Milan Fashion Week Review and Highlights
Hello and welcome to the 14th issue of moderated, a newsletter created to dive into insights and phenomenons in the Fashion Industry. It also has a curation and summary of the most talked last week’s events of the industry, offering further readings for more details.
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In this week’s moderated, I did a review of the highlights from the Milan Fashion Week, bringing the main shows and videos released during the event - with some of my opinions about them.
But before we jump into the main article, check the last week’s recap of the Fashion Industry.
Last Week’s Recap
Jacquemus, Dolce & Gabbana and Etro Held Physical Fashion Shows With Guests
Last week, three brands held physical shows with guests. Jacquemus made its runway show at wheatfields with around 100 guests, just after Paris Men’s Fashion Week was over. Every guest received a bag with a mask, hydroalcoholic gel, and water. During Milan Fashion Week, two other labels decided to come back to physical shows. Dolce & Gabbana staged the show at Milan’s Humanitas University, where the research for a coronavirus vaccine is currently taking place. The brand had 260 guests, who were mostly but not exclusively Italian and had to wear masks and stay 1 meter away from each other at all times. Etro, which was the first of the three brands to return to physical, made to the news more due to the controversy of having guests than about its garments. Always inspired by the world of travel, Etro held the show at the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan and guests had to use masks at all times.
The live physical shows suffered a backlash from the press and social media and were considered by many an out of touch and irresponsible move of the brands. Professor Benjamin Simmenauer from Institut Français de la Mode stated that “a physical show right now is a bet that pays off in terms of visibility but it’s a risky one”. Indeed, for Dolce & Gabbana and especially Etro, the critics surpassed the visibility of the collection. However, Jacquemus was less called out for the physical show, and more acclaimed for the collection itself, demonstrating that maybe it’s all about getting used to it again. There are still upcoming physical shows with guests during the next weeks, such as Valentino, Dior, and Louis Vuitton. On the sequence, Copenhagen will be the first fashion week to go back to physical format.
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Salvatore Ferragamo Increases Prices by 5-7% Due to Covid-19 Impact
According to Reuters, due to the demand and revenues drop during the coronavirus crisis, Salvatore Ferragamo decided to raise prices of some of its luxury goods by 5% to 7%. The changes will be applied in all regions where the brand is present. The brand’s sales fell by nearly a third in the first three months of 2020. Salvatore Ferragamo is joining other rivals that also increased prices since the beginning of the virus outbreak, such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, and Prada.
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Keeping Track of Covid-19 Financial Crisis Impact
The British Fashion Council warns that around 240,000 jobs are expected to be lost the UK’s fashion industry.
Ted Baker may cut around 500 jobs in Britain from its London headquarters and stores, which is a quarter of the brand’s UK workforce.
Burberry to cut 500 jobs, 150 of them from its UK head offices, in order to save £55 million.
Macy’s executives get US$9 million in bonuses after the company announces 3,900 jobs cut.
Milan Fashion Week Review
July was a month with Haute Couture Fashion Week, Paris Men’s Fashion Week and at last the Milan Fashion Week. Paris was quite small and most major brands didn’t take part in the digital event. Therefore, I decided to do a review of the Milan Fashion Week, which had many great and not so great moments.
The event was mostly digital, with brands releasing videos to present their man’s and womenswear collections. However, Etro and Dolce & Gabbana decided to take the risk of being the first major houses to hold physical shows. Many news vehicles pointed out the brands’ decision of going back to the traditional fashion show format as at least unnecessary. The approach made the media of the shows more about the physical aspect and guests' safety than about the collections themselves. I talked about physical shows in the last week’s recap, so here I will focus on the other collection presentations.
Another aspect of this fashion week was the sensation of chaos: each brand followed their instinct on how, when, and which collections to present (there were men’s women’s, resorts and etc). These unstable times are still dividing opinions on the timing and format of fashion weeks. But let’s take a look at the Milan Fashion Week highlights that I separated for you.
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Gucci’s 12-hour Presentation
On the last day of Milan Fashion Week, Gucci presented the conclusive chapter of the creative director Alessandro Michele's narrative, which began in the fall show presented in February. Called Gucci Epilogue, the collection was presented in a 12-hour live stream available on several platforms worldwide. The Epilogue narrative was dedicated to reverse and recreate the ritual of designing, making, staging, and viewing a fashion show. Back in February, the guests entered the backstage before the actual show started. This time, the models wearing the garments were the designers that made them. The length of the presentation – 12 hours – is because Michele decided to show the whole preparation of the digital show.
The aesthetic is signature Alessandro Michele, but you can feel the freshness slowly coming to the brand, as if he was preparing to shift the design narrative very soon. The show was also the end of Gucci’s participation in the traditional fashion calendar and the beginning of a new seasonless phase for the Italian brand, which was announced back in May.
