MFW: fashion battles economic downturn

The right conditions were all there, but there is great political and economic uncertainty in Italy (the country went to the polls on Sunday 24 and Monday 25) and even Milan Fashion Week felt the effects. Research, innovation, and tradition were

well represented, both by the trade fairs White, Super, and Mipap, and by the 71 shows, but fashion week was weighed down by the political climate and damning figures. The 450 Benetton redundancies, for example, and those in Italian women's fashion. Furthermore, during the fashion week presentation conference, Mario Boselli, Chairman of the Camera nazionale della moda italiana trade organisation, said very clearly “we need money, money, money”, also calling for more Government action in the fashion sector.

The Italian women’s fashion industry should end 2012 with a decrease of -0.7 percent, and a turnover of just under €12.2 billion. The ratio of foreign sales to total turnover is nearly 56 percent.

The trade fairs

Super, the new trade fair developed by Pitti in collaboration with Fiera Milano, started off with great promise. ”We are working to give the best possible perception of a new date on the calendar, and Italy needs a boost. I expect an international presence”, Raffaello Napoleone, CEO of Pitti Immagine, told FashionUnited, adding that the fate of the other fairs dedicated to women’s fashion - Touch!, Neozone, and Cloudnine, held in Zona Tortona until last year - is not known. “They are on the sidelines, for now we are focusing on Super”, said Napoleone. On Sunday afternoon the trade fair was not particularly crowded, although more than one participant said that there had been a peak in the morning. Among the offers of accessories and ready-to-wear, there was Lardini, the popular brand of men's clothing, which for some years now has been producing for Burberry, Ferragamo, Etro, and Dolce & Gabbana, and which made its debut with a women's line. “We have been at Pitti Uomo for years and that's why we're at Super to present the women's line”, group's Chairman Andrea Lardini told FashionUnited.

Particularly interesting was an installation representing a forest complete with “mushroom” pedestals on which to display the footwear by British designer Sophia Webster, former assistant designer to Nicholas Kirkwood. There were also colourful and fun pony-skin shoes by Italian brand Avec Modération, which is considering the launch of its first flagship store.

There was plenty of interest surrounding the UK brands and the environmentally conscious Green Closet project.

Less pioneering but traditional were the 170 collections of prêt-à-porter and accessories, of which about 25 percent were foreign, presented at Mipap. There was a fair turnout at White, at the other end of the city, despite many buyers having opted for a taxi after waiting in vain for the shuttles.

The shows

The big names took to the stage: from Dolce&Gabbana, to Prada, Gucci, Emporio Armani. Diesel boss Renzo Rosso showed plenty of enthusiasm, witnessing his first show by Marni, of which the holding company Only the Brave took control last December.

Prada showed off rigorous fashion, in full compliance with the craftsmanship and quality expected of the made-in-Italy label. “You’d like to be a romantic woman but you can’t”, said Miuccia Prada, “it is a forbidden fantasy”.

A quick look at the queues of buyers, especially from the Far East, proves that the Milan catwalks are still of interest. In order to welcome the Chinese buyers to the Anteprima fashion show, the organisers provided a Chinese translation of the description of the collection. In short, Chinese became the official language of the Milanese event alongside Italian and English. Same language and same faces around town, at the presentation of the knitwear brand Ballantyne cashmere in Carla Sozzani’s concept store, 10 Corso Como. The new capsule collection created by British designer Matthew Williamson adorned the mannequins.

author: Isabella Naef