Demna in the spotlight at Milan Fashion Week as industry seeks creative reset

MILAN: Milan Fashion Week opens on Tuesday, setting the stage for a slate of creative director debuts from Demna’s first runway show for Gucci to Maria Grazia Chiuri’s initial collection at Fendi.

The Milan womenswear collections — which follow fashion weeks in New York and London, and ahead of Paris — come as the sector is showing some timid signs of recovery.

While practical wool coats and cashmere sweater dresses featured in New York, industry watchers expect some bold creations in the Milan autumn/winter collections as new designers seek to stamp their mark.

One of the most closely watched will be Georgian designer Demna, hired in July to reinvigorate Gucci after sales at the Italian fashion house fell 22% last year.

Demna, who spent a decade at Balenciaga, sketched out a collection for Kering-owned Gucci, called ‘La Famiglia’, in a lookbook on Instagram last September. He stages his first full-scale runway show for the brand on Friday.

Designers across luxury fashion face mounting pressure to deliver fresh visions while keeping a tight focus on sales as the industry is still trying to pull out of a prolonged downturn.

“This season we are expecting bold creative resets. The anticipation around new creative directions makes this edition particularly charged, with houses redefining their codes under intense global scrutiny,” said Tiffany Hsu, chief buying and group fashion venture officer at luxury e-commerce platform Mytheresa.

“We are looking for collections that feel culturally sharp, emotionally resonant, and commercially intelligent in equal measure”, she added.

Balancing heritage and creativity

Chiuri’s first collection for LVMH’s Fendi on Wednesday, following her departure from Dior last year, is expected to draw close scrutiny.

On Thursday, Belgian designer Meryll Rogge will present her first show for Marni, owned by Italian fashion group OTB.

A sharp increase in prices of luxury goods post-pandemic, which was not matched by an equal effort in creativity, has alienated some customers, whom brands are now struggling to win back.

“All of them (brands) are thinking more commercially - they’re all trying to get revenue to grow. But ultimately what is defining for all of these businesses is the brand and the heritage, which has to be supported by creativity in the product. So it needs to be a careful balance between the two,” said Emily Cooledge, head of luxury research at Rothschild & Co Redburn in London.

Francesco Fiorese, partner at consultancy firm Simon Kucher, said consumers want more understated quality.

“Consumers’ fatigue with omnipresent logos and purely aesthetic ‘status symbols’ (sold at very high prices) is leading to a search for authenticity and craftsmanship,” he said.

Milan Fashion Week will also feature shows by Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Ferragamo and Tod’s.

It follows the Milan Cortina Winter Games, which have put Italy’s fashion capital in the global spotlight and offered brands a chance to appeal to affluent visitors arriving for the competitions.