L-R Fendi SS20, Missoni SS20 and Max Mara SS20. Courtesy of the Fendi, Missoni, and Max Mara.
Milan Fashion Week SS20 was programmed to be bigger than it had been in a good few seasons, with Prada opening on Wednesday at the Fondazione Prada and Gucci closing at the Gucci hub, Silvia Fendi showing solo without Karl Lagerfeld since she joined the house in 1992, and, a week before Milan began, on 13 September Gucci announced they were now ‘entirely carbon neutral’ and that they would be implementing a combination of reduction and offsetting in order to bring its net emissions to zero.
So, Milan was set to deliver, and it did, but not for these reasons. Against odds, it wasn’t Fendi’s first turn as the lone head of Fendi—a house her grandparents founded—that stole the show but a series of events covered heavily on social media across the world, most notably J Lo’s appearance on the Versace catwalk in that dress originally worn 20 years earlier—and a throwback attitude to their brands’ heritage of some of the biggest houses including Prada, Gucci and Missoni, as well as Fendi.
As the week kicked off with Prada, it was as though a social media strategy was rolled out before our very eyes, which is not necessarily a bad thing. This began with Prada’s ceramic tile hall in their Fondazione, where they had enlisted AMO, the research and publishing studio of the architectural practice Office for Metropolitan Architecture, founded by Rem Koolhaas in the 1970s. Prada Instagrammed in the morning of the show: “AMO devised a vibrant geometric pattern of ceramic tile and interlocking seating that enfolds across the hall of the @FondazionePrada’s Deposito – illuminated and infused with a golden glow.” The tiles were shared on social media thousands of times and featured in photos by the high profile people in attendance, such as Wes Anderson, Nicole Kidman, A$AP Rocky, Caro Daur, Lukas Sabbat and Alexa Chung.
Then there was Max Mara the following morning. Featuring the millennial supers Joan Smalls, Bella and Gigi Hadid, and Kaia Gerber walking arm-in-arm down the runway—you noticed them before the power pink clothes. Later, in the week there was Daniel Lee’s Bottega Veneta which featured an oversized version of his puffy weave under a glass floor. Then, Missoni, who invited show attendees on a traditional Milanese tram to watch a SS20 presentation. Not to mention, the finale of Gucci, where models walked down a green conveyor belt.
The Missoni SS20 collection was designed by Margherita Missoni, the granddaughter of the brand’s founders, and like many of the shows in Milan this season, threw back generously to the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s—Prada, Gucci, Fendi and Versace included. “It’s conceptual and physical upcycling … authorised appropriation,” Margerita Missoni said of her collection. “A lot of our heritage isn’t the iconic parts that took off in the ‘60s and ‘70s that everyone is familiar with.” This could have been said about Prada, Gucci and Fendi too.
At Fendi, despite it being Silvia Fendi’s first season showing without Karl, the clothes were a noticeable throwback with chunky socks and heels, in a retro-tinged palette of muddy orange, ochre and pale pinks. Prada tapped into the niche ‘90s decade of their brand with tight knitted jumpers, slip skirts and chunky loafers beloved by the Milanese.
JLo at Versace SS20. Courtesy of @voguerunway
How to shop sustainably is dominating fashion industry conversation at the moment. Through Milan Fashion Week, storied Italian brands are making a nod to the idea of buying a piece and handing it down through a family—in the same way clothes would have been passed down from generation to generation in the era they were founded.
Today, the average garment is worn seven times before it’s thrown away. Amid reports that luxury fashion houses are losing money, brands like Prada, Gucci, Fendi and Missioni, suggest that people should buy clothes like their parents and grandparents did. This sustainable shopping concept is well and good. But of course, luxury brands need to make money. Fashion is a 2.4 trillion dollar industry and has grown 6 times in size in the last 30 years. But largely, this is money coming from fast fashion, not the luxury brands. Milan Fashion Week SS20 may have been glamourous and Instagramable, but it also suggested a way for fashion to stay ethical and luxurious.