MILAN FASHION WEEK’s BIGGEST TRENDS
MFW has always been known as the more traditional and conservative of the international fashion shows, however, lately, it seems as if its quickly starting to revamp its “image” by opening up to an increasing number of Asian designers on the official MFW calendar, especially the one coming up, showcasing Angel Chen to Annakiki, Riconstru and more.
There’s also other key aspects which seems to be making MFW fly into a more modern and young generation, going from their new social media entertainment friendly shows to the new types of sports celebs on front row seats, the super model craze
Moreover, this season, “BLINGED SHOW OFF” was showcased at its best, going from Dolce & Gabanna’s social light celebrity dinner overrun with It girls in the latest It trends to Phillipp Pleins over exaggerated carnival – Tilt-A-Whirl, a performance by Fergie, and a Paris Hilton appearance.
Philipp Plein-Fergie
Moreover, it was very obvious this year the Insta-stars were showcased on a strong pedestal this year ( more than usual), and I think this is correlated to probably two major factors , one being the emerging technology for the support of e-retail conversion such as the “gamble” on the new see now buy now trend as well as the low amount of internationally reknowned Italian celebrities ( other than Monica Belluci) which has given the extra room for Millenial teen KOL’s to be showcased on the red carpet.
Moreover, I was extremely fortunate to see the (apparently) last of DSQUARED2 MFW women’s runway show. According to Vogue US, the duo is planning on ditching the traditional runway format and combining their men’s and women’s into one single show, something that we’ve increasingly been spotting amongst retail giants lately. I forecast that this will be a major trend for many brand in the future as the ecosystem for fashion is changing drastically, brands are using runways more and more as an entertainment scheme rather than for the traditional buying purposes where Social media, reaching to the mass youth generation and creating instant e-conversion will become a rising focus. We are already seeing this where Dolce and Gabbanna’s runway show –Tropicana Italiano, was almost tailor made for your feed filled with ice cream cone outfits, coconut stands, pizza dresses and a flash mob of break dancers that were an orgasm of over-the-top content for digital influencers.
DSQUARED2 SS17
Dolce&Gabbana
Moreover, maybe because of the rise of the strong athleisure trend evolving into an increasingly luxury environment, we’ve seen superstar tennis player, Novak Djokovic and his wife at Armani’s front row as well as sports icon Serena Williams being present at several shows. Do you think this is a future call for global superstar athletes to collaborate with Italy’s luxury fashion brands or maybe a call for a diversified sports inspired target in the future (Football, NBA, Swimming, Fencing etc.)
Serena Williams and Noemi Campbell
Novak Djokovic and his wife
Moreover, along with the 80’s-90’s comeback and the more aggressive approach on the “feminist” movement, we saw a heap of global supermodel ROAR from the past( and of the moment) on the catwalks. Many shows reflected and celebrated the strengths of today’s modern and independent women where we saw some of fashion’s greatest; Naomi Campbell at Versace ( muse since the early 80’s) waking alongside of Adriana Lima, Mariacarla Boscono and Carmen Kass.
70 year old model, Lauren Hutton, made a comeback at Bottega Veneta’s 50th anniversary show, and Liya Kebede with over two decades of iconic modelling with Prada “wowed” the media crowd.
Gigi Hadid and Lauren Hutton Bottega Venetta
Indeed, girls of the “Now” such as Gigi and Bella Hadid , Hailey Baldwin, Jourdan Dunn, Irina Shayk, Edie Campbell were also present for the key shows showing off the ultimate girl power vibe.
Moreover, Sampaio being a millennial Victoria Secret supermodel as well as being one of fashions biggest social media insta-stars (according to Vogue) was appointed as Hogan’s brand ambassador for SS17, as she attended the brands launch event, hundreds of VIP guests were hovering over her and waiting to take “that perfect celeb selfie”, this year she also walked Ermanno Scervino, Alberta Feretti, Dolce & Gabbanna and other key shows this season. These millennial super models / social media phenomena are expected to significantly grow and expand for the next seasons as well, they’ve become the new types of Celeb faces.
Sara Sampaio- Ermanno Scervino SS17
Sara Sampaio for Hogan SS17
As you can see, MFW is changing on more radical terms to a more modern，young, fresh, and digital obsessed fashion week， where insta-stars, millennial youth, and sports athleisure have become the IT thing of the current moment.
