WHITE Milano 2024: Sign of the Times

From February 22 to February 25, the spaces of the Tortona Fashion District welcomed a host of buyers, editors and fashion professionals from all over the world.

The event had the patronage of the Lombardy Region of the City of Milan. Large influx of press and leading national and international buyers, to name a few from America Bloomingdale's, Lost & Found, Lissilaa Boutique; from France Big Boss, Capsule By Eso, Le Bon Marché, Samaritaine, 24s. Com; from Italy Antonioli, Bernardelli, Biffi, Franz Kraler, Gente, Giglio, Helme', Julian Fashion, La Rinascente, Penelope, Sugar, Tessabit, Tiziana Fausti; from Korea Boon The Shop, Leirina, 10 Corso Como; from Turkey Vakko; from UAE Le Grey, Ounass.Com;

WHITE confirmed itself as an event capable of attracting the attention of the fashion scene, a showcase for new talents and a stimulating platform for established brands. About 300 brands (40% international, 60% Italian) previewed their ready-to-wear collections dedicated to the FW24-25 season.

The Lofts, inside Superstudio Più, were the scene of the presentation of three collections by many established brands. It started with the area dedicated to Avant Toi, an explosion of colors and knitwear garments that have made this brand internationally reckoned. GOTI's space, on the other hand, was reminiscent of an exhibition, a huge black room filled with illuminated display cases, inside which were sartorial jewelry made by the best master craftsmen. With a fuss-free aesthetic, on the other hand, was Stefano Mortari's loft, a sort of showroom in which the collection's garments stood out thanks to the clean and simple setting.

In the Basement, the more avant-garde collections found their own space. In this bare basement with raw details, women's clothing made of raw-cut leather by Vanderwilt - with its somber mood hinting at the dark avant-garde-married perfectly with the creations of M1978, jewelry with imperfect, handcrafted features made with precious metals and hard stones such as diamonds, black spinels and quartz. Closing the Basement space was the Vuscichè brand with its brocaded garments, sewn using reclaimed antique fabrics and mixing contemporary style with grunge elements.

WHITE's team, led by General Manager Simona Severini, selected the most suitable brands to ensure an interesting offer able to meet the taste of the public and the market. The brand mix presented embraced all segments, from clothing to jewelry, and saw fashion mixed with other arts.. Pure glamour for Radica Studio, trendy bags offered in intense colors and bold designs. Çaplait points to its Pakistani origins to make luxury and no-season footwear that recalls Middle Eastern colors and patterns. A passion passed from father to son is that of Frantic, an Italian brand of handmade knitwear made with the world's best baby alpaca and pure virgin wool yarns.

A number of small and medium-sized companies presented new collections or a selection of them inside the Suk area. Here they exhibited to the public in an open- space with uncluttered and minimal visuals.

An important international partnership was with Kfashion82, a Korean B2B platform run by the world-famous department store SHINSEGAE. Six talented designers presented their collections at WHITE: RYU CLASSIC, JIMINLEE, Liberadd, HANNAH SHIN and MAN.G and Kimoui.

Also present was the selection of Spanish designers, from clothing to accessories, who participated at WHITE with the collaboration of ICEX España Exportación and Inversiones. The brands involved were: Toral, Henry Arroway, Chie Mihara, Flabelus, SURKANA, Yerse, AUGUSTA, The Extreme Collection and Anel Rina.

WHITE promoted a project related to sustainability with the collaboration of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). This was a special photographic exhibition that addressed the global textile waste challenge, designed by students from the CasaModa Academy in Casablanca, Morocco, and developed as part of the SwitchMed program.

On February 23, a panel went on stage at MUDEC to talk about the evolution of the Expo WHITE project, which was joined with great momentum and concreteness by some of the best Italian textile companies, ready to meet designers from emerging markets, looking for excellent raw materials, expertise and know-how, to develop real business opportunities. Speakers included Daniele Sanzeni, project manager of (Textile)Times by Expo WHITE, Fabio Tamburini, CEO of the Albini Group and co-founder of the project, and Francesco Ferraris, Managing Director Finissaggio and Tintoria Ferraris, who brought their own case histories of business innovation to the stage. Also, Roberta de Palma, Chief Technical Advisor of UNIDO, who talked about the organization's work in some pilot projects, and Dan Donovan of Mesmerise with his talk entitled "Mapping the XR and AI Journey across the Fashion Value Chain.