Fashion week’s return to Milan was reminiscent of pre-covid times, and with it came some incredible events that shook up the world of fashion and brought out ideas that left us all inspired.
Fendace
The fashion world was completely shaken over the collaboration between Fendi and Versace. The creative directors of each house designed pieces for the other house, creating a collection titled Fendace. Fendi and Versace are integral parts of the history of Italy, and though they are always seen as competitors, they came together to appreciate each other and show respect for each other. If you want an in-depth review of the event, check out my review here.
Gucci Vault
Gucci, like other fashion brands, did not do a traditional fashion show but rather presented their new initiative called the Gucci Vault. Wallpaper explains it as “a creative-laboratory-come-online-space which boasts a range of limited pieces from emerging brands, plus pre-loved vintage Gucci items source by the brand’s specialist in-house archivists. This digital platform, designed to celebrate the upcoming talent and the longevity of rare design, features collaborations with a host of global labels, including Stefan Cooke, Collina Strada, and Rave Review, and is an impactful way for a luxury brand to create dialogues with other emerging designers,” (WallPaper). The creative director of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, adds, “Vault is the place where wonders will hybridize and come together, giving life to new creations. Gucci’s greatest gift, in the end, is to never stay the same; to never grow old.” I always appreciate large designers coming to help up-and-coming talent as they have the resources and infrastructure to help budding designers. I am very excited to see what the future holds for the Vault and how they help new talent.
Dua Lipa opens for Versace
Dua Lipa, the international pop star known for her hit songs “Levitating” and “Don’t Start Now,” has been donning Versace looks on the red carpet for a while now and has recently become a close collaborator with the brand. She has become their ambassador as well lent her songs to them for events, so it was no surprise to see her open this season’s Versace show. She definitely stuck out as the “non-model” of the group by her runway walk, but that is in no way bad because she held her own and was radiant. She donned multiple looks during the show and, overall, did a great job. It is pretty rare to see celebrities be models for fashion houses, but I quite liked this new approach of making your ambassadors part of the show.
Moncler’s Global Fashion Show
Just like every other fashion house and company, Moncler wanted to have a fashion show that was innovative, unique, and caught the attention of everyone. Well, they succeeded in that goal tenfold as they created a fashion show that connected the world digitally and through fashion. Wallpaper reported, “For Moncler’s latest Genius spectacle, featuring innovative collections from 11 brands, including JW Anderson, Palm Angels and Hyke, the label staged an immersive phygital live-streamed event spanning five cities: Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and New York. In Milan, guests watched from a film studio location, as host Alicia Keys appeared IRL, interacting with Shanghai host Victoria Song via a huge screen, and presenting 11 collection films, which were showcased one by one,” (Wallpaper). I found this delivery so genius and a new attempt at livestreaming and digitizing fashion.
The overall theme of this season in Milan was definitely innovation and collaboration. And I truly do not think a better theme could have been chosen to bring fashion back into normalcy because the world of fashion has always thrived on innovation and collaboration, but this past year has shown us how important it truly is.
