Dust off your heels and bring on the glamour—Milan Fashion Week has started. Italy's most important fashion event takes place twice a year—in September, when the spring and summer collections are launched, and in February, when it's the turn of the autumn and winter ones.
After the last few somber, credit-crunched editions, the current week, which runs from 23 to 30 September, promises to be once again an all-out glamorous affair. The message seems to be that, even though fashion sales have been falling in this difficult market, people are once again finding confidence, and designers are ready to help them wrap it into a stylish, luxurious package.
Yesterday's opening shows set the tone. actress Serena Autieri opened the proceedings at the Fieramilanocity exhibition venue. Soon, the soft curves of Lizzie Miller and Crystal Renn, two popular full-figured models, took to the catwalk wrapped in feminine, sophisticated, desert-inspired creations at plus-size designer Elena Miro's show, which is traditionally the first of the week.
Then it was the turn of A-Lab Milano, Cristina Burani, Cristina Miraldi, Mauro Gasperi, Paolo Errico, five up and coming designers who won the Incubatore della Moda, a scheme to support young talent launched by the Fashion Chamber. After that came a sequence of bold bikinis (Parah Noir, Pin Up Stars) and lingerie (designed by actress Valeria Marini) and Miss Bikini Luxe's anti-racism message (Black is Fashion was the slogan on t-shirts worn by both white- and dark-skinned models at the show).
But while the week started with an elegant bang, everyone's attention is trained on the catwalk runs that will take place between today and 27 September. Although there are more than 180 collections on show this year, the event's greatest draw are the four days when the good and the great of fashion will take to the catwalks. Defying the cooling temperatures, models and celebrities will present featherlight skirts, shortsleeved dresses and skimpy bikinis by Giorgio Armani, Prada, Alberta Ferretti, Gianfranco Ferre, Versace, Roberto Cavalli, Moschino, Marni and Gucci, among others.
Getting a seat at these shows is notoriously difficult and a sign of stylish rank (so much so that fashion journalists are known for applying all sorts of pressure on designers to get a better place than their rivals). Only Ennio Capasa of Costume National is bucking the elitist trend with an open-air show, accessible to all, for his young brand C'N'C, which will take place under the soaring spires of Milan's Duomo this evening.
But the city is putting on a much bigger show for anyone that can't make it to see the exclusive catwalk runs. There are shop openings (Prada is launching a new shop in Corso Venezia which will showcase the company's best-loved designs), exhibitions (Giovanni Gastel's photographic reflection on beauty's dark side, Maschere e Spettri, at Palazzo della Ragione) and open air sculptures (don't miss the rose-strewn hearts asking passersby to Stop, Breathe, Respect). And as an added bonus for fashion addicts (and, presumably, an incentive to shopping) huge screens dotted across the city will display last spring's autumn and winter shows, whose pieces are for sale right now in Milan's boutiques.
