(Milan) A wind of optimism is blowing over Men’s Fashion Week which opens this Friday in Milan: the virtual format imposed by the pandemic seems relegated to oblivion and sales of Italian fashion show the strongest growth of the last twenty years.
Return of Gucci to the men’s catwalks after a three-year absence, debut of avant-garde Scottish designer Charles Jeffrey, a total of 79 appointments, of which only four are digital… fashion week promises spectacle, joie de vivre .
Nothing replaces “the live experience, the frenzy, the expectation, the applause, the top models parading on the catwalk and the powerful music” which thrills the public, commented for AFP the fashion consultant Elisabetta Cavatorta.
Men’s Fashion Week, dedicated to the fall-winter 2023/2024 collections, will run until Tuesday and will see 22 shows and 36 presentations.
The collections should, according to the expert, give pride of place to “trendy clothes that will last over time, thus bringing us back to the importance of a return to ‘slow fashion'”, at the antipodes of industrial fashion, ” and sustainability”.
Gucci, the return
The spotlight will be on the parade in the afternoon, at the opening of Fashion Week, of the luxury house Gucci, the first since the departure at the end of November of its emblematic artistic director Alessandro Michele.
Called to the rescue in 2015 to revive sluggish sales, the designer had given the brand, the Kering group’s flagship brand, a new lease of life with daring collections, often very flowery and playful.
If its collections had exploded Gucci’s sales (+37% in 2017 and +44% in 2018) at its beginnings, in the last two years their progress has lagged behind competitors.
“Lately, creativity has been starting to slow down and I think it was also felt in sales,” explained Elisabetta Cavatorta.
“It remains to be seen whether the departure of Alessandro Michele introduces a change of direction for the fashion house” and opens the way to “a revolution in terms of style and sophistication”, she notes.
Pending the appointment of a successor, eagerly awaited by fashionistas and the markets, it is Gucci’s design studio which has provided artistic direction for the Milan fashion show.
Soaring revenue
Armani, Prada, Fendi, Dolce & Gabbana, Zegna… the big brands have answered the call for men’s week. But there have also been defections, such as that of Versace, which will unveil its men’s and women’s collections on March 10 in Los Angeles.
Despite the war in Ukraine and the impact of the energy crisis on a very energy-intensive supply chain, Italian fashion in 2022 posted revenues up 16%, to 96.6 billion euros.
“It’s the highest turnover of the last twenty years,” said Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber, during the presentation of Fashion Week.
Revenues have certainly been inflated by inflation, as prices for Italian fashion have risen by around 9% in 2022, but their rise is “a positive sign that closes a year marked by dramatic events and difficult times” , Judge M. Capasa.
Made in Italy fashion exports climbed 18.7% in the first nine months of 2022, driven by the United States (+54.1%) and the Gulf countries (+50.8%) .
The increase in sales to China was more moderate (+18.8%), and exports to Russia fell by 26%, in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
Despite Beijing’s lifting of health restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic, the number of Chinese buyers present at the parades will be “limited”, deplores Mr. Capasa. As for Russia, “the situation is quite blocked”.