The Milan fashion week begins on Tuesday. The festival of Italian fashion will be characterized by the last collections of the late Giorgio Armani and new faces on Gucci and Versace.
Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta will present their spring/summer 2026 women’s collections during the week. However, the event is overshadowed by the death of the legendary, 91-year-old Armani. He was at the top of a multi -illium euro empire and helped Milan to his place on the fashion world map.
The Giorgio Armani Show on Sunday should be a big event: the highlight of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the label loved by Hollywood star. The show, which takes place in Milan’s renowned art museum Pinacoteca di Brera, is now expected to serve as the last homage.
From September 24th to January 11th, the museum also houses an anniversary exhibition with the 150 best creations Armanis. According to the group, the designer worked “up to the last minute” on this long planned project. “We celebrate the Milan fashion week in memory of one of her founders: Giorgio Armani,” said the head of the Italian fashion chamber, Carlo Capasa, at the beginning of the month. Armani granted the industry “creative, entrepreneurial and human lessons” in a time of change, “present essential values in vision, quality and resistance”.
New beginnings
While the Milan fashion world mourns their king, this week will also experience some highly expected debuts, especially that of the Georgian designer Demna at Gucci. After a decade at Balenciaga, Demna has now been commissioned to reverse the decline in sales of the Italian brand, which belongs to the French luxury goods group Kering – probably one of the most difficult jobs in the luxury industry.
Gucci is not on the official catwalk calendar in Milan, but a private event is planned for Tuesday evening. “If I understand it correctly, it is a presentation, a film that represents Denna’s vision, how he interprets Gucci,” said Keringing new managing director, Luca de Meo, at the beginning of the month towards reporter: inside. “It will be a little different. I couldn’t see it yet.”
In the meantime, Dario Vitale made his debut at Versace after succeeding Donatella Versace on April 1, which was creative director for almost thirty years. No catwalking show is also planned for the dazzling brand, which was taken over just a few weeks after Prada vital. Instead, a “private event will take place on Friday evening, in which Dario Vital’s debut collection is unveiled for the house: a unique unveiling that embodies Versace’s foundation and reflects Vital’s new language,” said the program.
China’s loss of trust
Other debuts are the Englishwoman Louise Trotter, who presents her first catwalk show for the Kering brand Bottega Veneta, and Italian Simone Bellotti for Jil Sander. They are part of an industry -wide restructuring, including at Dior and Chanel, at a time when luxury brands still have to struggle with a declining demand in China and global economic uncertainty.
Luca SOLCA, luxury industry analyst at Bernstein, said that there are small signs of improving the trust of the Chinese: Inside, with an increase in visitor numbers in the shops in summer. However, he noted that “you have to offer consumers: at least something new inside with increasing prices”. “I think this unprecedented number of changes in creative responsibility reacts to this commandment,” he told AFP.
This article was used with digital tools translated.
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