MILAN – Meet a pool of new international brands and emerging labels that are joining the Milan Fashion Week schedule to unveil their spring 2025 collections.
Retori
Founder and creative director: Salma Rachid
Year of foundation: 2024
Brand philosophy and mission: Drawing its name from the word “rhetoric,” the art of storytelling, the label pivots around engaging in dialogue with a diverse community of artists. Through Made in Italy collections — encompassing women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories — Rachid and her team want to reinterpret and spotlight the personal stories of international talents who have overcome adversity with courage and transformed obstacles into opportunities for growth. The ultimate goal is to display these narratives combined with the artistry of fashion and high craftsmanship.
Related Articles
Inspiration for spring 2025: The Chapter 01 collection is the result of the first two dialogues of the brand, which has taken cues from the story and work of African-American textile artist Diedrick Brackens and El Salvador-born painter Daniella Portillo to deliver sophisticated and functional separates cut from gentle silhouettes that are meant to be layered. Inspired by Portillo’s dreamy landscape and Brackens’ vividly colored tapestries, the rich palette of earthy tones includes mustard yellow, dusty pink, burgundy and forest green.
You May Also Like
Key pieces in the collection: Cocooning shawl-collared overcoats, blazers and reversible parkas gently enveloping the silhouette; cotton gabardine trenches with built-in scarves to be draped around the shoulders; feminine wrap dresses in double silk that can also be worn as breezy trenchcoats atop fluid pants; elongated knit dresses, from apron and vest styles to hooded tunic designs in checkered patterns inspired by Brackens’ intricate tapestries; textured knit and woven underpinnings as well as overshirts and safari jackets evoking Portillo’s mastery in juxtaposing different hues; tailoring including double-breasted jackets paired with sartorial cargo pants crafted from shimmering textiles for her and travel-ready linen suits for him.
Average retail price: 1,000 to 1,500 euros.
Key stockists: Harrods in London; Al Duca D’Aosta in Venice and Padova, Italy; Beymen in Istanbul; Takashimaya in Tokyo and Osaka; Stanley Korshak in Dallas; Luxury Stores in Bratislava.
Di Stavnitser
Founder and creative director: Diana Stavnitser
Year of foundation: 2023
Brand philosophy and mission: The Ukrainian brand aims to offer an effortless approach to dressing and promote the concept of “vintage-to-be” by creating uncomplicated clothes inspired by travels and art and intended to transcend seasons with their combination of new and vintage elements.
“I want women to work, create, build and always look perfect without worrying about little things like irons and hangers,” said the founder. “That’s how I come up with my designs. First comes convenience — no complicated care routines, no heavy, non-breathable fabrics or easily wrinkled elements. Then comes versatility… The third element is details: unique vintage elements that will make you memorable for weeks,” said Stavnitser about hand picking and incorporating fragments of vintage jewelry or repurposing old silk ties in her creations.
Inspiration for spring 2025: The designer’s travel to Japan and the country’s philosophy of minimalism, restraint and balanced modesty, which does not simplify but rather emphasizes the sense of style. “Japanese women are incredibly well-groomed, impeccably neat, while maintaining an air of effortless calm. Their meticulous attention to detail speaks from afar about their focus, reliability, and qualities that make you want to look up to them,” said Stavnitser, who aimed at channeling the same spirit in her understated collection.
Key pieces in the collection: The lineup features free cuts and simple, elongated silhouettes, intended to dress different body types. Crafted from an array of fabrics — including linen, cotton, muslin and silk — the designs exude a sense of lightness and imperfection, as seen in a cream wrap dress; a crisp boiler suit cut in loose proportions and cinched at the waist, as well as in raw hems and unfinished details running through tops and pants.
Average retail price: From 500 euros to 3,500 euros.
Key stockists: Antonia in Milan; Illum in Copenhagen; Avart in Lugano, Switzerland.
Gio Giovanni Gerosa
Founder and creative director: Giovanni Gerosa
Year of foundation: 2021
Brand philosophy and mission: Gerosa launched the brand as a way to creatively express his colorful world, feelings and personal journey but in a sustainable and environmentally respectful way. Hence the decision to create only one collection a year — each dubbed as a numbered chapter and strongly hinging on knitwear — celebrating local craftsmanship as developed in collaboration with small-sized companies and produced only on-demand.
Inspiration for spring 2025: The impetus for the brand’s Chapter VI collection was amber, an element Gerosa has a strong personal connection to as its scent reminds him of his mother, Anna, and evokes his childhood memories.
