Following the cancellation of the London fashion events, which were muted after the mourning of Queen Elizabeth II, Milan opened the European fashion show calendar with a packed program. During the pandemic collections were presented remotely, and this led to different metaverse experiments. But this fall, many events planned have opened the ateliers doors and invaded the spaces of the metropolis, representing a return to form after the seasons of uncertainty.

Between the debuts of the creative directors for Ferragamo, Etro and Bally, and the important celebrations, many events took place outdoor or in spaces that were open to the general public. While Moncler celebrated its anniversary by occupying the entire Piazza del Duomo, Diesel filled the Allianz Arena, and Jil Sander paraded in a secret outdoor garden. Tod’s, on the other hand, preferred to walk among Anselm Kiefer’s The Seven Heavenly Palaces, part of the permanent exhibition at Hangar Bicocca. Set up in a disused factory on Via Bovisasca, Vitelli presented the new wardrobe along with DJ sets and performances selected in collaboration with Nero Editions and Spiritual Sana. And of course Philippe Plein had his momentum, as usual.

Among the satellite events, the ICA Foundation opened its doors in the middle of the week to the Creative Studios promoted by Apple, providing an exhibition space to the talents selected by Afro Fashion.

Creative director Matthieu Blazy began his brand leadership with a set-manifesto designed by designer-architect-artist Gaetano Pesce. The resin floor created by the Italian master could read: “This is a tribute to diversity.” Instead, the seat was reduced to 400 seats designed by Pesce himself, unique design pieces entitled “How are you?” – which can be purchased at the next edition of Design Miami. “This space is a tribute to diversity. It is about the human being; we are all different. People say we are all the same – fuck them!” explains Gaetano Pesce talking about the collaboration, “We are all different, and this is our distinctive quality, otherwise we are just a copy. We are all original, and that is one of the themes of my design”.

Surprisingly opening the show, Kate Moss walked the runway in a tank top, plaid jacket, and jeans. Between knitted dresses with embroidered patterns and tailored coats with a minimalist attitude, what continues to amaze from Brazy’s direction is the sophistication of the materials combined with the simplicity of everyday looks.

In his second appointment, Glenn Martens has clear ideas on what direction to take the Italian brand, but he wants to do it ‘democratically’. So he opened the show to 4800 guests, including insiders and employees, NFT collectors and students, 1600 from Milan’s fashion schools, in addition to the 3000 lucky ones who managed to get an entrance ticket. Hosted at the Allianz Cloud Arena, the event is accompanied by the largest inflatable sculpture ever made, 37 meters in height, and 49 in length. Guinness World Records intertwined bodies, created by Dennis Vanderbroeck studio, were thus transformed into a manifesto of physicality.

The fashion show took up the codes of the previous show, 2000 aesthetics, re-editions of cult models of the brand, couture exaggerations, and disco vibes. Among total denim looks, space-age effect laminated fabrics pointed crocodile boots, and micro-skirts as high as a belt also appeared.

The collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons continues, as does AMO’s work for the set and installations of the fashion show. Preferring as neutral a space as possible, the focus is on the centre with a series of short films by NWR, exploring women’s lives, and the scope of fluid modern femininity – a subject that has always fascinated Prada.

The collection finds meaning in nullifying the superfluous through a sequence of delicacy and roughness of subtle and sparse yet rich figures. The clothes are completion, above all, the essence of a thought, “they revolve around the concept of simplicity, which appeals to us politically, theoretically and aesthetically,” says Miuccia.

After the dreamy catwalks, first in Hollywood and then in Castel del Monte, Gucci too preferred to play at home, this time with an installation inside the Gucci Hub. Entitled Twinsburg, Alessandro Michele’s collection surprised the public with a mirror-image catwalk where the models were all pairs of identical twins: 68 pairs of clothes and faces of the same type, which in the finale came together hand in hand to crown the designer’s oxymoron. Between unexpected accessories and the collaboration with FUORI!!! – to recall a Nero edited collection that makes available to the general public the very rare pages of the magazine published from 1971 to 1982 by a group of activists in the fight for homosexual rights – the spectators were divided into two mirrored rooms divided in two by a wall full of faces, expressions, photographed by Mark Peckmezian.

A perspective game that proves mindful of the reinterpretations of classic Stanley Kubrick experimented in the autumn collection.

We close this selection with the event that invaded the entire Piazza del Duomo. Bringing together almost 18,000 people in one event, the brand gave up the presentation of its summer collection to celebrate its 70th anniversary in the heart of the city. During the celebration, models and performers were all dressed rigorously, but the real star was the Maya jacket, an iconic model of the brand, revisited in style and materials, symbolically connecting the brand’s origins with its future.

Extraordinary Forever is the promise that gathers together all the events organised for the date, from the global campaign dedicated to the most important moments in its history (Extraordinary Forever Campaign) to the collaboration with digital artist Antoni Tudisco, passing through the Extraordinary Expedition, a travelling exhibition that will start on 5 October from New York to then touch London, Tokyo and Seoul.