On my way to Paris for Fashion Week a couple of years ago, one of my best friends and I were talking about how people always had Milan as the Fashion capital of the World, “when it is actually Paris“, my friend said, “it will change soon, once people realize they need, somehow, to quit the tradition of calling Milan like that“. Of course, I was new in town and from the other side of the world, but in my opinion there was never doubt about Milano as a Fashion Capital.
With all their tailoring and amazing designers such as Elsa Schiaparelli, Gianni Versace, Miuccia Prada and Riccardo Tisci, to name a few, and their focus to preserve the femininity and personality of the women style, and actually, the fact, that in every single street in Milan, you can breath fashion. For me, at some point, it became ridiculous how people looked like they were taken out from a cover of Vogue, whether it is Duomo, Brera or Navigli, I could feel fashion in the air, just the street style was incredible.
Now, there are all these rumours about how Milan Fashion Week has started to be a little bit boring and not showing anything but non gorgeous garments, when there are a lot of great talents in this next generation of Italians, and also trying to support their own companies, betting on a “Made in Italy” production, which is expensive, but high quality.
The thing happening with new Italian designers is that they are not getting as much International exposure to press and buyers because they show on the final day of the Fashion Week. There are other great platforms, as well, I had the opportunity to be in two of the major trade shows in Milan, White and Super (where they changed my last name to Ruels), and they offer a really neat designer/buyer connection.
I definitely do not think Milano is starting to get boring, I feel people in the industry should have to make time to discover the new Milan, the new designers, the new artists, because everything evolves, and it’s a fact we can’t be expecting the city to always produce the same collections, when there’s a whole new generation creating wonderful pieces.
#Peace.Love.Milan
