Celebrations, swan songs and starting lines. As some brands fête their anniversaries this season at Milan Fashion Week (MFW), others are bracing for their next chapters, following exits, appointments and swirling rumours around the future of almost every major house.
Following the departure of Sabato De Sarno, Gucci will open fashion week with a collection from its in-house design team (the next creative director is yet to be announced). Bottega Veneta isn’t showing, in anticipation of new creative director Louise Trotter’s debut in September. And Tom Ford, which has been on the Milan schedule since Spring/Summer 2024, has decamped to Paris under new creative director Haider Ackermann.
“With less big houses involved, I’m curious to see who’ll conquer the biggest interest this season,” says Vogue Italia contributor Giorgia Feroldi.
“Every brand seems to have some uncertainty,” says Vogue Runway contributor Tiziana Cardini, who has covered MFW for many years. “There’s lots of change going on, which is unsettling on one hand, but exciting on the other. Let’s see how the brands will confront this uncertainty. Maybe they will send out fabulous collections — I’m curious to see how it develops.”
While some of the megabrands regroup, there’s still plenty to see in Milan this season, with 153 events on the agenda, including 56 physical shows and 70 presentations plus digital shows and evening events.
“I love Milan, and I love the spirit of iconic brands like Versace alongside the quieter energy of the brilliant Jil Sander and Bally,” says Net-a-Porter fashion director Kay Barron. “[Presentations from] Blazé Milano and Loro Piana have been consistently strong over the past few seasons and I’m looking forward to seeing the new collections.”
There’s cause for celebration in Milan this season. On the first night of MFW, DSquared2 will celebrate its 30-year anniversary with a co-ed show after skipping men’s fashion week in January. If previous seasons are anything to go by, we can expect the unexpected, with the possibility of food, drinks and lots of dancing, on and off the runway.
The following night, Fendi will kick off a year-long celebration of its centennial anniversary with a co-ed show and afterparty (with a yet-to-be-announced exciting line-up, per the brand). The celebration will take place in the house’s Via Andrea Solari HQ as the inaugural event in the space following renovations. Fendi womenswear and couture designer Kim Jones exited last month, leaving Silvia Venturini Fendi to preside over all corners of the business for this important milestone moment.
“I expect Fendi to be a major highlight of MFW, and surely a unique event on its own,” says Feroldi.
Lorenzo Serafini will make his debut at Alberta Ferretti, after Ferretti stepped down in September. Alberto Caliri will return to Missoni as creative director. He previously helmed the house on an interim basis after Angela Missoni — daughter of the founder — stepped down in 2021 amid a management shake-up. At Blumarine, after a pre-fall soft launch that revealed a slightly more sophisticated aesthetic, aiming to dress “the mother and the daughter”, David Koma will make his runway debut for the brand on Thursday morning. People are rooting for the Georgian designer, following a rocky couple of years for the brand (previous creative director Walter Chiapponi exited last year after just one season).
Elsewhere, online debate continues on the creative future of other Milan labels, as they undergo leadership transitions. Jil Sander appointed a new CEO, LVMH veteran Serge Brunschwig, last month. US-based investment firm Regent purchased Bally in August 2024. And Ferragamo CEO Marco Gobbetti will exit the label on 6 March (a successor is yet to be announced). Ferragamo has denied that Maximilian Davis will depart the brand; Bally said Simone Bellotti, its creative director, remains in position; Jil Sander did not respond to a request for comment. Speculation and reports also continue to circulate around the sale of Versace (some wonder, will this be Donatella’s final show?).
Editors are also watching Diesel, which was always a must-see, and now feels even buzzier following the appointment of creative director Glenn Martens at Maison Margiela (though some question whether the designer will continue at both labels; Diesel and Margiela parent company OTB said he will).
Feroldi is feeling the atmosphere of an industry mired with rumours and the broader global context. “Between the economic and political turmoil happening in the world and a downscaled show schedule pushed a week further compared to usual, I feel like this season’s fashion weeks are all kind of weird,” she says. “There’s a sense of alienation in this sort of settling period that looms over fashion.”
The new names to look out for
That said, there’s some exciting emerging names entering the fold this season, as young talents “become a distinctive feature of Milan Fashion Week”, according to Carlo Capasa, chair of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in a press conference ahead of the event. LVMH Prize 2025 semi-finalist Francesco Murano will make his runway debut on Thursday, which Italian editors have earmarked as one to watch. Murano has already won the Italian Who Is On Next Award, Cardini notes.
Eveningwear designer Giuseppe Di Morabito will make his debut on Friday. The designer, who was also a finalist of Who Is On Next, has already found commercial success with over 200 global stores. “He has a very sexy, Italian, assertive look,” says Cardini, who remembers Di Morabito’s Who Is On Next collection. “I’m very curious to see how he develops his vision.”
Another name to watch is Institution by Galib Gassanoff, Feroldi and Cardini agree. The designer co-founded luxury eveningwear label Act No1, before exiting the label in 2023 to strike out on his own. Gassanoff, who hails from Georgia, will make his solo runway debut on Friday morning.
Alongside Murano, Di Morabito and Gassanoff, Feroldi is excited for a few young names to make their returns. “Lessico Familiare has been around for quite a few seasons but it’s always very interesting to see how they are able to manage old laces and forgotten fabrics — they’ll present on Tuesday afternoon,” she says. “I’ll also be checking out Lorenzo Seghezzi’s corsetry in Fondazione Sozzani and Grossi’s denim twist technique at the Designers for the Planet area in Palazzo Giureconsulti’s Fashion Hub.”
Two choices: Stay conservative or be more daring
In terms of the collections themselves, it remains to be seen where Milan brands will fall on the commerciality-creativity spectrum this season. Since Prada reignited personal style with its algorithm-defying SS25 show and “limitless” AW25 men’s show, we’ve seen a more individualistic, fun mood across Milan labels (after a few seasons of sameness).
“In Milan, I expect to see a lot of leather, especially in outerwear, along with plenty of brown tones — particularly in Pantone’s shade of the year, mocha mousse,” says Net-a-Porter’s Barron. “Boho has been a strong trend for us over the past couple of seasons, and I anticipate its return on the runway this season, but with a more edgy twist than what we’ve seen so far. When it comes to accessories, I think we will see more oversized bags with distressed leather, lots of pockets and extremely long handles, while boots will be reaching for the stars, or at least the thigh!”
“The fashion industry still isn’t in a healthy spot, so I think that this will affect how some brands respond,” says Cardini. “Because in this situation of uncertainty, there are always two responses, either stay on the conservative side or be more daring. If customers don’t want to spend or don’t have the money to spend, brands must give them a reason. They need something that makes you dream, something that’s unpredictable.”
Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
