Milan Fashion Week is shaping up to be a British-influenced affair. This season, the capital of Lombardy is taking on two major London regulars. For the first time in its men’s calendar, it welcomes Anglo-Jamaican designer Martine Rose, considered one of the most interesting new names in menswear, and Dunhill, the historic British house of the Richemont luxury group, whose creative director Simon Holloway will be presenting his second collection in Milan. Both will be presenting on Sunday, June 16 alongside another renowned British label, JW Anderson.
For the rest, the Men’s Fashion Week dedicated to the Spring-Summer 2025 collections, to be held in Milan from June 14 to 18, has announced a programme in line with its last edition. In all, there will be 84 shows, presentations and special events, compared to 72 in January. “A record for many years,” said Carlo Capasa, President of the Italian Fashion Chamber (CNMI), as he presented the programme at a press conference in Milan on Wednesday, promising “a very fine Fashion Week.”
On closer inspection, the schedule includes slightly fewer shows than the winter session, with 20 physical shows (compared to 22 last season), including a double show by Giorgio Armani. In addition, four digital shows, including the first for Chinese label Valleyouth, to be broadcast on the closing morning of Tuesday, June 18, before moving on to Paris.
This June the Milan runways will be loosing six names. Starting with Stone Island, which organised a performance event in January to launch its new manifesto and will not returning to the calendar this season. The Italian-Chinese brand Pronounce, a regular on the London catwalks, which showed in Milan for the first time last season, chose a presentation format this time.
Not included in the show calendar are Federico Cina, one of the representatives of the new generation of Italian designers who has been on the Milan catwalks for the last four years, and Andersson Bell, the South Korean label of DoHun Kim, who is leaving Milan Fashion Week after two seasons. Also missing are K-Way, which usually shows during the winter season, and Philipp Plein.
These departures are offset by the arrival of Martine Rose and Dunhill, as well as two major returns. Moschino is back in men’s fashion, under the new creative direction of Adrian Appiolaza. The Aeffe Group’s flagship fashion house will open the Week on Friday, June 14, with the unveiling of its women’s pre-collection for Spring 2025. And Magliano, Luca Magliono’s label, which moved to Florence last winter, will be the guest of honour at Pitti Uomo.
The Milanese line-up is rounded off, of course, by the big names in Italian fashion, from Giorgio Armani to Prada, not forgetting Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi, Dsquared2 and Zegna, who will be walking the catwalk alongside other established names such as Neil Barrett. But also MSGM. Its founder and designer Massimo Giorgetti is set to mark one of the highlights of this Fashion Week with an anniversary show to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his label, presenting alongside the men’s looks the women’s pre-collection for Spring 2025.
There is also a rich programme of presentations (44 compared to 32 in January, plus eight by appointment), with no fewer than eight new names: Georgian label David Koma, another regular on the London runways, “who chose Milan to launch his men’s line,” emphasised Carlo Capasa. But also Ascend Beyond, Cortigiani, Des_Phemmes, Diomene, Gams Note, GR10K and Danish designer Henrik Vibskov.
The latter, who is also present at Pitti as part of the Scandinavian Manifesto project, is taking part in a new initiative launched this season by Camera della Moda, CIFF Showrooms Milan in partnership with the Danish Copenhagen International Fashion Fair. The aim is to showcase Danish design through six other brands (Mark Kenly Domino Tan, Envelope 1976, Aiayu, Adnym, Isnurh and Les Deux), whose collections will be unveiled in a dedicated space in the very central Palazzo Giureconsulti, which serves as the Fashion Week hub.
Carlo Capasa, who is optimistic about the new men’s edition, points out the difficulties encountered by the industry at the start of the year, which “is still affected by the slowdown at the end of 2023, with a 3% drop in sales compared to January-February 2023. The textiles, clothing, leather goods and accessories sectors saw their sales fall by 5%, while those of cosmetics, jewellery and eyewear were up by 12%. Exports of Italian fashion are up slightly, while sales on the domestic market are down sharply,” explains the President of the Camera della Moda, who attributes this negative situation above all to “the great crisis of e-commerce platforms, which have dragged down many retailers who relied on them.”
Despite the downturn, Carlo Capasa is promising a festive Fashion Week with a host of parallel events. Starting with the exhibition and evening party organised by Canali to celebrate its 90th anniversary. Not forgetting the after-parties, including one by JW Anderson, and a big party organised by the CNMI to close the week on Monday, June 17.
Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
