Yahoo Lifestyle Anniversaries, Runway Debuts to Mark Upcoming Milan Fashion Week
MILAN — Even amid the glooms of geopolitical instability, tariffs threats and weak internal demand, the sentiment was upbeat at the presentation of Milan Fashion Week’s schedule here on Wednesday.
The local municipality estimates that the upcoming event, which will run Feb. 25 to March 3, will generate 185 million euros in sales across stores, restaurants, transportation, hotels and other services, highlighting a beneficial ripple effect across different industries driven by the international affluence expected in the city.
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Fashion operators will be particularly busy, as the week is shaping up to be a packed one, featuring a total of 153 events including 56 physical shows, six digital ones and roughly 70 presentations.
There are no major surprises on the show front. As expected, Bottega Veneta will forgo a runway show amid the change in its creative guard from Matthieu Blazy to Louise Trotter. Yet the brand won’t sit out from the schedule completely: on March 1 it will unveil its new Palazzo San Fedele headquarters in central Milan with a performance and partnership with Casa Mollino.
While the likes of Del Core and GCDS are MIA, the core of the Milan fashion pack is confirmed to stage runway shows.
As reported, Gucci will be the fashion week opener with its “unified” runway show at 3 p.m. CET in a still-undisclosed location, to be followed by Iceberg and N. 21. The inaugural day will also see Lorenzo Serafini’s debut at the creative helm of Alberta Ferretti, K-Way’s runway show marking the BasicNet Group-owned brand’s 60th anniversary, and the Dsquared2 coed show celebrating the 30th anniversary of Dean and Dan Caten’s brainchild.
Yet the biggest milestone will be Fendi’s centenary. As reported, the Roman house skipped its traditional, separate men’s show in January to go coed with a runway event on Feb. 26. Silvia Venturini Fendi, artistic director of accessories and menswear collections, is for now leading the overall design effort for men’s and women’s after the exit of British designer Kim Jones, who stepped down after four years as Fendi’s artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women.
Giorgio Armani is also marking the 50th anniversary of his namesake company in 2025 but no celebratory plans have been revealed yet.
Before Fendi’s big celebrations that day, three OTB-owned brands will stage their shows, including Jil Sander at an unusual morning slot at 10.30 a.m. CET; Diesel at 2 p.m. CET and Marni at 5 p.m. CET.
Hot tickets on Feb. 27 will include Max Mara; David Koma’s runway debut at Blumarine; Prada, Emporio Armani; MM6 Maison Margiela; Roberto Cavalli and Etro.
The following day will be Alberto Caliri’s turn to stage his first runway show back at the creative direction of Missoni after the exit of Filippo Grazioli last year. The event will be preceded by the likes of Sportmax, Tod’s, Moschino and Sunnei, and will be followed by Elisabetta Franchi and Versace — two shows that might see former Gucci president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri seated front row. Bizzarri already invested in Elisabetta Franchi last year, but rumors are swirling he might be busy raising funds for the Medusa brand as well, as reported.
The weekend will open with shows including Ferrari, Ferragamo and Bally, where speculation is also mounting about a potential exit of creative director Simone Bellotti, considered a potential successor to Luke and Lucie Meier at Jil Sander. That day MSGM will also return to the catwalk format; Fiorucci will stage its show as part of the official fashion calendar for the first time and Philipp Plein will cap off the day with its traditional evening extravaganza.
As per Sunday’s tradition, March 2 will be the Giorgio Armani day, preceded by Chinese designer Susan Fang’s Milan debut supported by Dolce & Gabbana as part of its ongoing project endorsing young designers.
Italy’s fashion chamber is also renewing its commitment in supporting emerging brands. The schedule includes runway debuts of the likes of Francesco Murano, Giuseppe Di Morabito and Institution by Galib Gassanoff.
On the presentation front, indie names such as Lessico Familiare, Denisa Rad, Edis Pala, Lorenzo Seghezzi and Bergie by Giorgiaandreazza will add to the established brands including Brunello Cucinelli, Loro Piana and Ports 1961. Max&Co. will also unveil a collaboration with artist Pietro Terzini, while Weekend Max Mara will tie-up with Giuliva Heritage.
Accessories will take center stage with Santoni’s 50th anniversary and Paul Andrew’s debut at Sergio Rossi, alongside presentations from Serapian, Giuseppe Zanotti, Gianvito Rossi, Pollini, Stuart Weitzman, AGL and Mach & Mach, among others.
As part of a collaboration with Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, Italy’s fashion chamber will also host the presentation of Charles De Vilmorin in its Fashion Hub space, which will additionally spotlight emerging labels operating with a sustainable mindset or coming from Seoul, as well as stage a series of talks.
Other events will include exhibitions from K-Way at Museo Della Permanente and the “Anna Piaggi, Parole e Taffeta” showcase of the late iconic fashion journalist’s looks staged by MinervaHub and that was teased at the Milano Unica textile trade show this week.
The “Balenciaga: Shoes From Spain Tribute” will also open at Palazzo Morando, while 10 Corso Como’s activities will range from an installation involving hot brands like Duran Lantink, Hodakova, Vaquera and Zomer to the unveiling of a new shoe capsule collection with Giorgio Armani and the Maison Margiela x Gentle Monster latest collaboration.
In releasing the schedule, the organization’s chairman Carlo Capasa also confirmed economic projections that forecast 2024 sales of the fashion and connected industries (including textiles, clothing, leather goods, footwear, jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics) down 5.3 percent to 96 billion euros compared to 2023.
Yet he said that the negative trend reported in the first three quarters of 2024 slightly weakened in the fourth quarter of the year.
As for exports, although they continue to be a key driver for the Italian fashion industry, they are now expected to grow only 2.5 percent to 91 billion euros versus 2023, while previous projections for 2024 saw exports of the overall sector up 5.5 percent to 93.7 billion euros compared to 2023.
The updated forecast is based on the performance registered in the first 10 months of 2024, when exports grew only 2.6 percent compared to the same period in 2023. This further widened the significant split between clusters of sectors: exports of the “core” categories — textiles, clothing, leather goods and footwear — were down 4.2 percent while those of companies operating in jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics were up 21.8 percent.
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