Ever wanted to know more about fashion designers and their collections? Today’s post will focus on Milan Fashion Week and some of their incredible shows!

CALCATERRA

WHO IS DANIELE CALCATERRA?

Daniele Calcaterra was born in Milan and studied fashion at the Institute of Fashion and Design in Milan as well as the Dudovich Institute. He took courses in Vienna and Paris that helped prepare him for his future career and collections. After graduating, he started his career at 22 years old by working with several Italian manufacturers specializing in womenswear and menswear.

FROM ONE LABEL TO ANOTHER

He launched his eponymous label, Daniele Calcaterra, in 2001 which did very well. However, Calcaterra shut it down because he wasn’t satisfied with the direction it was going in. In 2014, he launched Calcaterra which focused more on sleeved pieces and is made in-house.

Calcaterra’s clothes focus on being versatile enough to work for day and night; his fabrics are also considered unique as he works closely with fabric manufacturers to create materials that are exclusive to his label. He prefers Italian materials and high-quality Japanese textiles. In addition, he has started working on a more ethical way to use fur; he is deconstructing old fur coats to repurpose in his designs.

THE FALL 2019 COLLECTION

His Fall 2019 collection was inspired by Amelia Earhart, who was the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. Calcaterra focused on tailoring and used neutral colors to create simple yet well-made designs. There were tailored blazer and pant sets as well as flowy deconstructed dresses; some of the pieces were embellished with sequins or feathers, which kept the collection from being too boring and uniform. See the whole collection here.

GENNY

HOW WAS GENNY CREATED?

Genny was created by Arnaldo and Donatella Girombelli. Launched in 1962, it was named after Arnaldo’s oldest daughter and became a success among women as an Italian brand. In 1973, Gianni Versace became the creative director, which helped its success.

Genny stopped producing pieces in 2004 after Prada acquired the label. In 2011, Facchini Group took over and the current creative director is Sara Cavazza Facchini. Nowadays, the brand is focused on combining classic and modern elements as well as creating more flowy and feminine pieces. They are also working on sustainable designs and concentrating on “responsible luxury.”

THE FALL 2019 COLLECTION

This collection focused on dramatic, dressy pieces and used interesting materials in their pieces. The main hues were white, sky blue, black, and bright red. The outerwear played a key role in creating dramatic ensembles with long puffer jackets, shimmery coats and blazers, and fur capes. The dresses stayed true to their brand with flowy silhouettes and beautiful draping. See the whole collection here.

ETRO

HOW WAS ETRO CREATED?

Gerolamo “Gimmo” Etro founded Etro in 1968 as a textile design company and is known for its signature paisley print. It is currently run by his 4 children. Kean Etro is the creative director for menswear. Veronica Etro took over in 2000 as the creative director for womenwear. Jacopo Etro became the creative director for accessories, and Ippolito is currently the general director of the family business.

THE FALL 2019 COLLECTION

The brand has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, and in honor of that, Veronica decided to dig into the family’s archives and take inspiration from 18th-century scarves for the current collection. Other sources of inspiration were ’90s Britpop, Cool Brittanica, the punk era, and the Victorian/Edwardian period.

The main colors in this collection revolved around red, black, green, burnt sienna, and variants of brown and beige. There were also some metallic details to add a bit of shine on some of the ensembles. Besides paisley, other notable prints were plaid, broque that seemed to match the Edwardian/Victorian era, and floral patterns. The looks were also multi-dimensional because of the mixture of different fabrics and materials and most outfits were belted to accentuate the waist. See the whole collection here.

UJOH

WHO IS MITSURU NISHIZAKI?

Mitsuri Nishizaki is the founder of Ujoh, which was launched in 2009. Prior to creating his own label, Nishizaki worked for Yohji Yamamoto for seven years as a pattern cutter. He was a finalist in the competition Who is on Next? Dubai in 2015. In 2016, Giorgio Armani provided support and helped Nishizaki present a collection at Milan Fashion Week.

THE FALL 2019 COLLECTION

Because of his background in pattern cutting, Nishizaki shows an incredible balance when it comes to using fabrics and uses tailoring and bold cutting to bring his designs to life. This Fall 2019 collection used mainly neutral colors such as brown, black, white, and gray, along with muted shades through a light violet-pink, sky blue, pale yellow, and light orange. The outfits were very wearable and had layers that would be appropriate for the fall and winter months. I really enjoyed this collection and would love to wear some of these pieces. See the whole collection here.

And that wraps up Milan Fashion Week! It’s been difficult to keep up, but fashion month is beginning to wrap up with Paris Fashion Week, so be on the lookout for my next Fashion Week blog post where I’ll cover Parisian designers. Let me know who your favorite designers were from Milan Fashion Week and if you enjoyed this post; thanks for reading and I’ll see you lovelies soon!