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MILAN FASHION WEEK

FASHION

Global fashion circus swings into Milan

Is the devil still wearing Prada? Has King Giorgio (Armani) still got the regal touch? And how are the pretenders to his throne shaping up?

Published: 17 September 2014 08:14 CEST
Global fashion circus swings into Milan
Milan Fashion Week gets underway on Wednesday. Photo: Mats Eye

As the global fashion circus swings into Milan on Wednesday, the answers to these and some other pressing issues should be a little clearer by the weekend.

Global hemlines up or down? The trend is supposed to be a predictor of which way stocks are headed and there was a time when the only place to get a definitive answer to that question was Milan.

But, like its soccer teams, AC and Inter, Italy's economic epicentre is no longer quite the market-moving force it once was, when it comes to if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-you-can't-afford-it clothing.

The world of high fashion has moved on, globalised and diversified and the competition has never been more ferocious.

New York is punching harder than ever on the back of a Stateside economic recovery that so far has eluded Italy and the rest of the eurozone.

London has ditched quirky-bizarre in favour of quirky-commercial and Paris is, well, Paris.

So there is a feeling among insiders that Milan has something to prove this week as the cream of Italian creativity presents its vision of what well-heeled women the world over should be wearing through the spring and summer of 2015.

Armani protege in spotlight

Sign of the times, perhaps: this week's show will not, as had become traditional, be brought to a close by Armani.

Instead the 80-year-old master of sartorial understatement has opted to show his eponymous collection on Saturday, apparently because of concern that the most influential tailors of opinion in the world of fashion will all be heading home before the week officially wraps up on Monday.

According to fashion media reports, Armani's decision to pull out of the final day prompted some other leading houses to stamp their stilettos and insist on following suit, a state of affairs which has given the week a lop-sided look with the sixth and final day dedicated to new talent and devoid of a marquee name.

And the feeling that all is not absolutely fabulous in the upper echelons of the Italian style industry has been enhanced by the ongoing spat that means Dolce & Gabbana, one of the country's best known brands internationally will, once again, not be part of the official programme of shows.

Lionel Messi's favourite designers will nevertheless be showcasing their 2015 Spring/Summer collection on Sunday.

Gucci are the biggest hitters on the opening day (Prada's stuff will be strutted on Thursday) but there will also be keen interest in the collection being presented by Angelos Bratis, whose increasingly confident touch with elegant womenswear has seen him tipped as a potential successor should Armani himself decide to hand over the creative reins at his huge global empire.

Bratis, who was born in Greece but studied in the Netherlands, is the latest in a series of young designers who have benefited from Armani's sponsorship and he will be showing in the veteran's own Armani Teatro, following in the footsteps of other promising emerging talents including Stella Jean and Julian Zigerli.

Later in the week there will be particularly keen interest in the collection presented by Elisabetta Franchi, a well-established and commercially successful designer from Bologna who is putting on a Milan show for the first time in the hope of bolstering the growing international reputation of her very feminine clothing targeted at the urban workwear market.

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FASHION

Paris exhibition celebrates 100 years of French Vogue

A new exhibition in Paris will tell the story of 100 years of French Vogue - from the post-war 'New Look' of Christian Dior through the sexual liberation of the 1960s to the dangling-cigarette waifs of the 2000s.

Published: 7 October 2021 08:21 CEST
French Vogue celebrates 100 years
French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance. 

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