Milan Fashion Week fall/winter 2018-19 has just finished and it’s time to speak about all the really new things I‘ve seen during the most cool event in the Italian capital of fashion, discovering new brands, emerging designers and new names. Here all the most innovative designers seen at WHITE SHOW.
Always searching for new interesting fashion designers and a bit of freshness in the panorama of fashion products, I partecipate with curiosity at the last Milan Fashion Week and in particular at WHITE SHOW trade-fair. This is always a fascinating appointment for fashion lovers, journalists, bloggers and professionals of this sector, an important occasion to watch fashion trunk-shows and presentations, to meet and interview young designers and to discover new collections and products.
Organized at Tortona Fashion District with the patronage of the Municipality of Milan, for this edition WHITE SHOW presented 546 national and international brands and 210 new entries. A particular part of the fair was dedicated to young designers and new brands, emerging brands of ready-to-wear, avant-garde brands or fashion designers coming from other countries.
Here the first part of the report about all the newest ideas seen at WHITE SHOW.
Hosted in this new location inaugurated in September 2017, many young designers showcased their collection at Tortona Opificio 31 in the Archiproducts showroom, between furnitures and design objects which have enhanced the futurability and innovation of clothing and accessories. This was the most intriguing occasion to take a closer look to the new collections speaking directly with designers coming from all around the globe about their inspirations and visions.
Special guest of the tradeshow was ROUGE MARGAUX, a Parisian label currently under the direction of the Turkish designer Cem Çinar, graduated at ESMOD and previously at Rick Owens and Y/Project. I met Cem during the first day and he showed me the best pieces of the collection, particularly focused on precious fabrics like brocades and velvets, on metallic modern closures and on a rich color palette, with the red as absolute protagonist.
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| ROUGE MARGAUX |
KSENIA SCHNAIDER, an Ukrainian label loved by international influencers and fashion lovers, presented a modern deconstructed collection created by re-assembled pieces of second-hand sportswear, torn and damaged denim mixed with tulle and lightly provocative slogan.
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| KSENIA SCHNAIDER |
The Georgian label BABUKHADIA, founded in 2012 by Nino Babukhadia, has a transformable and functional approach to fashion. Everything can be changed: a trench coat with detachable sleeves becomes a vest or can be turned into a jacket or a dress. Pockets and sartorial details, constructed volumes and heavey waterproof fabrics alternate to more feminine aspects are the focal points of the collection, designed with a personal and poetic touch by reconciling a Soviet past and a modern bright future for a self-confident and strong woman.
SYNESTHESIAC is a brand launched by the Georgian designer Tea Gelashvili, graduated at Domus Academy. The collection presented at White Show is inspired by the fresh and colorful drawings made by her 3-years old daughter and is a khaleidoscope of colors made vibrant by the use of different textures like patent leather, organza, chiffon or lurex. Usually present at Tblisi Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, this label is becoming even more appreciated by many important fashion magazines like Harpers Bazaar, Marie Claire and Vogue.
The knitwear designer LAURA THEISS presented a glamourous collection rich of simple sophistication, which games with contrasts of pure shapes, artisanal techniques like the crochet, definitively liberated by any ancient reminescence and transformend into a contemporary mood thanks to the use of intricate surfaces, pleats and oversize ruffles in cashmere and lurex.
In collaboration with the Dutch tradeshow Modefabriek, was present at Opificio 31 also the streetwear brand DAILY PAPER, founded in 2010 in Amsterdam by Jefferson Osei, Abderrahmane Trabsini and Hussein Suleiman. The brand mixes eye-catching graphics, oversize shapes, clean lines and a certain tribal spirit which make this brand attractive and extremely communicative.
In partnership with MASTERED, a London-based company which provides support and accelerators for designers and emerging brands, at Opificio 31 were presented also a group of accessory designers with whom I had a long and interesting conversation.
W.J.Y STUDIO is a jewelry brand founded in 2017 by the designer and model Jiaying Wang, who studied at Central Saint Martins and Bunka Fashion College. The simplicity of shapes of her jewels leaves the natural stone free to express all their innate beauty through colors and patterns.
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| W.J.Y. STUDIO by Jiaying Wang |
SAM HAM is the ironic jewelry brand by Sam Hamilton, coming from the National College of Art & Design in Dublin and many specializing trainings in Florence, Amsterdam and Milan. Her unisex jewels break the traditional rules of jewelry and stereotypes of femininity and masculinity, with shapes that humorously recall the intimate male and female zones.
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| SAM HAM JEWELRY |
ISLA FONTAINE is an Italian brand of jewelry and bags launched in 2012 by Eleonora Mayerle, previously art curator at Biennale Venezia. With 9 lines of jewels in marble, enamels or vintage Murano glass, and 6 different model of bags, her collection inspired by Venetian Lagoon is incredibly rich of suggestions taken from Art Deco, Abstract Art and Minimalism.
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| ISLA FONTAINE |
TESSA SPIELHOFER, Swiss designer currently living in London, created a no–season collection of bags Made in Italy, completely interchangeable and customizable with the application of decors or changing colors and materials of flaps, applied wallets or straps. Other interesting thing is that each element can be bought separately to change easily the aspect of the bag (perfect for frequent flyer).
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| TESSA SPIELHOFER |
THREAD EM is a brand designed by the Italian designer Emma Frattolillo, graduated in 2001 at Sapienza University with a specialization in Fashion and Costume Design, then moved to Los Angeles, where she produces her bags and silk scarfes with Italian materials. Her fresh and vibrant collection is inspired by the geometric shapes and the balance of colors of the design pieces by Memphis group of Ettore Sottsass.
Contemporary Mood was another space dedicated to young designers and new realities of fashion business hosted in the spaces of Opificio 31. There I met two designers, Valentina Poltronieri and Elena Di Raimondo, and the representatives of The Color Soup, an interesting online service for young and aspiring designers.
VALENTINA POLTRONIERI invited me to her trunk show for the presentation of the fall 2018 collection. Soon I‘ll publish the interview we made just after the show. Valentina presented also the best pieces of her summer 2018 collection. Always inspired by the simplicity of geometric shapes and by a funny and colorful approach to design, Valentina presented a fall collection with faux furs, technical fabrics and laser-cut details in a black, pink and fuchsia color palette.
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| VALENTINA POLTRONIERI |
EDR LAB is an artisanal accessory label by Elena Di Raimondo, a designer from Modica (Sicily) who studied at Polimoda in Florence and then at Istituto Secoli in Milan. Her innovative and transformable bags are inspired by the colorful world of Roy Lichtenstein and the delicate gardens of Botticelli and Kano Eitoku, made modern by contrasting colors and fringed decorations.
THE COLOR SOUP is an innovative online service born by the textile group Miroglio in collaboration with H-FARM, a digital platform to support new start-up. Giving the possibility to customize digital print on more than 30 types of fabric and with only 1 meter of minimum order, The Color Soup offers a great chance to aspiring and young designers to create their collection without compromise their budget with expensive costs for fabrics.
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| THE COLOR SOUP |
Soon other new and emerging brands and young designers seen at WHITE SHOW and during the MILAN FASHION WEEK fall/winter 2018-19. Stay tuned!
