Milan Fashion Week: Gucci returns, Bottega Veneta debuts in six-day season

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Jan 30, 2019

Last season, Gucci staged a transavangardia show inside Le Palace theatre in Paris, but in February the Florentine marque will return to its new headquarters on Via Mecenate, in east Milan, near the city airport Linate.

Milan women's fashion week, or Milano Moda Donna as it is officially named, will also witness the much-anticipated catwalk debut of Daniel Lee at Bottega Veneta. Lee is scheduled to send out his first full collection on Friday, Feb. 22 in Piazza Sempione, in a tent in a favourite location for Milanese designers near Arco della Pace. It’s a historic gate, whose origins date back to the early Roman walls of Milan, when it was called Porta Giovia, meaning Jupiter’s Gate, which seeing as he was the supreme god whom Romans believed watched over the spirits of their ancestors, bodes well for a debut at a legacy brand like Bottega Veneta. BV took a break from the runways last season, while Lee took over from its long-time creative director Tomas Maier.
 
The six-day season kicks off with 11 shows on Wednesday, with the first day climaxing with Moncler, and a show in the shadow of Milan’s great Stazione Centrale.

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The Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), Italian fashion’s governing body, has also invited in a new group of young hopefuls, notably Alexandra Moura, a Portuguese designer from Lisbon; Marios, a brand launched by creatives Mayo Loizou and Leszek Chmielewski, showing with support from the Camera.
 
While young Italian designer Marco Rambaldi and Act N.1 will both participate thanks to support from CNMI and CNMI Fashion Trust.
 
Naturally, the big guns of Italian fashion are all planning runway shows: Fendi, Missoni, Antonio Marras, Byblos, Roberto Cavalli, Salvatore Ferragamo and Giorgio Armani. The last name will also stage two shows for his contemporary Emporio Armani collection.
 

The action will also open with an evening soirée, CNMI Fashion Hub Opening Cocktails, on Wednesday evening, at the Leonardo da Vinci Science and Technology Museum; and will close with a "CNMI Dinner Celebrating New Designers”, organized by CNMI and the Municipality of Milan and San Pellegrino, on Monday 25 February.
 
Finally, one of the week’s major shows not listed on the fashion calendar will be the runway show of Dolce & Gabbana – since the house remains stubbornly outside the Camera. It brings to 59 the number of catwalk shows in Milan, a useful figure to remember the next time someone suggests the Milan season is in decline. Sounds more like ruddy health to us.