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On Sunday afternoon, a couple of hours after the Prada show, London menswear star Martine Rose will make her Milan Fashion Week men’s debut — an important step in her ambitious growth journey.
This will be her first runway show at a big four fashion week outside of London. While post-Brexit London still has a reputation for its fashion schools and creativity, it is not viewed as the best launchpad for international success. Milan, meanwhile, has been vying with Paris for the title of Europe’s fashion capital — drawing buyers and press from around the globe to its blockbuster shows. It makes sense for a designer like Rose at this stage in her career, though she flags that she will return to showing in London in the future.
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It’s not Rose’s first outing abroad. The designer, who received a majority stake investment from Tomorrow Ltd in 2021, was guest designer at Italian trade show Pitti Uomo in January 2023. She returned to London later that year for the Spring/Summer 2024 season, showing in St Joseph’s Parish Centre in Highgate, North London, in tribute to the community centres and the youth clubs where young people would hold club nights back in the day. Last season, Rose took a more intimate approach, presenting a film for “friends and family” in Paris.
I sat down with Rose ahead of her show, to understand the plan for Milan.
Vogue: The industry is excited to see you in Milan. How is show preparation going?
I’m sort of excited to see me in Milan! I’m feeling calmer than I thought I would feel at this stage. It seems to have come together quite quickly.
Vogue: I remember you saying [showing at Pitti] was really beneficial for the brand. Did that experience lead you to Milan?
It definitely broke the seal. It was the first time that we’d shown abroad, so it was a big learning curve. It gave us the confidence that we could do it, we can be seen outside of London and still be understood. After that first big transition, we then showed the film in Paris last season, which was another confidence boost.
Vogue: Why Milan and why now?
Last season, the whole concept was about friends and family and this feeling of familiarity. This season, we wanted to make it really easy for the buyers, the press, everyone, to have access. This one is presenting directly to the industry. I remember being quite surprised by Pitti. I just didn’t realise the reach. For Milan, I want lots of people there and new people that haven’t seen [Martine Rose], who haven’t come to one of our shows before. I want to see what the response is.
And of course I’m partnering with Tomorrow, and they’re based in Milan. So part of my business — the sales team — is already there. It feels natural.
Vogue: Will this show be bigger than last season?
Last season was quite small. We always cram as many people in as possible, but it was only about 250. This season it’s nearly double the size.
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Vogue: I know for your London shows, the venue is always really important to you, whether it’s a market, your daughter’s school or a local community centre. Where did you decide to show in Milan?
Well, the whole concept is really different. When we went to Italy last time, we wanted to do what we did in London but do it in Italy. It was about finding a surprising location, leaning into Italian culture. This time, we wanted somewhere totally blank, so a location that didn’t particularly evoke emotion in and of itself. The concept that we are bringing is going to be the transforming element. The building is not of any particular importance, either historical or cultural. It’s a fairly neutral, blank space. I’m sure that has been used for lots of shows before. It’s what we’re going to do with the space in terms of the build and everything there, that’s what’ll be exciting.
Vogue: What inspired this shift?
We’re referencing ourselves a lot. Looking back at the archives and asking a lot of questions. What have I explored in the past? What am I currently into exploring? I asked myself and my team, where do we find beauty? Where did you find beauty in the past? What is the current landscape? What is being proposed by lots of people? What are we proposing that’s in contrast to that or can exist alongside that?
I don’t want to fall into a pattern of finding a formula and just going, ‘That’s my formula, people like it, so I’ll do it again.’ As a creative person I don’t find that particularly inspiring. I’m assuming that if I find it repetitive, other people might too. I trust that people are willing to go on a journey with me.
Vogue: If it’s a departure from what we’re used to from you, what can we expect to see?
The last few seasons we’ve done shows have been very particular in terms of the location, as you said, the location has been very symbolic. The casting has been very symbolic, it’s been about characters. You can feel the person and you can recognise that person. So I wanted to push myself and I wanted to ask myself other questions [this season]. I’m still very interested in those things, but I wanted to go beyond that.
A lot of fashion is very polished. It’s about the product and the finished vision. But I also find beauty in a looseness. I’m really inspired by ideas that aren’t particularly finished. I hope that’ll be the feeling that people take from the show. I’m hoping that what we can create is a sense of unexpectedness. When you walk into space, it’s not going to immediately make sense. It’s not necessarily going to feel like a show space. It’s going to feel a bit undone, a bit messy.
Vogue: That’s interesting to do that in Milan, where it’s so buttoned-up, with such a focus on tailoring.
Yeah, exactly. We asked ourselves, ‘How can we give something that is not buttoned-up and polished?’ Particularly because people are coming straight from Prada, which is so done up and well finished. It’s so beautiful. So it’s going to be a real contrast to that, which I think is a good thing.
Vogue: The time we spoke, this time last year, you’d been to Pitti in January and I asked would you go to other cities again and would you ever leave London permanently? You said you’d always be back to London like a boomerang. Is that still the case?
Oh, always. Always! I’ll have a little holiday somewhere else, but I’ll always come home.
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