Milan Fashion Week: Fashion Is Invincible

At the end of September, Milan, Italy, which has no fashion waves since the outbreak, has been rippling with the opening of Milan Fashion Week Spring and summer 2021 series. This year, there are 64 fashion shows in Milan fashion week, of which 23 are offline shows and 41 are online shows. Brands that choose Offline shows account for more than one third of the total schedule of the fashion week. In addition, according to the requirements of the Fashion Week Organizing Committee, brand shows need to limit the number of visitors to the show to ensure social distance and public safety. At Dolce & Gabbana's show, the audience dressed their leopard cocktail dresses with Embroidered Black Lace masks; in previous years, Fendi's show usually packed 1500 guests, but this year only 130 were able to stay. When the photographer asked model Rita ora to get close to the front row to have a close photo with Kim Jones, Fendi's newly appointed women's clothing art director, she was quickly stopped by the security guard on the scene and restored a safe social distance of two meters.

Cheer up and rebuild confidence

In this year's four traditional fashion weeks, almost a full brand online virtual fashion show was held in New York field; while in London field, brand designers mostly choose to meet a group of fashion editors to introduce the new products of the season; while the Paris Fashion Week in October arranged 20 sporadic shows, which is expected to be inevitable without the participation of many international audiences A little cold. At present, the epidemic situation in Europe has been basically controlled, but people still face the pressure from the second round of epidemic. The "Online + offline" catwalk mode, social distance and flow control have gradually become the standard "new normal" of fashion week.

On the eve of Milan fashion week, the headline of the French media "Figaro" predicted that the fashion week would end in a "fiasco", and listed some indirect evidence, such as Bottega Veneta, Gucci and Jil Sander is only a spectator in this season, not on the show; Versace and Prada have changed from physical show to online show; entity show must keep social distance; tourists from Europe are facing return isolation, etc.

Versace show at Milan Fashion Week Spring / summer 2021. Picture vision China

Many people who celebrate the first season of fashion in Milan are not allowed to celebrate the success of fashion. "Milan is fashion." Carlo Capasa, President of the Italian Fashion Association, said at a recent press conference that Milan fashion week, as a revival of the fashion industry, has a deeper symbolic significance. "At Milan Fashion Week in February this year, Giorgio Armani immediately made headlines around the world when he announced the cancellation of catwalks. Now that Italy is more successful than most of Europe in fighting the second wave of the epidemic, this season's Milan Fashion Week is an opportunity to show the world that Italy is back in business. "

But overall, this season's Milan Fashion Week has held more physical shows than New York and London shows. The data shows that people's enthusiasm and confidence in fashion are recovering. This season, Milan fashion week also has a lot of brand big moves, you can see the first appearance of the new partner of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons; Italy's most famous brand Valentino has also given up Paris fashion week and returned to the embrace of Milan fashion week. Japanese designer tomo koizuma will also open the cooperation series with Emilio Pucci. Other top brands, such as Max Mara, Etro, Salvatore Ferragamo and Alberta Ferretti, have been staying together, firmly pushing the gears of Italy's fashion industry, which has been out of service for several months.

The fact that the Italian Chamber of Commerce President, Juan Carlos, is wrong. Now we have to get together and find a new way forward. Because behind all the fashions we see, there are people's livelihood that we must strive to protect. At fashion week, there was some kind of competition between us, but in the end we were the same organism and we wanted everyone to succeed. "

Creativity goes forward, wonderful

Although Italy's fashion industry has been closed for nearly half a year, the wonderful ideas of various brands have never stopped.

One of the most eye-catching shows was the Prada spring and summer 2021 series launch, which brought Raf Simons to Prada's debut. At the Milan Fashion Week in February this year, Raf Simons, a well-known designer from Belgium, joined Miuccia Prada's brand of the same name as the co creative director of Miuccia Prada. His statement immediately aroused the whole fashion circle. For the fashion industry, this is the first time in history that two top designers work for one brand, and many people in the industry are also full of expectations for Prada, which brings together two top fashion giants. The Prada show takes the form of offline show without audience and online broadcast. On the T-stage, the sparks of design inspiration burst out in the bright Narcissus yellow throughout the clothing theme and the show environment. The two designers unanimously redefined the daily work clothes as simple, exquisite and wearable, focusing on the minimalist design style as a whole, maintaining the consistent retro and elegant style. Prada used to prefer more "standard" fashion silhouettes, often with relatively short square. This season, we can see that models manually fasten off the shoulder coats with special silhouettes. The logo of Prada, the trademark of the brand, can be seen everywhere at the neckline and other parts. The flying hem of the skirt and the soft satin high-heeled shoes can be seen from Raf Simons. In addition to the eye-catching Prada logo Triangle Earrings and a 1990's style handbag with Prada's usual fabric nylon, these details highlight Raf Simons' thoughtfulness everywhere. The model has never been on the t-show before. All the short films are clean and tidy. At the end of the film, the two designers interviewed, answered questions from fans from all over the world and talked about the results of their cooperation in the next few years.

Just as Prada used this season's Milan fashion week to open a new chapter, Fendi closed the old chapter. On September 9, British designer Kim Jones was officially appointed the artistic director of Fendi women's wear and will continue to be the artistic director of Dior men's wear. Silvia Venturini Fendi, the current design director of Fendi's founding family, will continue to be the art director of the brand's men's wear and accessories series. Therefore, this season's spring and summer 2021 series is Silvia's last personal collection before Kim Jones officially takes over. "The future is built on the past, just as tradition is passed from generation to generation in a family," Silvia said at a pre show press conference So in this transitional period, she went back to the core concept of "family" as the theme of the farewell show. Fendi chose to physically contact the audience face to face in the form of men's and women's wear shows this season. The soft white sofa and white linen curtain flutter on the scene, creating a comfortable and natural space like home. The invitation letter was replaced by a box of Fendi pasta, with a recipe for lemon sauce by Adele Fendi, the co-founder. It was as kind as a family gift. On the runway, the brand has also fulfilled its recognition and commitment to the diversity of models. Ashley Graham, who has recently become a mother, and Penelope tree and Yasmin Le Bon, who are 70 and 55 years old respectively, are confident to show off the fresh and soft new series design of this season. In terms of style, it mainly focuses on comfortable cotton and hemp materials and natural color system, with loose and comfortable as the key words, without too much decoration, and decoration is only partially focused on details. As pure white and peaceful as a Roman sculpture, Silvia left a dreamlike farewell. Kim Jones, who took over from the late "Buddha" Karl Lagerfeld, will be released as Fendi's first series in February.

If it's not news that there is no audience at fashion week now, MOSCHINO's approach may be worth reporting - because they don't even have models for their big shows. Jeremy Scott, design director of MOSCHINO, an Italian fashion brand full of creativity and imagination, has tailored 40 30 inch puppet models to pay tribute to Gao Ding by hand. The puppet was inspired by the T-shirt finale of "fashion Theatre" in 1945. "I love working with puppets very much and I'm proud of the show." "I miss the experience of working with real models and the energy that attracts the real audience and all of us together," Jeremy told CNN style. I hope we can work face to face again soon. "

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