by Alessandra Luti – montecarlo.times.luti@gmail.com
MILAN. It was the catwalk long lasting coming back! From 21 to 27 September live runways returned for the Milan Fashion Week … the city was swarming with stylists, models, tourists and more … in Italy, the Milan Fashion Week Women’s Collection in September 2021 was a great moment of rebirth thanks to the return in presence of high-end fashion’s events. Although the catwalks have never really stopped even during the pandemic – just think of the digital shows of the previous Fashion Weeks. Dear Readers, today I am terribly happy to be sharing with you the energy and the enthusiasm so many designers put in in this spring / summer 2022 live collection after months of lockdown! Energy could be breathed in the catwalks, in the models’ enthusiasm, in the backstage, whereas Milan’s entire streets were transformed into open-air catwalks… I was ecstatically eye witnessing how wonderful Milan can be!
During the whole week spontaneous happenings were on stage everywhere – like being surrounded by models of well-known brands in Piazza Duomo – I had the pleasure of meeting Philipp Plein models and casually participate in a glamorous fashion show in the most famous fashion streets of Milan downtown. Many showrooms complemented the fashion week like the Borsalino’s where I could admire not only hats, but also leather goods and soft accessories. The Rinascente store in Milano Duomo hosted the Spring / Summer 2022 collections presenting to its customers the emerging brands AMOTEA, DES PHEMMES, FEDERICO CINA, FROY and TRAFFICO. Furthermore, many exhibitions and events have enriched Milan during the Fashion Week, like the exhibition for the 40th anniversary of the Emporio Armani brand, the event for the 20th anniversary of the Nudo collection by Pomellato, the celebration of 50 years of Chiara Boni’s career and the 60th anniversary of the Marcolin brand. Wanting to share some data, the Milan Fashion Week Women’s Collection in September 2021 boasted a calendar of 65 fashion shows (of which 2 doubles), 43 by appointment and 22 digitals; 98 presentations by appointment (77 in presence and 21 digitals) and 41 events (37 in presence and 4 digitals) for a total of 204 scheduled shows (157 in presence and 47 digitals).
Among the main novelties, we must report the return to the calendar of the Roberto Cavalli brand under the creative direction of Fausto Puglisi and the Moncler and Boss brands. Maison Margiela, Luisa Spagnoli, Hui, Vitelli, Joy Meribe and Maison Alvine Demanou made their debut for the first time with an MM6 fashion show. The Colville, Cormio, Quira, Andreadamo, Defaince by Nicola Bacchilega, Roberto Di Stefano, Aniye By, Iuri, Traffic, Radica Studio, Airin Tribal and ATXV brands were present for the first time in the calendar. All the collections are undoubtedly a concentrate of creativity and high quality like the new shi.RT S / S 2022 collection designed by Roberto Rimondi and Tommaso Aquilano characterized by the material, and by vivid, flash colors in symbiosis with optical white. The creative world of Tommaso and Roberto identify contemporary and different female personalities offering a sequence of deliberately different images. On the Milan Fashion Week 2021 sneakers could not be missing. Within the Spring Summer 2022 collection Philippe Model Paris presented La Grande, the new sneaker with a sporty DNA. Inspired by the world of basketball, La Grande wants to remember the values of team play, determination, speed, essential components for those who practice this sport. Finally, to enrich the calendar of fashion shows and events organized by the individual brands, Camera Nazionale della Moda (CNMI) has devised a series of projects. Aimed at strengthening and evolving in the system of Italian fashion is innovative and dynamic, different themes are underlining the multifaceted commitment of the association.
Among their projects, “Designers for the Planet” was the one that struck me most, being aimed to enhancing sustainability within the fashion supply chain and promoting the talent of three emerging brands engaged in the development of eco-conscious collections like Tiziano Guardini, Gilberto Calzolari and Re-generations. Underlining the key role of CNMI as a promoter and accelerator of sustainable change within the fashion system, on 21 September at 3 pm the Italian association and the Ethical Fashion Initiative of the International Trade Center, together with the United Nations Alliance for Sustainable Fashion started a digital talk. The webinar intitled “Milan Climate & Fashion Talks – A message from the Milan Fashion Week to the Milan climate preCOP26 was moderated by Claire Press. Carlo Capasa (CNMI President), Simone Cipriani (Head – Ethical Fashion Initiative and Chairman of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion) and some representatives of United Nations agencies discussed sustainability issues in anticipation of the COP26 summits, scheduled in October. 
