Italian high-fashion house “Valentino” (Haute Couture) has launched Milan Men’s Fashion Week after presenting mixed-gender collections for the past three years, marking a long-overdue return to the capital of the Lombardy region. Shows love Parisian sites.

This participation marks a return to the roots of the famous Italian fashion designer and founder of the house, Valentino Garvani (91 years old), who presented the first men’s fashion show in his career in Milan in January 1985, before achieving global success. and retired in 2008.

Valentino chose to reveal his men’s collection on Friday in the courtyard of the University of Milan, founded in 1923, when it was crowded with students, and some of them had the opportunity to attend the show. The house wants to appeal to the younger generation.

Parallel to the artistic director of “Valentino” since 2008, Pierpaoli Piccioli was interested in paying more than one tribute to the house’s ancient history, in an attempt to modernize it, breaking away from the familiar rules of men’s fashion.

In this sense, the collection is drawn from traditional stock, and includes elegant clothing that includes Bermuda shorts and fitted jackets in white, gray or black.

These fashions are accompanied by the must-have accessories for the Valentino man, such as the 20th century fifties style thin tie and handbags in bright colors like yellow, red and fuchsia, sparkling earrings.

As confirmed by the group owned by the Qatari investment fund “Mayhula” since 2012, men’s fashion is highly valued at Valentino due to Piccioli’s change in its rules and its “growing importance” in the house’s sales.

Increase in revenue

The menswear industry in Italy saw a significant increase in its sales volume of 20.3%, reaching 11.3 billion euros in 2022, which is higher than the level before the Covid pandemic.

During a press conference during Milan Week last May, Italian Chamber of Fashion president Carlo Capazza predicted that “the situation in the sector will be good in 2023”.

In light of the 15.3% increase in revenue in the first quarter, Capasa believes that the entire sector, both male and female, will achieve 5% growth this year, after limiting the previously set target to 4%.

The Men’s Fashion Week program, dedicated to the spring and summer collections of 2024, has more than 70 activities, of which no more than five are completely virtual, excluding the phase of online shows imposed by restrictions aimed at controlling the epidemic.

These activities include 22 live shows for major fashion houses such as “Dolce & Cabana”, “Prada”, “Armani” and “Genia”.

Among the most important fashion houses absent during the week are “Versace”, “Moschino”, “Missoni” and “Fendi”, which intends to present its men’s collection at the “Petti Uomo” exhibition in Florence on Thursday. Fashion week.

The collection focuses on linen, cotton, leather and silk, in soothing colors reminiscent of Tuscan landscapes.