Milan unveils an intense five-day fashion week programme

Milan’s womenswear fashion week, scheduled on February 20-26, has unveiled an intense event programme, despite losing various regulars. Between runway shows, presentations and a plethora of other happenings, the programme will feature 161 events, compared to 176 last September. Among the many highlights of the fashion week, which focuses on the women’s ready-to-wear collections for Fall/Winter 2024-25, are several new names and returns, including Marni, as well as the first collections by the new creative directors of Blumarine, Tod’s and Moschino.

 
Milan Fashion Week Women will kick off on Tuesday, February 20 with a rich schedule of events, including the first-ever runway show by Italian label Twinset. In the following days, the traditional runway show calendar will then run its course. Among the events scheduled on the first day, the show by Lisa Von Tang, a Singaporean designer who usually shows in New York, and who now produces her ready-to-wear and handbag collections in Italy. The fashion week will get properly under way on Wednesday, and will feature 56 runway shows in five days, including two double ones, compared to 60 last September. On Monday 26, Annakiki, Maison Mencioni, Münn, Phan Dang Hoang and Laura Biagiotti will bring the week to a close with their digital shows.
 
One of the must-see events will be the Diesel runway show, which will open on Wednesday. The run-up to it, including the casting and styling, will be streamed live on Diesel’s social media channels, and the event itself will be open to the public, with one thousand guests expected. On Thursday, all eyes will be on the debut show by Adrian Appiolaza, Moschino’s new creative director, and on Friday, on those by Matteo Tamburini at Tod’s and Walter Chiapponi at Blumarine.

Marni will stage its eagerly awaited come-back show also on Thursday, returning to Milan after opting for Paris last season. Francesca Liberatore is also back on the Milanese calendar, after showing in September at leather trade fair Lineapelle, and so will Elisabetta Franchi, who had withdrawn from the official calendar in February 2023. Another important event will feature menswear label Brioni, which will unveil its first fully fledged women’s collection in Milan. The presentation calendar will include five new names: Cosy Sunday, Jarelzhang, Khrisjoy, Maison Jejia and Raisa Vanessa.

There will be two newcomers on the runway show calendar, both regulars at London Fashion Week. Designer-influencer Geoff K. Cooper, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago, will show on Thursday 22 with Sagaboi, his menswear label inspired by Caribbean culture, launched in the form of a magazine in 2015, and in 2022 as a fashion brand. On Sunday 25, Ethiopia-born designer Feben Vemmenby, backed by Dolce & Gabbana, will present her label Feben’s new collection.
 
These new entries will only partially compensate for the gaps left in this season’s runway show calendar by no fewer than 11 withdrawals. Several emerging Italian labels, like Cormio, Andreadamo, The Attico and Act N°1, have in fact opted for a presentation format. Other names giving Milan Fashion Week a miss this season are long-established Italian label Luisa Beccaria, and a host of international names that have shown in Milan recently, like Antwerp-based Chinese designer Shuting Qiu, Han Kjobenhavn from Denmark, the collective of Hungarian labels under the Budapest Select banner, German accessories brand Aigner, Brazilian designer Karoline Vitto, who was backed last season by Dolce & Gabbana, and German label Boss, which normally shows in Milan, though most often in September.
 
“The situation isn’t easy, especially for the most junior labels. Many of them have reached a new stage in their development path, prompting them to seek different formats and solutions. Making such a choice is a necessity, even a strategic one, given the cost of a runway show. Some labels will be back in September,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber (CNMI).