Milan Fashion Week
Milan Fashion Week is one of the "Big Four" fashion weeks alongside New York, London and Paris Fashion Weeks. Spring collections are historically shown in September, while fall collections are historically shown in February. Milan falls as a the third major fashion week during Fashion Month, following New York and London, and before Paris. The main venue for Milan Fashion Week is the Milan Fashion Hub, though many designers show off-site.
In 1958, the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italia (National Chamber of Italian Fashion) was formed, with a mission to promote Italian design. Italian brands began to rise in prominence because they were more affordable than their Parisian counterparts.
At the time, many of Italy's major cities were in competition with each other for who would become Italy's fashion capital. Milan began to edge out some of its competitors, like Rome and Florence, thanks to strong links to manufacturing and the growth in ready-to-wear. In the '70s and '80s, the success of Milan-based designers, including Giorgio Armani and Gianni Versace, helped to solidify Milan's place as a fashion capital.
Versace, in particular, drew attention to Milan during fashion week, casting supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford in his shows.
Today, many major brands show collections at Milan Fashion Week, including Gucci, Fendi, Bottega Veneta, Missoni, Ferragamo and Etro, as well as Giorgio Armani and Versace.
Historic moments at Milan Fashion Week have included Tom Ford's 1994 debut show for Gucci, which began a revival for the then-stagnant brand. There was also Miuccia Prada's 1996 show featuring dull greens, browns and purples, contributing to the ugly-chic era of '90s fashion. More recently, at Versace's spring 2018 runway show, Donatella Versace brought back the '90s with the era's supermodels, including Crawford, Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni and Helena Christensen, who walked in the show.
Milan Fashion Week
Ermanno Scervino RTW Fall 2019
The collection was meticulously crafted and fully telegraphed Italian craftsmanship and luxury.
Elisabetta Franchi RTW Fall 2019
The collection was permeated with Sixties, Mod references.
Giorgio Armani RTW Fall 2019
"It's time for elegance again," the designer told WWD backstage.
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Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini RTW Fall 2019
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Amber Valletta also sat front row.
Alberto Biani RTW Fall 2019
The brand embraced a softer and lighter approach to inject a new twist into its refined collection.
Salvatore Ferragamo RTW Fall 2019
Paul Andrew delivered one of his strongest women's collections to date, with lightweight fabrics and leather…
Les Copains RTW Fall 2019
The knitwear specialist paid tribute to the Bauhaus movement with a capsule collection of chunky knits in…
Tiziano Guardini RTW Fall 2019
Green fabrics and animal motifs defined the designer's collection.
Dondup RTW Fall 2019
Dondup paid tribute to the glittery flapper girls in "The Great Gatsby" for fall 2019.