MILAN — Milan’s appeal in supporting fresh talent and giving them international visibility is attracting a number of independent hot-ticket names to the upcoming edition of the city’s fashion week, dedicated to the fall 2022 season.
Case in point, 1017 Alyx 9SM and, as reported, JW Anderson will decamp to Milan for the first time, bringing buzz to the city.
1017 Alyx 9SM, founded by Matthew Williams in 2015, has traditionally staged runway events in Paris, but it is now planning to present a coed show to cap off the first day of the men’s fashion week in Milan on Jan. 14.
Part of the same cool crowd of techno-ravers, Max Kobosil’s new brand 44 Label Group — introduced last June and backed by Italian retailer and entrepreneur Claudio Antonioli — is also hosting its first formal runway event at Milan Fashion Week.
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Both labels will also throw after parties in town.
Slated to take place in a mostly physical format, Milan Men’s Fashion Week will feature 59 IRL events between fashion shows and presentations, spread across five days from Jan. 14 to 18.
As in previous seasons, the rebranded Zegna will kick off the week, followed by Dsquared2, which is returning to a stand-alone men’s show, after presenting coed collections twice a year, usually during the men’s season, for the past four years.
“Fashion week is our window, the key moment when the whole sector comes together to promote itself,” said Carlo Capasa, chairman of the the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, unveiling the schedule of events during a press conference Monday.
The fashion pack is betting big on returning to showing IRL, and Capasa attributed the sector’s confidence to the strong vaccination campaign carried out in the country.
Among the established names, Emporio Armani will kick off the second day of shows; Prada, Etro and JW Anderson will be the hot tickets on Sunday, while Giorgio Armani will cap off the lineup of physical shows on Monday with two consecutive runway events at the company’s storied headquarters on Via Borgonuovo.
While it is anticipated that marquee names including Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Moschino and Diesel will parade their collections during the February shows in Milan, the Kering-owned Gucci is not missing out on the opportunity to be part of the men’s week, hosting a concert of Australian electro-pop band Parcels at the Gucci Hub on Saturday night.
Bottega Veneta exclusively revealed to WWD that it will show on Feb. 26 at 8 p.m. CET in Milan.
Simultaneously, C.P. Company, which marked its 50th anniversary this year, will mount a retrospective exhibition retracing its milestones.
A still-undetailed Dsquared2 cocktail party and dinner set to be held on Jan. 17 suggests the brand is gearing up to unveil a special project, although the company could not immediately be reached for further comment.
The last day, mainly dedicated to digital presentations, features a range of returning labels, including A-Cold-Wall and Tokyo-based Children of the Discordance, while brands such as JordanLuca, Jet Set, Ardusse and Justin Gall, among others, are showing physically as part of the calendar for the first time.
In keeping its commitment to broaden the week’s visibility, shows and presentations will also be livestreamed on the fashion chamber’s dedicated website, as well as on social networks. Aiming to reach out to an international audience, Camera della Moda has forged ties with local players, including Tencent Video for China; The Asahi Shimbun for Japan, and Kommersant Publishing House for Russia.
Capasa and the fashion chamber have been vocal about establishing country and sector-wide collaborations. To this end, not only will the Milan Fashion Week website host a section dedicated to local showrooms, but the eighth edition of the Fashion Film Festival Milano will run concurrently with the city’s fashion week and in collaboration with the Camera della Moda. Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli will chair the jury, as reported.
Among the out of competition films that are sure to generate buzz, the documentary “Elio Fiorucci — Free Spirit” will make its debut on Jan. 17, while the event’s award ceremony on Jan 14 will take place in a hybrid format, with the physical component happening at the Triennale museum in Milan and at Rome’s MIAC, the Italian Audiovisual and Movie Museum, part of Cinecittà.