Milan’s Defining Runway Moments

Photo by Chalo Garcia

Over in Milan, fashion week spectators bore witness to a rarity: new beginnings, continuations, and endings unfolding on the same calendar. These defining moments may seem to exist at opposite ends of a designer’s career on paper. But each asks essentially the same question: What does a designer want their work to communicate at such a pivotal time?

The debut is perhaps the most scrutinized collection a newly appointed creative director will ever produce. It’s their first opportunity to address who they are, and the answer can take several forms. A designer can lean heavily into a house’s codes, reject them altogether, or find common ground. Approach aside, the first collection must establish that the creative director understands the house they’re inheriting while making the case for why their appointment made sense.