Key pieces in the collection: An expansion of the brand’s signature bandana shawls and colorful cardigans with fringed details, here worked in extra-long proportions, is flanked by the introduction of new designs like knitted bomber jackets, as well as new shapes in silk and linen, such as silk slipdresses and billowing printed frocks.
Average retail price: Around 650 euros.
Key stockists: Biffi in Milan; Addict in Nice; Saint Barth Caravan in Saint-Barthélemy; Arev Hotel in Saint-Tropez; Quinta da Comporta boutique resort in Portugal; Bollicine in Mykonos; Caravana in Dubai; Last resort in Los Angeles; Chileno Bay Auberge Resort in Mexico.
J. Salinas
Founder and creative director: Jorge Luis Salinas Alarcon
Year of foundation: 2016
Brand philosophy and mission: Hinged on injecting currency into Peruvian traditional weaving techniques, the brand has nurtured strong ties with local artisans — their names, such as Agripina Aguilar, Vilma Aldana, Deisy Callahua and Elizabeth Murga often divulged when describing the pieces they personally hand-made. While fostering the country’s craft tradition, the brand offers them a broader stage to express their creativity plied into flamboyant and feel-good womenswear designs.
Inspiration for spring 2025: Founder Salinas Alarcon drew inspiration from a childhood trip to the Amazon forest, which he said has profoundly influenced his life. Referencing the lush vegetation and fauna of the region, the collection is rich in natural-driven patterns and colors, inspired by fish scales, orchids and florals, the Peruvian macaw and the local wildlife in a colorful lineup defined by uncomplicated knitted sundresses and short frocks, flowing organza gowns and leather pieces.
Key pieces in the collection: The crocheted pieces include a yellow dress crafted from Peruvian Pima cotton knitted in flowers pierced together by hand; a short turquoise, green and white peplum-skirted frock, and a jumpsuit in knitted cotton.
Average retail price: Prices range from $700 for tops to $4,500 for coats.
Key stockists: Currently sold direct-to-consumer via bespoke orders, the brand is in talks with international retailers.
Sprayground
Founder and creative director: David Ben David
Year of foundation: 2010
Brand philosophy and mission: Described by founder Ben David as “a creative playground for one’s wildest imagination through a design process that pushes the boundaries of originality,” Sprayground was established as an accessories brand, gaining a following in the streetwear and skating community with its original backpack designs, before expanding into a full-fledged fashion brand.
Inspiration for spring 2025: The spring 2025 collection “merges a few emotions and aesthetics, such as fun, color, vibrancy, travel, confidence,” said Ben David. Working around its hero accessories upcycled and morphed into flamboyant ready-to-wear pieces, the collection is articulated in chapters celebrating the brand’s different souls, all rooted in Americana, from New York’s streetwear and street art scenes to the flashy glitz of Las Vegas, through to military inflections and the preppy look.
Key pieces in the collection: The brand’s bag designs are seamlessly reengineered into avant-garde fashion creations such as a gaming-nodding backpack whose fasteners and decorations are turned into prints for a minidress worn with a matching white ruffled cape, or a grunge tote bag inspiring a leather outerwear piece that is a combination of a duster coat with the top half shaped like a biker jacket covered in studs and lined in tartan.
Average retail price: Bags retail between $80 and $200 while ready-to-wear are priced between $1,200 and $7,900.
Key stockists: Bloomingdale’s; Nordstrom; Rinascente, and LuisaViaRoma in Italy; No one in Moscow; Tip de Bruin in Amsterdam.
BruceGlen
Founders and creative directors: Bruce and Glen Proctor
Year of foundation: 2020
Brand philosophy and mission: The designers describe the brand’s ethos as “joy filled, sustainable and intentional.” On and off for the past 17 years, the duo has relaunched the BruceGlen brand as it is known today in 2020.
Inspiration for spring 2025: The collection, titled “Out of the Blue,” is about seizing the serendipity of “suddenly moment,” the designers said in e-mailed remarks. “This thinking gives way to hope and activates the imagination. Dreaming is not futile. The collection is, as always, colorful and imaginative. It’s child-like but not childish,” they wrote.
Key pieces in the collection: Graphic prints, warped checks, sequins, and scribble motifs are all combined together in single outfits, the colorful kaleidoscope splashed on shirt dresses, primrose frocks, silky shirts, and body-con miniskirts.
Average retail price: From $75 for T-shirts to $395 for maxidresses
Key stockists: Saks and Shopbop.