MILANO DIGITAL FASHION WEEK MOVES FORWARD WITH JULY DEBUT

For the first time since its inception, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) will unveil a digital fashion week portal in lieu of its traditional calendar of physical events. Slated for July 14th through July 17th, spring/summer 2021 menswear, as well as men’s and women’s pre-collections, will be showcased in a virtual space available worldwide.

Taking place on CNMI’s website, cameramoda.it, 37 brands will participate including two live-events by Dolce & Gabbana and Etro. See the schedule here.

Milano Digital Fashion Week will unfold in four days of live events and will be available 24/7, covering different time zones, including the USA, thanks to international news organization The New York Times, an official streaming partner of Milano Fashion Week.

The lineup encompasses an effective calendar of structured live events in which each brand is assigned a one-hour time slot, and can choose, with complete creative freedom, how to tell the story of their latest collection.

Weaving together each event will be a graphic space or thematic rooms that will be spearheaded by art director Luca Stoppini and will be curated by remarkable individuals.

Key proponents of the current fashion arena, game-changers, and visionaries have been invited to independently select content of all kinds, as long as they are linked to the most significant cultural phenomena of the moment. From sustainability to the connection between craftsmanship and technological innovation, to inclusiveness and diversity — all key themes that have inspired CNMI’s strategies and that can, therefore, become the starting point of individual research and reflections.

American journalist Alan Friedman will be entrusted with an “institutional room” where he will dialogue with the leading political, business, and entrepreneurial minds shaping the industry today.

In addition, there will be two areas designated for emerging talents, which has always been a strategic priority for CNMI: the International Hub Market section, that scouts designers from all over the world to further enhance the global spirit of Milano Digital Fashion Week; and Together for Tomorrow, the project launched in collaboration with Camera Moda Fashion Trust, that will be hosted by the portal to keep supporting a new generation of designers into the international fashion system, which has been rendered ever more arduous by this complex historic era. A section dedicated to mono and multi-brand showrooms will also come to life, with a hybrid formula that affords each participant the choice of whether or not to showcase to the general public or to reserve the details of the collections to a few select professionals.

Through its social media channels, CNMI will also offer a series of targeted live stories to further penetrate specific demographics and audiences.

Other platforms from other countries will join Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and The New York Times and will be announced in the coming days.

“For the first time in its history, CNMI is experimenting with a highly-innovative formula, through a live, digital platform that represents a new form of storytelling for the Italian fashion industry,” said Carlo Capasa, president of CNMI. “Milano Digital Fashion Week is a dynamic response to the complexity of today. It’s an ultra-inspiring tool, designed to support, rather than replace, the physical fashion calendar, which will resume in September and will remain vital in promoting Made in Italy and the value of its manufacturing prowess. The ‘China We Are With You’ project launched in February was a precursor to this initiative. The digital portal allowed the Chinese public to experience the Milano catwalk shows, despite travel restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Empowered by that initiative, we are presenting a revolutionary project that will open up Milano Fashion Week to a new audience of non-professionals: a demographic composed of younger generations who consume fashion via images and to whom CNMI has assumed the role as ‘fashion translator’ with the aim of conveying the creativity and culture that emanates from the Italian fashion world.”