The Italian fashion industry is planning to thrust optimism into the terrible year of luxury, with Milan Fashion Week bringing a hybrid show of 23 live runways and 37 digital presentations.
The leading Italian fashion houses Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana and Blumarine kicked off the first day of the show with mostly womenswear and previews for the coming spring and summer today and later this week Max Mara, Salvatore Ferragamo and Valentino will be joining the runway which has been changed from its usual venue Paris, due to the pandemic.
The luxury brands Giorgio Armani, Versace and Prada which is debuting its first association between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons chose for a virtual show.
Nicola Brognano Creative Director Blumarine
“ I respect what the other brands decided to do, but we felt we needed to do a runway show. We wanted to give a sign of positivity. We need a little normalcy. I don’t think there has emerged a means of expression stronger than a runway show. It has everything.”
The show will be held under strict rules to ensure that proper social distancing is maintained and models are wearing masks while the on the stage, backend or in the lineup. Some fashion houses have even asked the attendees to provide a self-declaration that they have not been exposed to the coronavirus and have no symptoms.
The live shows can act as a lifesaver from the current economic turmoils, as the fashion houses expect to create anticipation over the collections presented and thus improve sales. The fashion council of Italy is expecting a 29 percent dip in the annual revenue due to the pandemic which can be nearly $58 billion compared to last year.
Carlo Capasa, the president of the Italian national Fashion Chamber says that she expects only hundreds of buyers in the spring-summer 2021 collection instead of the thousands in previous years.
