Milan Fashion Week Men’s: London Calling!

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 10, 2020

The Milan Fashion Week Men’s starting on Friday January 10 will introduce an unprecedented collaboration with its London counterpart. The partnership with the London Men’s week will notably enable the leading Italian menswear event to add to its calendar a show by avant-garde British designer Samuel Ross, with his label A-Cold-Wall. Also, the Milanese week will last half a day longer, ending on Tuesday January 14 - instead of on a Monday as usual - with the Gucci show.

The Kering group’s leading label, which for several seasons showed its menswear at the Fashion Week Women’s, is now returning to Milano Moda Uomo, like N°21 and Salvatore Ferragamo. In addition to these three labels, the come-back list includes Iceberg, back in Milan after three seasons in London, Miaoran, absent from the catwalks last season, Prada, following its Shanghai show last June, and MSGM, which celebrated its 10th anniversary at Pitti Uomo.

These returns augur well for the Milanese event, which has been in free fall for some years, penalised by many labels’ shift to other destinations and formats, and by the difficulties faced by emerging labels as they try to consolidate their position within an increasingly competitive environment. Milan has multiplied its efforts to remain attractive, and announced the presentation of 77 collections for the Fall/Winter 2020-21, including 27 official catwalk shows. However, it was once again powerless to prevent a plethora of defections.

Starting from those of Versace, which will show its menswear during the women's week, and Philipp Plein, another label whose men's line will show with womenswear in February. Among the repeat absences, those of Palm Angels, which has chosen not to show during the men’s week; Pal Zileri, missing a creative director; United Standard, which opted for a presentation; the same for Les Hommes, going through a transition phase with new management, while Miguel Vieira has gone back to Portugal. Other emerging labels which will not be showing this season are M 1992, EdithMarcel, Youser and Japanese label Bed J.W. Ford.

Milan’s collaboration with the British Fashion Council is extremely timely. It will bring a breath of fresh air to Milano Moda Uomo, with the eagerly awaited show by A-Cold-Wall on Monday January 13. Another joint initiative is the London Show Rooms, which will present the work of 10 emerging British designers and five young Italians studying at London fashion schools. Two major British labels, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen, will stage presentations in Milan.

“We are a first-rate commercial platform, while London is more creative. We have always been keen to promote this kind of mix between the diverse features of each Fashion Week. It’s enriching. It’s also a very strong political message, in the midst of the Brexit debate, indicating that we wish that our countries will continue to collaborate,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber (CNMI).

Alongside these British labels, the Milanese catwalks will host three other emerging international talents this season: Danish urban label Han Kjøbenhavn, which has tried to gain visibility in Paris in recent seasons, showing off-calendar; high-end streetwear label Reshake, founded in Shanghai in 2013 and owned by Chinese apparel giant Mark Fairwhale, which currently operates over 130 stores in China; and JieDa, a label founded in 2007 by Hiroyuki Fujita, inspired by Japanese street culture. After working for 10 years in the textile industry, the Japanese designer, in his forties, also launched the multibrand chain Kikunobu, which operates three stores in Tokyo, Osaka and Shimane. JieDa’s collections are produced in Japan, and are distributed via some 40 retailers.

Finally, among the new entries, Marco De Vincenzo with the men's ready-to-wear line he launched at Pitti Uomo last June, and Italian designer Fabio Quaranta, who already showed in Milan in 2013 at the White trade show. Of course, the leading lights of Italian fashion all feature on the calendar, from Armani to Dolce & Gabbana to Fendi.

The city of Milan will also host a series of major events during the week. DSquared2 will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a show on the opening night, January 10, at the former Porta Romana marshalling yard, now transformed into a huge gig venue called Social Music City.

Ermenegildo Zegna will instead take the fashion cognoscenti to the opposite, northern side of the city, in the former industrial district of Bovisa, staging a show in a decommissioned steel mill. In the same area, on Sunday, it will be the turn of Sunnei, which has opted for a TV studio as show venue. The Milanese week, which promises to be very exciting, will culminate with parties by Michael Kors, Brunello Cucinelli and GQ.