by MILAN – The unveiling of three new creative directions by Italian brands will be among the highlights of the upcoming edition of Milan Fashion Week, which will take place from February 20 to 26 with 161 fashion shows, presentations and physical and digital events.
The schedule will include Adrian Appiolaza’s debut at Moschino, Blumarine’s first collection under creative director Walter Chiapponi and Matteo Tamburini’s groundbreaking collection for Tod’s.
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Marni recently returned to Milan after adopting a travel format recently, which saw the OTB-owned brand designed by Francesco Risso touch base in Paris, Tokyo and New York.
Hundreds more will include emerging labels Sagaboi and Feben. The first was founded by Geoff K. Cooper in 2015 and is rooted in Caribbean subculture; the latter is the latest London-based designer brand to be backed by Dolce & Gabbana as part of the duo’s talent endorsement program which has previously supported Karoline Vitto, Tomo Koizumi, Matty Bovan and Miss Sohee.
Shows will officially start on February 21 with the likes of Iceberg and Antonio Marras. The Diesel show continues at 12:30 pm CET and promises to be another successful affair. The brand will once again embrace an open-to-the-public format, enabling 1,000 people to register for tickets and “participate” in the event from anywhere, he said. Although the brand did not reveal more details and did not delay the disclosure of all information about access until Friday, the company will arrange a live stream starting February 18 that will allow people to watch all the preparations for the event, from casting to shows the show. up.
Fendi, Del Core and Roberto Cavalli will also be staging runway shows that day, capped by Etro. As reported, the brand will opt for a coed format this time, with Marco De Vincenzo unveiling his latest men’s and women’s collections at 8 pm CET.
Max Mara, Prada and Emporio Armani will be among the brands showing on February 22, when Appiolaza’s creative tenure in Moschino officially begins at 6 pm CET at the Museo della Permanente. The site has a significant place in the history of the brand as the “Società per le Belle Arti ed Esposizione Permanente” hosted the exhibition “Moschino — X anni di Kaos! 1983-1993” in 1993, celebrating the first decade of the brand founded by Franco Moschino.
Appiolaza’s debut will be followed by the GCDS show and Peter Hawkings sophomore collection for Tom Ford.
On February 23, Tamburini and Chiapponi will unveil their pioneering efforts for Tod’s and Blumarine, respectively, followed by the likes of Sportmax and Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini. At 3 pm CET, the Sabato De Sarno women’s fall 2024 collection for Gucci will be unveiled, followed by Marni, Sunnei, MSGM, Versace and Philipp Plein.
Ferrari, Ferragamo, Jil Sander, Missoni and Bally will stage runway shows on February 24, ending with Matthieu Blazy presenting his new wood collection for Bottega Veneta.
Feben booked February 25 for his debut in Milan, followed by a traditional Giorgio Armani double show at 10:30 and 11:30 am CET at his magnificent headquarters on Via Borgonuovo. The last day will be dedicated to digital shows — including Annakiki and Laura Biagiotti — and will end with the Pre Black Carpet Awards event, where guests will meet the nominees of this edition.
As for the presentations, Max Mara Group will unveil a trifecta of collaborations for three labels under its umbrella, showcasing the combination of Max & Co. and Richard Quinn, the Marina Rinaldi collection by Zuhair Murad and the Weekend Max Mara by Lucy. Hale online.
These will complement the presentation of Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana, La DoubleJ, Fiorucci and MCM, together with accessories labels such as Bulgari, Sergio Rossi, Jimmy Choo, Gianvito Rossi, Borsalino and Mach & Mach, to name but a few.
New names adopting this format will also include emerging brands Cozy Sunday, Jarlzhang, Maison Jajia, Raisa Vanessa, as well as Khrisjoy, as reported.
Although Act N.1 has moved from a runway show to a presentation, other young names who have been inspiring the Milan fashion scene for the past few editions are still missing from the schedule at the moment, including Cormio and Andreadamo.
“These choices are influenced by personal preferences,” said Carlo Capasa, chairman of the Italian fashion chamber. He pointed out that some brands choose to hold runway shows once a year and that they might return in September, referring to the likes of The Attico and Boss.
The inaugural day of Milan Fashion Week will be reserved for a series of press conferences, including for the second edition of “Maestri d’Eccellenza,” the project dedicated to local artisans launched by Fendi and its parent LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton last year. . This time the initiative will be linked to Loro Piana.
Other projects to be unveiled that day include the new Galleria and Project Room cultural spaces at 10 Corso Como, as well as the presentation of the exhibition dedicated to Walter Albini which will take place at the Museo del Tessuto di Prato in Tuscany.
Additional red-circled events on the calendar are Palm Angels’ “Son of a Beat” project – offering three clubbing nights with a curated line-up of international DJs during fashion week – and Juergen Teller’s book signing on February 24, as part of his photography the exhibition “I need to live” just opened at Triennale Milano and will be held through April.
Given the busy schedule, Capasa addressed questions about the recurrent choice of far-flung show venues and the resulting impact it generates on the city’s traffic and environmental sustainability.
Capasa mentioned an attitude that informs “fashion in general and on a global scale,” pointing out that this is not a problem that only applies to Milan, but is also shared in Paris or around the world when brands put on their shows cruise held in places around the world. .
“Companies have this tendency to favor certain sites to tell their story… and prioritize experience over methods of execution. It is definitely something that we need to rationalize and understand if we can find better ways, but on a global level,” said Capasa.
He also addressed the need to add more days to the Milan calendar.
To that end, Capasa highlighted the more favorable timing of the fashion events in New York and Paris, since those cities open and close the fashion marathon and have the opportunity the following days rather than extending it, and London and Milan have less room for change.
“I believe we need an extra day and we have already discussed this with our global partners from the other fashion weeks,” said Capasa. “I asked Tuesday to be a full day of shows here. It works better compared to the following Monday, because if we consider that the likes of Dior and Saint Laurent show on Tuesday in Paris, we won’t even have the models at home, because they would have to fly to Paris for a projection.”
An extra day will add to Milan’s economy. The local municipality estimates that the upcoming Milan Fashion Week will generate more than 70 million euros in sales across restaurants, transport, hotels and other services, resulting in a 10 percent increase compared to the same edition last year and a 22 percent growth in compared to 2019.
He also estimates that 65,000 foreign tourists will come to Milan and spend an average of more than 1,000 euros each during that week. This will have a beneficial effect on small businesses and shops, and is expected to generate a 10 percent increase in sales during those days.
Regarding the state of the fashion business in 2023, Capasa updated the predictions shared in December. Sales of the fashion and related industries (including textiles, clothing, leather goods, footwear, jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics) are expected to increase by 4 percent to 102.8 billion euros compared to the previous year. In 2022 the sales of the overall sector grew by 20.8 percent to 98.8 billion euros compared to 2021, when the total turnover also increased by more than 20 percent.
Regarding exports, in the first 10 months of 2023 they continued to be the main driver for the industry, increasing by 4.1 percent, divided into a growth of 1 percent in the core sectors – textiles, clothing, leather goods, footwear – and 13.7 percent in the jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics categories, compared to the same period in 2022.
According to projections, exports of the overall sector are expected to grow by 4.2 percent to 89.9 billion euros in 2023, compared to 2022.
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