The Londoners Are Coming: Martine Rose, Dunhill, David Koma Join Milan Men’s Fashion Week Schedule

MILAN — It looks like there’s a new trend shaping up for next month and it can be filed under “fashion Brexit.”

Not only is Sir Paul Smith returning to Florence as guest designer of Pitti Uomo, a pool of fellow London-based brands has zeroed in on Milan Fashion Week to present their new collections or mark menswear debuts.

As Italy’s fashion chamber presented the official schedule on Wednesday, it was revealed that the likes of Martine Rose, Dunhill and David Koma will be joining the Milan calendar, which has more than 80 events between June 14 and 18.

The organization’s chairman Carlo Capasa underscored the record number of appointments for a June edition and enthused about “the strong energy there’s in Milan right now.” He reiterated the synergy with Pitti Uomo and “the great harmony and continuity” with the men’s trade show, which results in weeklong momentum for Italian fashion.  

The Milan schedule also has a reshuffle of slots. The week will open with the Moschino show at 4 p.m., when creative director Adrian Appiolaza will unveil his first menswear collection for the brand along with the women’s resort 2025 line.

The same coed format will be embraced by MSGM to mark the brand’s 15th anniversary in the first show on June 15. “In June 2009, I presented the first MSGM men’s collection alongside the women’s resort. I would like to celebrate that memory and recreate the same energy,” said founder and creative director Massimo Giorgetti about the choice.

That day, Koma will make his menswear debut via a presentation in a yet-to-be-disclosed location. Other key events that day will include the Fendi and Emporio Armani shows as well as presentations staged by Brioni, Ralph Lauren Purple Label and Woolrich Black Label by Todd Snyder, to name a few.

June 16 will mark Martine Rose’s fashion show at 5 p.m., preceded by Simon Holloway’s sophomore collection for Dunhill. That day will also see Magliano returning to the Milan schedule after his one-off decamp to Pitti Uomo in January; the always eagerly awaited Prada show; Matteo Tamburini’s first men’s collection for Tod’s, and the JW Anderson runway show capping off the day. Canali will also stage its presentation, which will be preceded by a special art exhibition and party held on the inaugural day to mark its 90th anniversary.

Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Zegna will end the week of physical shows on June 17, while the last day will be dedicated to digital presentations by emerging brands as per Milan Fashion Week post-pandemic tradition.

Other debuts in the schedule will include Damir Doma’s Diomene brand, indie label Ascend Beyond and Chinese brand Valleyouth, to name a few. These add to Danish brand Henrik Vibskov, which will lead a pack of Scandinavian labels showing in Milan thanks to a new partnership between Camera della Moda Italiana and the CIFF Copenhagen International Fashion Fair.

Dubbed “Ciff Showrooms Milan,” the project will feature brands such as Stine Goya, Mark Kenly Domino Tan, Envelope 1976, Aiayu, Adnym, Isnurh and Les Deux. Incidentally, the initiative is set to replicate a CIFF showcase staged also during Pitti Uomo, but Capasa said the selection of brands will be slightly different.

In the same vein, Capasa teased that a new memorandum of understanding has been inked between Italy’s fashion chamber and the Seoul Metropolitan Government to mentor and promote South Korean emerging brands during Milan Fashion Week in September.

As for the state of the fashion business in 2023, the executive updated the projections shared in February. Sales of the fashion and connected industries (including textiles, clothing, leather goods, footwear, jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics) totaled 102.1 billion euros in 2023, up 3.3 percent versus the previous year. In 2022 sales of the overall sector grew 20.8 percent to 98.8 billion euros versus 2021, when the total turnover also increased more than 20 percent.

In particular, the local fashion industry slowed down in the second half of 2023, said Capasa, with clusters of sectors reporting opposite performances. Sales of the “core” categories — textiles, clothing, leather goods and footwear — were down 4 percent while those generated by companies operating in jewelry, eyewear and cosmetic were up 5 percent.

Capasa addressed the increasing geopolitical instability as well as the crisis of e-commerce platforms as elements affecting the results. “I see prices more or less in line with the ones of the past couple of years but there’s a big change in distribution, which is impacting also discount strategies, for example,” Capasa said. “We will need to figure out together how to face this disruption and think which other channels to leverage to reach consumers.”

On a more positive note, exports continued to be a key driver for the Italian fashion industry in 2023, growing 3.5 percent to 89.4 billion euros. Again, sales were mainly driven by a 13.7 percent increase in the jewelry, eyewear and cosmetics categories compared to the same period in 2022.