After weeks in Paris and New York, the glam bus with its package of fashionable womenswear has reached Milan, for the ever-glamorous Milan Fashion Week starting from 21 February to 27 February. The extremely fine collections from last September have raised the bar of expectations for Milan very high this time. Although the Milan Fashion Week is expected to be less busy this season, there shall be no dearth of pomp. The calendar for Milan Fashion Week 2023, featuring ready-to-wear womenswear is packed with amazing shows and designers.
What to Look Forward To?
The fact that the Milan Fashion Week headquarters are once again situated in the uber-central Palazzo Giureconsulti, host to different events, is a big novelty for this season. The Milan Week will be rife with soirees and parties like the exclusive dinner arranged by Starbucks.On the gala evening on Sunday, 26 February, a documentary titled “Milano: Inside the Story of Italian Fashion”, by US director John Maggio will be screened
Iceberg’s runway return and Japanese designer Tomo Koizumi’s first Italian fashion show are top among the list of attractions. However, in an unexpected turn of events, almost 11 names – most of them prominent fashion giants including Trussardi, Versace, Boss, Dsquared and Moncler have opted out of the schedule of the Milan Fashion Week. Tomo Koizumi’s show too, sponsored by Dolce & Gabbana has been cited as the move to fill the gap left IN Milan by British punk-queer designer Matty Bovan.
Withdrawals Much?
Versace plans to stage its shows at Los Angeles on March 10. Moncler had moved this season’s Genius event to London on February 20. Boss will unveil its new collection through a ‘see now, buy now’ event in Miami on March 10th while Dsquared had opted for a mixed-gender format for last January. Trussardi has gone in for a presentation, along the lines of Italian brand Luisa Beccaria.
Elisabetta Franchi has also withdrawn and will perform on Saturday 25th outside of the regular calendar. Laura Biagiotti is also planning an off-the-cuff event at the Piccolo Theatre to coincide with the Milan Fashion Week. Among the many other names no longer featured on the official calendar, those of emerging label AC9 by Alfredo Cortese, which debuted in Milan exactly a year ago, and Ports 1061, which is undergoing a “strategic refocusing,” as the label announced recently.
A decrease from 210 to 165 has been witnessed in the number of programmes when compared to last season, with only 59 shows against 68 shows from last time. There are about 30 off-calendar events and a total of 77 presentations as opposed to 111 last season.
The Season Is Lit
A few shows listed in special events include the Milan debut of math wonder and designer William Shen, under his Chinese label, a show by Raxxy and another show by Chinese label Maryling, a Milan regular. Debuts of Alabama Muse and Avavav on digital platforms on February 27 are also highly-anticipated events.
The opening show will be of legendary and long-standing Italian brand Iceberg, owned by Gilmar group on 22 February, Wednesday. They had been absent from the Milan womenswear calendar since 2018 and this season, a great comeback is expected. The world of fashion eagerly looks forward to the comebacks of Chinese designer Shuting Qiu and Japanese designer Atsushi Nakashima. Qiu had returned to Shanghai for three seasons after premiering in Italy in 2019 while Nakashima too had returned to Tokyo in the recent seasons, alternating between shows and presentations. Nakashima had joined the Milan Fashion Week in 2016 as part of DHL Exported programme.
Journalists and buyers will bear witness to all the homely names in Italian fashion, with Fendi and Roberto Cavalli showing on Wednesday, followed by Max Mara, Prada, and Moschino on Thursday, Tod’s and Gucci on Friday, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, and Bottega Veneta on Saturday, and Giorgio Armani on Sunday.
Minorities to The Fore
Stella Jean, an Italian-Haitian designer, and the WAMI – We Are Made in Italy, a collection of immigrant Italian designers she promotes, will also not be exhibiting in Milan. Jean has opted to boycott Milan Fashion Week in order to protest the Italian Fashion Chamber’s decision to discontinue financial support for WAMI.
However, there are a lot of shows in line for minority communities in fashion, like the ‘Black Carpet Awards’ for diversity and inclusion on February 24. Afro Fashion Association led by Italian-Cameroonian designer Michelle Francine Ngomno, one of WAMI’s founders, is promoting the said event.
From February 24-27, diversity will be one of the topics of the trend-spotting trade fair White Milano, which will welcome seven indigenous fashion designers chosen by Toronto’s Indigenous Fashion Arts association.
Off the Calendar, Never Off Fashion
Off-calendar events like presentation of Mila Schon, under new creative director Marc Audibet and presentation by Krizia after long since 2018 would positively bridge the gaps left by the aforementioned calendar withdrawals.
Another event is the ‘White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence’ exhibition organized by Louis Vuitton to celebrate the first sneaker by Virgil Abloh, in a version redesigned for the occasion. Also under the spotlight, the Max & Co. with Anna Dello Russo and the Weekend Max Mara with Kate Phelan collaborations.
ADD, Boyy, Lara Chamandi, Maison Laponte, Mantù, Pianegonda, Spaccio Alta Maglieria, Viviers, Wolford, Yali, and Zineb Hazim & Karim Daoudi are among the new names in the presentations section.