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Are Italian Up-and-Comers the Answer to Milan’s Sleepy Fashion Week?

au-jour-le-jour

Last June, the Camera Nazionale della Mode Italiana held a very serious press conference to address the very serious issue of Milan’s waning fashion week. Gildo Zegna told a room of journalists that he had heard MFW described as “boring.” That’s somewhat unsurprising, given the city’s lack of new energy and fresh perspective. The heavy hitters on hand vowed to make changes, and though the audience of international journalists was skeptical, there are some signs that the issues are being addressed. An early draft of the Spring ’15 MFW schedule has begun circulating, and it seems there’s been a bit of a designer shuffle. According to WWD, a strong focus has been put on Italy’s emerging talents. Stella Jean and Andrea Incontri, for instance, will show right before Gucci on September 17, and Au Jour Le Jour (above) and MSGM will show on September 21, the same day as Marni and Salvatore Ferragamo. Perhaps the thinking is that the press won’t skip the newbies if they’re sandwiched between the major houses—and the move matches up with Camera CEO Jane Reeve’s goal to help Italian up-and-comers build their businesses internationally. Giorgio Armani, too, has been a staunch supporter of youngsters, allowing one lucky designer to show in his Armani Teatro free of charge each season. (Angelos Bratis is his Spring ’15 pick.) It would be nice, as our editor in chief suggested last year, to see Milan drawing new designers from around the globe to MFW—that would really spice things up—but helping homegrown talents is a start.

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