Milan hosts first ever “Digital” Fashion Week

With the subtitle “the show that never happened,” Prada headlined Milan’s first Digital Fashion Week with a series of videos. Prada told its story through five video chapters by international artists, featuring glimpses of the collection against the backdrop of the Fondazione Prada’s exhibition space in Milan.

Luxury fashion has adapted to the coronavirus pandemic by moving runway shows onto digital platforms. It was that, or cancel the season, a tough choice for an industry that in Italy alone is expected to suffer a 20%-30% drop in revenues this year, from 67 billion euros ($76 billion) last year

“We are used to doing fashion shows,” Miuccia Prada said in notes emailed to journalists. ”But the moment you can’t do a physical show, you have to invent another work.”

Moschino also presented in the virtual format. They displayed polka-dotted, pop art-inspired looks with a flash of Italian pride with the tri-color green, white and red. Philipp Plein was his own model, showing off a series of sporty looks, including 24 karat gold-plated footwear and matching eagle – encrusted jacket.

”Today, I am at a point where I have to rethink what is going to happen in the future,” Plein told his video audience. ”I still believe in my dreams. Nobody can stop this, not even the virus.”

– Jori Bonadurer