Milan Fashion Week: Italian fashion shows its solidarity with China

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Feb 4, 2020

“China, we are with you,” is the slogan that will inaugurate Milan’s next women’s fashion week, from February 18-24. As the coronavirus epidemic intensifies, the National Chamber of Italian Fashion has declared its solidarity with China. The campaign is twofold, with a special event and multiple video conferences that will take place between both countries all week.

“We made the decision last week, when it became clear that a barrier was separating China from the rest of the world. During our fashion weeks, we typically have a thousand visitors from this country, whether it be buyers, journalists or designers. Almost 80% of them won’t be able to make it this year. Only a few hundred will join us, and they’re the Chinese visitors who were already in Europe at the time of the outbreak,” explained Carlo Capasa, the president of the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) during a conference in Milan this Tuesday.

Milan Fashion Week has announced 56 runways the 2020/21 season dedicated to ready-to-wear for fall-winter. Moncler, Ports 1961 and Philipp Plein will be returning, accompanied by Gilberto Calzolari and Vìen, who will be showing for the first time. The opening of the fashion week will take place on the evening of February 18, with the Chinese solidarity campaign. The opening of the Fashion Hub Market, a space dedicated to emerging creators, will serve as the backdrop for the event.

“We would like to forge a bridge between Italy and China, using technology. The idea is to have the Chinese virtually participate in the Milan Fashion Week, even though they aren’t able to attend. We would like for it to be as if they are there. Eight young Chinese stylists will be given the chance to participate in the Fashion Hub Market. This will be achieved through pre-recorded video discussions and figures that will allow them to present their projects and encourage us to discuss their current situation,” said Capasa.
The eight emerging brands were selected via Fashion Town, the Chinese-Italian platform offered by the Chic retail group, who participated in the selection of Xun Ruo, Leaf Xia, Han Wen, Pinhui Zhao, Emma Sweet, Zijue, Dot Minute et Shengyi Liu. In addition, a Chinese brand, with a presence in Europe and the US, is expected to show. Its name will be revealed in the coming days.

However, some Chinese designers based in Italy and Europe who typically show at Milan Fashion Week, won’t be participating this time around due to late shipments from China. Angel Chen and Shuting Qiu are among them.

With this campaign, the Camera della Moda has also set out to create Chinese content, such as runways content, interviews and backstage images, in order to “share the fashion week with all of those stuck at home and bring it to life.”  A team has been tasked with the project and is working on setting up interactions with the Chinese public.

In the meantime, Italian fashion has already been economically penalized by the impact of the coronavirus.

“For the first semester of 2020, the sector’s revenue should decline by 1.8%, particularly from January to March, which will clearly jeopardize our annual results,” added Capasa.