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Versace ‘Flash Collection’ With Aj Tracey
Versace just served us with a teaser during Fashion Week – but WHAT a teaser. Donatella Versace brought the British rapper and songwriter Aj Tracey to perform an unreleased song called “Step on”, along the model Anok Yai serving dance moves (our gif muse). The whole video had a 00’s feeling and nailed with a simple plot and production. The performance, which was filmed in a warehouse during the campaign shooting, served to present the upcoming brand’s Flash Collection that came out on this Monday. Amid the minimalist wave in fashion, Versace did as usual: ignored the trends and just kept its audacity in a fun capsule collection with pop references.
The collection will be available in two drops, one in August and the other in November. The Flash Collection concept came from Donatella’s idea to create more often smaller collections with faster production and delivery. The purpose of this strategy is to reduce overproduction and waste, while also avoiding the current discounting sales cycle.
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DSquared2 Did the Bare Minimum - and It Was Good
Dsquared2 made a video that invited the audience to a behind the scenes experience of its collection's shooting, while the brand’s designers Dean and Dan Caten explained each section in a very relax and informal atmosphere. The video format was functional in showing the garments, but left consumers wanting more from the presentation, especially from the captivating interaction of the Caten twins. The clothes reflected one of the main fashion industry’s insights during the lockdown: usability. As Dan explained:
“There has been a lot of ‘too much. People don’t need all that stuff (…) Say you go to Mykonos in summer, what you’ll find are down jackets and no bathing suits. There’s no logic. Bring back the logic! Buy it—wear it!”
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Salvatore Ferragamo’s Tribute to Its History
Salvatore Ferragamo’s presentation of its pre-spring 2021 women’s and men’s collection was made with a video that went way beyond showing the pieces. The video was a tribute to the brand’s history, heritage, craftsmanship, and Tuscany. The video had many remarkable moments, such as images of the namesake founder Salvatore Ferragamo, beautiful locations of the dreamy Tuscany, the creation of the new pieces, and finally, the models wearing the collection at Tuscany’s luxury resort Forte dei Marmi. The video also highlighted the brand’s Green Carpet Fashion Award in 2018.
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Sunnei Had Fun With Technology
The Milanese brand Sunnei made a video with cartoonish male and female avatars dancing to the 90s hit ‘Macarena’ while wearing the new collection. Even though the clothes were not presented as realistically as they could be, it was a fun presentation.
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Alberta Ferretti Showed Love for Italy
Alberta Ferretti presented her collection in a video with models wearing the pieces against images of Italy. The format kept the focus on the garments while sharing a new national pride that resurged in Italy after the country was one of the first ones to be strongly affected by the pandemic. As the designer, Alberta Ferretti, stated: “We’ve been taking for granted all the beauty the Gods have given us”. The resort collection was all about an optimistic future, with bright colours and monochromatic looks, as explained by the creator:
“Maybe there aren’t many occasions to have fun yet, grand parties or glamorous evenings. But I’m sure women still want to celebrate, to feel beautiful and special after this time of social isolation. We want to restart and to dream again.”
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Prada Multiple Views
To present its Spring/Summer 2021 Multiple Views collection, Prada released five films directed by five different artists from around the world. The interesting approach aimed to give a similar sensation of a traditional fashion show, in which each observer has a different perspective on the collection. As the house stated:
“This is an embracing and celebration of that multiplicity - when people cannot commune, we can establish a different type of community, united through ideas, goals, beliefs.”
The collection itself mixed couture references, with a sporty interpretation with a few elements borrowed from lingerie – all with a lot of juxtaposition. This Vogue article made a compilation of the five videos.
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Andrea Pomplio Artsy Production
Instead of presenting a new spring collection, Andrea Pomplio gave some creative freedom to the director Giulia Achenza to make a short film that translated the designer’s mixed feelings during the lockdown. He showed a more intimate aspect of his aesthetic linked to anxiety, incredulity, and self-awareness. The clothes will be fully unveiled in September.
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Philosophy, Ermanno Scervino and Vivetta Had Model in Nice Locations
The three brands Philosophy, Ermanno Scervino and Vivetta produced nice videos for the Milan Fashion Week. Unfortunately, the productions fell a bit flat once all followed the simple concept of models at nice locations wearing the clothes. Philosophy by Lorenzo Serafini had the Dutch model Luna Bijl having fun around the luxury resort L’Albereta while wearing beautiful garments. Ermanno Scervino video had models striking poses at the brand’s botanic garden with airy dresses, suit sets, and a last striking gown. Vivetta presented the bucolic, nostalgic, and feminine resort collection in a video with girls interacting with each other in and outdoors. The videos were beautiful, the clothes were nice, but they missed the chance of having a plus.
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