The origins of Milan Fashion Week can be traced back to a fashion show organized by Italian aristocrat and entrepreneur Giovanni Battista Giorgini. Inspired by Press Week in New York City, which was organized by Eleanor Lambert, Giorgini held the first “Italian High Fashion Show” at his villa in Florence in February 1951. The event featured 18 models from 10 Italian fashion designers and was attended by six important buyers from the United States, who came as a courtesy to Giorgini.
Thanks to Giorgini, the world took notice of Italian fashion for the first time, and his fashion shows became a regular occurrence. However, some industry players disagreed with his vision of presenting a limited number of models at each show. Consequently, a group of fashion designers founded the Italian High Fashion Union (Sindacato Italiano Alta Moda, or SIAM) in Rome in 1953. SIAM began organizing rival fashion shows in Rome a few days before Giorgini’s shows in Florence.
By 1958, fashion designers from Rome and Florence had reconciled and founded Camera Sincidale della Moda Italiana, now known as Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (National Chamber for Italian Fashion), headquartered in Milan. The new organization continued to stage shows in Rome and Florence, but eventually moved them to Milan due to overcrowding. Although the first fully fledged Milan Fashion Week was held in 1975, 1958 is considered its founding year.
During the late 1970s and 1980s, Milan solidified its reputation as a major fashion center when major Italian fashion houses began showcasing their designs at Milan Fashion Week. Designers and brands such as Giorgio Armani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, and Gianfranco Ferré helped raise the prestige of Milan Fashion Week and Italian fashion in general. By the 1990s, Milan Fashion Week was recognized as one of the Big Four fashion weeks, alongside those in Paris, New York, and London, sought after by the global press and buyers.
Each of the Big Four fashion weeks is believed to have its own unique character. Parish Fashion Week is known for its focus on haute couture fashion, London Fashion Week is associated with experimentation, New York Fashion Week is the most commercially oriented, and Milan Fashion Week is known for prioritizing luxury ready-to-wear garments, craftsmanship, and premium textiles.
Like all major fashion weeks, Milan Fashion Week is held twice a year, in February/March and September/October, showcasing autumn-winter and spring-summer collections respectively. The event focuses on women’s fashion. A separate event, Milan Men’s Fashion Week, which focuses on menswear, is held about a month before the main fashion week. Each season, Milan Fashion Week features more than 50 shows held at historical venues across Milan, such as the Royal Palace of Milan (Palazzo Reale) and the Palazzo Serbelloni, among others.
