Milan Fashion Week 2021
Italy is the country that is known worldwide for its food, wine, art, cars, and fashion. If you were lucky to visit any part of Italy, or even if you didn’t, you surely noticed how every Italian is dressed in style. They seem to do it so effortlessly. Style is in their genes. This year’s world-known fashion show starts in the Italian capital of fashion on February the 23rd and ends on February 28th.
The Italian capital of fashion is found in the region of Lombardy, in the city of Milan. Every six months, this city becomes the world capital of fashion during the Milan Fashion Week. After WW2, Italy’s textile industry started to thrive, and many cities competed to become the Italian fashion capital. Milan established that position in 1958.
It was the same year that the Camera Sindicale Della Moda Italiana (The Syndical Chamber for Italian Fashion) was founded to support the organization of the first Milan Fashion Week and promote the development of Italian fashion.
This organization was the forerunner of the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana (The National Chamber for Italian Fashion), which partially organizes this fashion show today.
Twice a year, well-known and emerging designers from fashion houses from all over the world flock to Milan to present their craft. Each year in February or March, the autumn/winter fashion show is held, and in September or October, there is a spring/summer fashion show. It hosts more than 40 shows each season in locations as Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Serbelloni, and others.
Milan Fashion Week a part of the “Big Four Fashion Weeks.” This global event of fashion shows begins in New York, followed by London and Milan, and then ending in Paris. On MFW the events are dedicated to women’s fashion, and the summer events are dedicated to men’s fashion.
Since it gained its glory, this fashion show hosted major fashion houses such as Roberto Cavalli, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Fendi, Gucci, Max Mara, Moschino, Prada, Pucci, Philipp Plein, Jil Sander, Marni, Etro, and Versace.
Designer Line up
This year, the Milan fashion week schedule is organized mostly online because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and only one part of the fashion show will be opened for the public and industry. Some of the fashion houses and the fashion designers that will take part in MFW in 2021 are:
Furla
Furla features Italian-designed products such as handbags, shoes, and accessories.
The company was established in 1927 by Aldo Furlanetto in Bologna. In the early 1980s, it started to expand the Italian accessorize market and currently exports to 71 countries.
Today, the company is a limited liability company and is still owned by the Furlanetto family. Its headquarters are in a historic 18th-century villa in Bologna.
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani, also known as just Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded by Giorgio Armani in 1975. It designs haute couture – exclusive custom-fitted clothing, ready-to-wear garments, leather goods, shoes, watches, jewelry, accessories, eyewear, cosmetics, and home interiors.
All these products are found on the market as several labels: Giorgio Armani Privé, Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni, Emporio Armani, Armani Jeans, Armani Junior, and Armani Exchange.
In 2017, Giorgio Armani closed two of its fashion labels, Armani Collezioni and Armani Jeans, as a restructuring process of the company. Giorgio Armani Collezioni was merged back to the “Giorgio Armani” line, and Armani Jeans were mixed up with the “Emporio Armani” line.
Max Mara
Achille Maramotti began to design couture clothing in 1947. He founded the House of Max Mara in 1951. The name of the company emerged from the words “Mara” that came from his surname, and “Max” that referred to Count Max, a local character who was rarely sober but always stylish.
The headquarters of this fashion house is located in Reggio Emilia by Achille Maramotti. Max Mara designs up-market ready-to-wear clothing.
Even though Max Mara womenswear is the core of the company, this brand holds 35 labels such as Sportmax, Sportmax Code, Weekend Max Mara, Marella, Pennyblack, iBlues, MAX&Co. and Marina Rinaldi.
Yatay
This young company was established in 2018 as a result of merging the best Italian-made quality with green fashion technology. The result was designing comfortable and sustainable sneakers. The mission of Yatay is to prove that uncompromised quality can be achieved without sacrificing sustainability. These sneakers are PETA approved, and for each sold pair, a tree is planted.
If you would like to Milan fashion week schedule in detail, you can do that here.
Milan Style Streetwear
Have you heard about the streetwear style, but you’re not sure what it exactly means? Then you’re in the right place. Streetwear is defined as “fashionable, street clothes.” It originated in the ‘90s, in the hip-hop scenes of New York, graffiti and surf-skate culture in LA, and the nightlife of Japan. It is something that isn’t created for consumers, it style that’s created by consumers.
Understanding insights into streetwear is vital to create top-selling collections that are timeless.
Because it has community-based nature, streetwear style authorities are streetwear influencers and stylists. Streetwear style has taught luxury brands to redefine their exclusivity from high prices to exclusivity through community spirit.
And where else would you find such a refined streetwear style than in Italy and Milan? If you would love to learn more about dressing stylishly like an Italian girl, you can read this guide.
Famous Models at Milan Fashion Week
One of the moments that epitomized this fashion show was in 1991 when Versace’s supermodels Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, and Linda Evangelista strode out lip-synching to George Michael’s “Freedom! ‘90”, in which music video they appeared recently. Since those iconic days, today some of the famous models at Fashion Week are:
Vittoria Ceretti
Since Sofia Loren, Italian women are perceived as being amongst the most beautiful in the world. Today, one of the Italian models that are in the fashion spotlight is Vittoria Ceretti.
Born in 1998 in Brescia, she entered the Elite Model Look as a finalist when she was 14. Since her runway debut in the Italian city of Milan, she has modeled for Max Mara, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani, Prada, Moschino, Fendi, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, Versace, Missoni, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Chanel, Christian Dior, Miu Miu, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Yves Saint Laurent, and others.
Luna Bijl
This Dutch fashion model is known as one of the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s muses. Luna Bijl currently ranks as one of the “Top 50” models in the fashion industry. After her fashion debut in 2106, a year later, she walked for designers such as Alexander Wang, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel. She appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine eight times, including Vogue Paris.
She also appeared in campaigns for Emporio Armani, Mango, Zara, Chloé, Louis Vuitton, and Tom Ford.
Cara Taylor
Cara Taylor was born in Huntsville, Alabama. She grew up playing sports. She played volleyball, basketball and competed in the high jump in track. She was discovered via Instagram and debuted as an Alexader Wang model in 2017.
She walked for designers Alberta Ferretti, Balmain, Stella McCartney, Michael Kors, Dolce & Gabbana, Céline, Fendi, Ralph Lauren, Dior, Chanel, and Versace. She also appeared in ads for Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein, Fendi, Michael Kors, Tom Ford, Prada, Mango, Reebok, Marc Jacobs, and many others.
Summary
We went through the history of Milan Fashion Week, some of the designers that are a part of this year’s fashion show, some of the famous models, and defined what’s streetwear style. After reading this article, you’ve covered the basics of Milan Fashion Week. The next step is to buy Milan Fashion Week tickets and explore this one of the world’s fashion capital yourself!
What are your favorite Italian fashion designers? Were mentioned in this article? Share with us in the comment section.
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