Milan Men’s Fashion Week Sees Brands Switch Back From Coed Format

MILAN — Prominent returns and several debuts will mark the upcoming Milan Men’s Fashion Week, slated to run from June 17 to 21. But don’t expect Zegna to kick off the week with its usual Friday slot. This season the brand is actually wrapping up the physical events on June 20, opting to stage its runway show at 7 p.m. at the Oasi Zegna reserve in Trivero, a two-hour ride from Milan.

“It will be the occasion to experience a special place, which embodies the values of the brand but also of Italy and sustainability: that link between man and nature that we have to push forward,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Camera della Moda on Wednesday, unveiling the official calendar.

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Giorgio Armani will hold two shows that same morning, followed by a Gucci presentation. This is another unexpected move since the Florence-based brand has recently been part of women’s Milan Fashion Week.

Versace, which earlier this year presented its men’s fall 2022 collection digitally outside of the official calendar, will be back to stage a physical runway show on June 18. As reported, Moschino will also make a comeback in Milan after four years to unveil its new menswear collection.

“Putting menswear back in the spotlight in a specific moment is important, especially for Italian companies that are great manufacturers of this segment,” said Capasa. “Sometimes coed runway shows risk to overshadow the men’s offering a little bit, plus this timing works better in terms of sales. So creating a moment focused on menswear is beneficial for the business of a category that is recovering and growing significantly,” he added.

The only coed presentations still standing in the schedule are from emerging designers Federico Cina and debutante Lessico Familiare – Gianmarco Porru.

To be sure, menswear is back on the rise and Milan Men’s Fashion Week will see key players making a comeback, reflecting the overall positive momentum of the Italian fashion industry, which last year generated total revenues of 83 billion euros, up 21.2 percent compared to 2020.

In the first two months of 2022 the trend was confirmed, with sales up 25 percent compared to the same period last year. While the war in Ukraine, the growing cost of energy, petrol and gas, and the spike in the price of textiles represent key challenges for the industry’s companies, projections by Camera della Moda expect sales in 2022 to reach 92 billion euros, up 10.5 percent versus 2021 and 2.1 percent versus 2019, therefore marking a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels. Exports are also forecast to increase 11 percent to 75.4 billion euros compared to last year.

Dsquared2 once again will spotlight just the men’s line, as the brand did in January, and kick off the string of IRL runway shows on June 17. It will follow a Kiton presentation, which will officially open the week.

Another highlight will be the runway show of JW Anderson. The brand was supposed to show in Milan in January, but founder Jonathan Anderson presented his men’s fall 2022 collection digitally in light of the surge of Omicron cases then.

The brand’s fashion show is scheduled for June 19, which is shaping up to be a busy day as JW Anderson will follow shows such as Etro, Prada, Moschino and 44 Label Group, the brand of Max Kobosil backed by Italian retailer and entrepreneur Claudio Antonioli that last season made its debut with a digital presentation. The day will end with the first runway show of Indian emerging designer Dhruv Kapoor, who has been presenting collections in the city since 2018.

A day earlier, MSGM is expected to ditch the digital format that worked wonders for designer Massimo Giorgetti in the past two years and return to an IRL show, which will be followed by those of Emporio Armani and Fendi, in addition to Versace.

Also on June 18, Corneliani will unveil the spring 2023 Circle collection, the first by British designer Paul Surridge, who has been recently tasked with helping the storied company’s relaunch and repositioning. Marcelo Burlon County of Milan will also be back to mark its 10th anniversary with a runway show and after party, the same formula that Philipp Plein will coincidentally embrace for its Plein Sport line.

Plein additionally decided to relaunch Billionaire on the official calendar with a runway show on the first day, which will follow 1017 Alyx 9SM. Founded by Matthew Williams in 2015, the brand traditionally staged runway events in Paris, before decamping to Milan in January to present a coed collection. This time, it will unveil only menswear.

Other debuts will include Italian brands Family First and Simon Cracker as well as Chinese label Joeone. Sease, the brand founded by Franco and Giacomo Loro Piana in 2017, will also stage a presentation for the first time.

Overall, Milan Men’s Fashion Week will feature 61 IRL events between fashion shows and presentations out of 66 total ones. The digital shows were concentrated all on the last day to enable operators to travel to Paris easily, said Capasa.

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