MILAN — A mostly positive mood at the three-day trade show White was buoyed by a favorable economic forecast, as well as an encouraging outlook for the Italian apparel industry, although some participants said they’d have liked to see more Americans at the market.
The women’s wear and accessories trade fair ran from Feb. 28 to March 2 during Milan Fashion Week. Presented at three adjacent, independent locations in the Tortona design district, 485 brands showed a contemporary mix of apparel, accessories, footwear, eyewear, jewelry and perfume.
When he established the fair 15 years ago, founder Massimiliano Bizzi wanted to connect international buyers with small- to medium-size fashion brands and to spotlight the Made in Italy strengths of young native designers.
“By now, White’s an institution [among] Italian buyers, but we want to hit the American and Far East markets,” said general director Francesca Cella on the static presence of elusive American buyers despite the positive forecast. “The favorable euro-to-dollar exchange rate makes things more affordable for Americans and allows Italian factories to sell internationally.”
Attendance was up, at 19,250 visitors, reflecting a 10 percent increase in buyers compared with the February 2014 edition.
Italian buyers registered the largest attendance upswing with a 13 percent gain, followed by a 3 percent uptick of Far East visitors (mainly from Japan, China and Korea). Small gains came from Germany and Switzerland.
“The Asian market is very interested, but our first clients are in Europe — Italy and France,” said Natalia Modenova, executive director of Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days, an agency that brings designers to international markets. At Tortona 35, Modenova brought five young, Kiev-based Ukrainian designers: Anna K, Anton Belinskiy, Dmdv, Ksenia Schnaider and Omelya.
With collections in 45 worldwide stores (such as Colette in Paris), Anna K rolled out a fall lineup based on Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl,” its bestseller an Empire-waist, navy dress beset with large, white satin bows. Buyers were also receptive to the bright knitwear emblazoned with “Poor but Cool” from Belinskiy, one of the 26 designers shortlisted for this year’s LVMH Prize.
Also at Tortona 35 was contemporary jewelry at White Bijoux and eyewear at White Glasses.
Historic Italian millinery Doria 1905 noted that buyers tethered to traditional, classic styles such as the “coppola” (a drop crown with a medium brim) and the “trilby” (a round crown with a big brim). The fall capsule collection was a bestseller — three classic styles rolled out in a limited edition of 1,905 pieces in recognition of the brand’s 110th anniversary. Nevertheless, to sway younger customers, the brand recently launched a collection of baseball hats and duckbill caps in luxe fabrics.
At Tortona 54, Naomi Goodsir Parfums showed at White Beauty with her namesake independent perfume house, which launched in 2012 at Pitti Fragrance.
“They’re textural and genderless, and they’re strong — you either like it or you don’t,” said Goodsir of her eau de parfum, created and hand-packed outside of Grasse, France, a town known for its perfumeries, with creative director Renaud Coutaudier. Its scent arm consists of three nuanced, complex juices — Cuir Velours, Bois d’Ascèse and Or du Sérail. They rolled out between 2012 and 2014, created by noses such as Julien Rasquinet and Bertrand Duchaufour. Available in American boutiques such as MiN New York and Scent Bar in Los Angeles, Goodsir found affinity with Italian customers. “Italy is a market that really understands alternative perfumes — probably the best in the world.”
Across the pavilion, nose, designer and creator of the five-year-old independent perfume house Meo Fusciuni displayed scents inspired by Turkey and Sicily, which are distributed in boutiques such as Daad Dantone in Milan, Vertice in London and Sprmrkt in Amsterdam. He said the fair is “a great place to have a personal dialogue with international and Italian buyers and clients — a great place for young brands to grow until they’re present all over the world.”
At Tortona 27 Superstudio Più, an international mix of exhibitors from Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris mixed with prominent brands such as Ann Demeulemeester and Adriano Goldschmied. Four Italian exhibitors comprised “WOW — White on Web,” a project of multimedia presentations in a cooperation with magazines Redmilk and Lampoon.
Bologna-based Collection Privée presented its inaugural fall collection of ready-to-wear, accessories and capsules in cooperation with designer Manuela Arcari. The brand, sold in California at retailers such as H. Lorenzo, rents New York showroom space from designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh. A top seller among its numerous Far East buyers was a double-fabric, black square “Coperta” jacket of wool and neoprene, evocative of origami, which could be snapped into different shapes.
Special guest designer Salvatore Piccione, of Piccione Piccione, presented meticulously embroidered total looks — tops, dresses and jackets — in bright colors and dynamic trims inspired by the lady bug and poppies. The young Sicilian designer has collaborated with Céline and Mary Katrantzou, and won the 2014 edition of “Who Is on Next?” organized by AltaRoma and Vogue Italia. Piccione is the apotheosis of domestic, emerging talent, built on the foundations of fastidious Italian craftsmanship — exactly the type of designer who White wants to introduce to American buyers.
“Americans look for craftsmanship — it’s what Italians are known for,” said Cella. “They look at the Italian brands in a classic way — classic men’s wear and conservative women’s wear — but we are much more than that. These young designers have a special type of craftsmanship, but not how Americans tend to think. So this is our duty — to present a brand mix and the brand tastes of Italian contemporary designers abroad.”
