Beyond the runway, there will be approximately 54 brand events throughout the week. After Wednesday’s shows, industry guests will attend a gala dinner hosted by Mayor Sala and CNMI chair Carlo Capasa to celebrate the opening of the “Dalì e la Moda” exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, running September 24 to January 31. Meanwhile, OTB-owned Viktor & Rolf will stage a dinner at 10 Corso Como in honor of its new exhibition, “Spectrum”, running until November 22 and comprising 20 couture looks created over its 30-year history.
Many show-goers will likely stop by Prada’s newly opened Galleria store during MFW, a “full-on celebration of everything the brand stands for” across art, fashion and food, Cardini notes. “It is an exquisitely orchestrated universe in which Miuccia Prada’s extraordinary taste seems to extend from the clothes to practically every square inch of the building. In other words, a rather difficult place to pop into ‘just for a look’.”
Francesco Risso, meanwhile, is opening his Bureau of Imagination (a “manufacturing house for objects”), Cardini notes, “which sounds less like an office than precisely the sort of place one hopes to stumble into even beyond fashion week — a hub for surprise, experimentation and, one assumes given Risso’s personality, fabulous amounts of creativity.”
Milan is continuing its investment in emerging talent this season, spearheaded by CNMI international new talent and brands ambassador Sara Sozzani Maino of Fondazione Sozzani. On Saturday, September 26, Fondazione Sozzani will present its new Sozzani Award, celebrating those whose research and creative work contribute to contemporary culture across photography, fashion, design, and craft. The first edition is dedicated to women’s empowerment and will provide the winning female creative or entrepreneur with a dedicated scholarship and grant up to €15,000. Finalists are: Paris-based designer Marie-Ève Lecavalier; Nigerian Paris-based designer Timisola Shasanya; and Japanese London-based designer Mai Suzuki.
“The city’s more established independent voices will also be worth watching, from Galib Gassanoff to Luca Lin of Act No.1, as they continue to develop and solidify their visions, alongside Francesco Murano and Ilenia Durazzi,” Cardini says. She’s also particularly eager to see what the Pecoranera knitwear collective will be up to. “Their collective approach feels very much in tune with a moment when fashion is becoming increasingly interested in dialogue, collaboration, and less predictable ways of making things happen.”
Venerdì Pomeriggio returns for its second season, which Feroldi is excited to see. “Her [business] model — six genderless capsules a year, Made in Italy from deadstock — deserves real support,” she says. Also, the Future Threads program at the Fashion Hub in Palazzo Morando brings together six emerging Italian labels, selected by Sozzani Maino, she adds. “Among them is CNMI Fashion Trust Grant winner Materia, which makes adaptive sportswear with magnetic fastenings, designed to be easy for everyone to wear.”
Marelli notes some other new names to watch. “I really like the vibe of Nicolò Romano’s work — it feels casual but cool, with a very natural attitude and a strong sense of contemporary youth culture,” he says. “Domenico Orefice is another one. I appreciate his approach to tailoring and his ability to mix a more refined, sophisticated attitude with something unexpected and contemporary. There’s a strong sense of identity in his work, which I think is particularly important for emerging designers today.”
Giorgio Armani, now under the stewardship of Silvana, will close out the week on Sunday, September 27. Capasa thanked both Prada and Giorgio Armani in the MFW press conference for bookending the week, “bringing guests to Milan from the very beginning, and encouraging them to stay until the very end.”
Indeed, this season, the feeling of newness extends well beyond fashion, Cardini notes. “Milan has acquired an increasingly magnetic international pull as a destination for tourism, business, culture and entertainment — a city that seems to have discovered that being fashionable is not necessarily confined to clothes.”
