Martens.
The same goes for the Anteprima show, which will be held in the Arena Civica inside Parco Sempione, to celebrate the brand's 30th anniversary, with a “zero-impact” catwalk open to the public. Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini is also giving away tickets for its show. And again with a view to 'inclusion', Maison Valentino, together with the CNMI, will post on its Instagram channel the live show of Act n 1, beneficiary of the Grant from the Camera Moda Fashion Trust.
Among fashion shows open to the public, debuts, and anniversaries, there are also some excellent returns: Salvatore Ferragamo (with new creative director Maximilian Davis), Boss, Antonio Marras, Vivetta, and Moncler, which will celebrate its 70th anniversary with a fashion show in Piazza Duomo on Saturday 24. On the catwalk, debut by Bally, part of the Stella Jean/WAMI project and Matty Bovan, British designer supported by Dolce & Gabbana.
Curiosity and expectation also for the first collection by Marco De Vincenzo, creative director of Etro. And for Tod's, which will host a special event at the PAC museum in via Palestro with the exhibition ‘Aria d’Italia’. Of course, it wouldn’t be Fashion Week without Prada, Gucci, Cavalli and the traditional double Armani event (Wednesday 22 with Emporio and Sunday 25 with Giorgio Armani).
Sideline events include the beautiful and unmissable Richard Avedon exhibition at Palazzo Reale, ‘Relationship’, a tribute to one of the masters of twentieth-century photography who traces a career spanning over sixty years through 106 images. Including an unforgettable shot from 1991–Nastassja Kinski and the Serpent– not by chance the image chosen as the cover image for the exhibition. Sensuality and genius, art and fashion