ORFrom trusty coffee at Pasticceria Marchesi to aperitifs at the Armani Hotel’s rooftop bar and spaghetti carbonara at iconic restaurant La Latteria, the fashion elite have gathered to gossip, mingle and chat ahead of Milan Fashion Week, which kicks off on Wednesday.
In Paris, where the show is still more than a week away, the huge tents needed to accommodate 1,000 spectators are being built, and seating plans are carefully drawn up and frantically adjusted. Industrial batches of champagne are frozen.
Will this season count? very chic – or very stylish? The battle to become Europe’s fashion capital continues, and with London losing its edge post-Brexit, the competition is a two-horse race between Paris and Milan.
The stakes have never been higher. In an uncertain global economy, fashion is proving to be a lucrative play, and the post-pandemic years have been blockbuster years for the industry, with 95% of luxury brands expected to increase profits in 2022, according to a Bain & Company report.
According to the Business of Fashion website, Louis Vuitton’s margins exceeded 50% in 2022 (Apple, the world’s most valuable company, had margins of about 30%). Bernard Arnault, chief executive of luxury giant LVMH, which owns Dior and Tiffany, has overtaken Tesla’s Elon Musk as the richest person on Earth.
Milan is buzzing with excitement as two of the season’s most exciting designer debuts will be shown within 24 hours of each other this week. Tom Ford entered the post-Ford era on Thursday night with its first collection since the founder stepped away from design duties. His longtime right-hand man at the studio, Peter Hawkings, will take a bow at the show, which is seen as crucial in determining whether the house can survive Ford’s departure. Sabato De Sarno will make his Gucci debut on Friday. De Sarno is expected to steer Gucci, the Italian fashion giant, away from the weird, gender-fluid maximalism it has championed of late toward classic luxury—and, crucially for profits, must-have shoes and bags.
But Paris, where fashion week stretches into a nine-day extravaganza, is likely to surpass Milan in star power. The Hollywood writers’ strike looks set to make Paris Fashion Week packed with celebrities. Actors who are unable to direct or promote films may take on non-entertainment jobs, such as modeling or luxury brand ambassadors. The front row offers opportunities to be in the spotlight, while red carpets and talk shows are dark.
Expect to see Zendaya, whose schedule has opened up following the delayed release of the tennis film Challengers, at the Louis Vuitton show, for which she stars in a new handbag campaign. Margot Robbie, fresh off a triumphant Barbie-style summer, is likely to be Chanel’s guest of honor. The glamorous catwalk will not be confined behind closed doors: on October 1, at the L’Oreal Paris fashion show under the Eiffel Tower, actors Helen Mirren and Andie MacDowell will join model Kendall Jenner and singer Camila Cabello on the catwalk. Billed as a “powerful tribute to female empowerment,” the event will, naturally, be streamed live on Instagram.
Spirits are high in Paris, with the 2024 Olympics seen as an opportunity for the City of Light to dazzle the world, and fashion is closely linked to the heart of the Parisian brand. “The beauty of the city and its culture reinforce the myth of Parisian style,” says designer Jeanne Damas, creative director of the label Rouje and a regular contributor to best-dressed French lists. LVMH will become the main sponsor of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Louis Vuitton, Dior and Berluti are believed to be among the brands discussing creating signature Olympian uniforms.
Paris is confident in itself as the center of fashion’s gravity – and it shows at street level. Louis Vuitton’s flagship store on Place Vendôme features a golden sun streaming in spiraling metallic rays across the city block-sized store façade, while the Dior palace on Avenue Montaigne has its own museum. These stores are extremely expensive, but have proven to be a worthwhile investment as they reassure shoppers that key French brands have more intrinsic value than other names.
Milan may be the underdog in this fight, but they are on the rise. “Milan Fashion Week can be summed up in four words: sophisticated, chic, elevated and authentic,” Rupal Patel, senior vice president of US department store Saks, said of last season’s shows. Carlo Capasa, president of Italy’s Camera della Moda, estimates the fashion week will bring in more than €80m (£69m) on restaurants, transport, hotels and other services, a significant improvement on the €70m raised in February. This year’s trend toward “quiet luxury”—cashmere in neutral tones and expensive, logo-less baseball caps—plays to traditional strengths and has turned heritage brands like Brunello Cucinelli and Loro Piana into iconic names.
What to do in London amid all this?
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Fashion week in the British capital just can’t seem to catch a break. The cancellation of almost the entire show season last fall following the death of Queen Elizabeth was one of a series of blows. The luxury boom has concentrated power in the hands of the biggest conglomerates: bad news for London, where, with the exception of Burberry, the roster is full of talented independent designers struggling to stay afloat in the winner-take-all world of luxury.
As well as causing headaches, Brexit has also changed the musical mood of the UK capital, making London a less ambitious brand on the world stage. When London Fashion Week star Victoria Beckham moved her runway to Paris last year, she shrugged: “London is my home, but Paris is my dream.” The business troubles of Christopher Kane, a highly talented London-based Scottish designer and protégé of Donatella Versace in the early 2000s, reflect a difficult situation. Kane last month acquired his label’s assets and intellectual property after the company filed for administration.
But there are glimmers of hope. London Fashion Week kicked off last week with a huge dose of star power thanks to Vogue World, a star-studded theatrical extravaganza inspired by Anna Wintour and directed by Stephen Daldry, featuring Kate Moss, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Emily Ratajkowski, Naomi. Campbell and Linda Evangelista.
British Prestige is hoping for continued support from iconic designer Phoebe Philo, who has been absent from the scene since leaving her last post at Céline five years ago. Philo is expected to announce her return to the industry this month at a design studio in London, where she lives with her family.
Opportunities abound for Alexander McQueen, who has just split from Sarah Burton, the designer of the Princess of Wales’s wedding dress. One possibility is a creative director who will build on the brand’s distinctive London heritage, whose founder Lee McQueen has staged shows across the city. These included Bagley’s nightclub in the then seedy King’s Cross, Borough Fruit Market and the lawn outside the Natural History Museum.
In an industry where change is the only constant, it would be foolish to write London off. In 1993, critics called the city a “fashion desert”; two years later, McQueen’s Highland Rape collection attracted worldwide attention and London Fashion Week was a hit.
Sarah Mower, Vogue’s chief critic and guest curator of the exhibition Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion, which has just opened at the city’s Design Museum, describes the current situation as “really difficult times” but predicts a bright future for fashion. capital. “Creativity,” she says, “is this country’s superpower.”