Milan Fashion Week (MFW) will start with a bang this season, as roaming spectacle Vogue World hits the city on Tuesday evening, prompting a reshuffle of the schedule. Prada — often a buyer and editor highlight — will kick off the week for the first time, providing a bold start to a rich week of shows, presentations, parties, openings, galas and more.

There’s been a major creative upheaval in Milan over recent seasons, with new designers installed at the majority of Italy’s luxury houses. But for Spring/Summer 2027, the dust has largely settled, as many from this fresh cohort knuckle down and develop their second or third collections.

But with a visit from Vogue World, a glittering opening gala for the “Dalì and Fashion” exhibition, and the debut of Moschino’s new creative directors, there’s plenty to look forward to in Milan this season.

Running from September 22 to 28, the week will feature 54 physical shows and 88 presentations, similar to the 52 runways and 89 presentations for FW26. With turbulence in Italian manufacturing, and a consistently unforgiving macroeconomic environment, Italy’s annual fashion revenues have declined 8% since 2023, hitting €91.4 million for 2026, per Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI).

So, in these times, it’s important that fashion week creates energy, and underscores the power of Italian craft and creativity, CNMI chair Carlo Capasa said during a press conference.

Already, Milan Fashion Week, and the city as a whole, has gained momentum this year, thanks to the Winter Olympics, the creative reset, and, believe it or not, The Devil Wears Prada 2, which brought 500,000 new visitors to Milan in the months following its release, according to Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala. “I know you may think that every year is special, but this year is a real special one,” Sala says.

“[This season], we will make sure the fashion industry and the city will glitter.”

Sala is in part referring to Vogue World Milano, the next iteration of Vogue’s annual fashion spectacular, which will take place under the glass roof of the iconic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in the center of the city, on September 22. The theme, “The Human Touch in the Age of Technology”, will home in on ‘Made in Italy’ and what it means today.

Brands are rarely allowed to stage events at the historic venue, Sala says, “But we understood the importance of this beautiful, unique opportunity.” In return, he asked Vogue to help fund the Quarto Oggiaro public library. “I think that this is the right way to do things.

We have to recognize the value of fashion; we have to recognize the importance of such events, but at the same time, those organizing events have to deploy efforts [locally].”

Elsewhere, Vogue is bringing the second edition of its Vogue Café to the city, taking over Palazzo Giureconsulti from September 24 to 26, a few steps away from the Galleria. And following the success of its inaugural edition, Vogue Italia and Kering’s Cinemoda will return to Milan on September​ 25 and 26, screening films like Belle de Jour and The Hunger.

For the only designer debut of the season, Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, founders of now-shuttered brand Sunnei, will present their first show as creative directors of Moschino on Friday, September 25. If their Sunnei stunts are anything to go by, we can expect an interesting concept. “I’m curious to see what shape their irony takes inside someone else’s codes,” Milan-based fashion writer and curator Giorgia Feroldi says.

“I’m very curious to see Loris and Simone’s debut at Moschino,” says Manuel Marelli, head of buying at 10 Corso Como. “I hope their modernity and sense of irony can bring a new energy to the brand.”

Cementing their visions

The mood this season in Milan is consolidation, says Feroldi. “After a year of counting debuts, many of the new creative directors are now past their first collection, and Meryll Rogge at Marni is the one I’m most curious about.”

As Vogue Runway reporter Tiziana Cardini puts it, several designers will be under the microscope this season as they develop.

Maria Grazia Chiuri will stage her sophomore show for Fendi on Wednesday, September 23, swapping the brand’s usual opening slot for the afternoon. Louise Trotter will stage her third show for Bottega Veneta on Saturday evening. And after a much-talked about debut in February, Demna will present his sophomore collection for Gucci on Friday, September 25.

“It will be interesting to see not simply what they propose, but how their individual languages evolve once the first-season declarations of intent are behind them,” Cardini says. “We want to see what’s left once the dust of hype has settled.”

For retailers, consistency of vision is a positive. “I’m really enjoying that the designers have found their groove, tapping into what their customers want and are genuinely obsessed with,” says Brigitte Chartrand, chief buying and merchandising officer at Net-a-Porter. “It [should] make for an amazing season.” She notes Gucci among the shows she’s particularly excited for.

Elsewhere on-schedule, you can find Diesel, Ferragamo, Missoni, Etro, Max Mara, and Dolce & Gabbana. “After seeing some great takes on lingerie dressing during New York, I can’t wait to see how Dolce & Gabbana’s iconic aesthetic will translate onto the runway,” Chartrand says.

Like Feroldi, the majority of editors and buyers we spoke to are anticipating Rogge’s sophomore show for Marni and Simone Bellotti’s third show for Jil Sander. The latter of the OTB-owned brands announced a new CEO, Marco Viganò, just last week, as it seeks to capitalize on Bellotti’s fresh design energy.

“Jil Sander is definitely the brand I’m most focused on at the moment, and Simone is doing an exceptional job there,” says Marelli. Chartrand agrees: “I’m really looking forward to seeing how Simone Bellotti’s vision continues to unfold, in the same way for Meryll Rogge’s second show at Marni.”

“I’m hoping to see originality, a strong sense of identity and, above all, something that feels less predictable,” Marelli says of the sophomore shows. “After so many changes and new creative directions, I’m curious to see which designers will really manage to make their own vision felt and bring something new to Milan.”

Speaking of new creative directions, following the news that Dario Vitale is heading to Emporio Armani — his runway debut will take place during FW27 next February — the brand will stage a presentation this season consisting of the final collection designed by Silvana Armani and Leo Dell’Orco, who took over from the late founder, Giorgio Armani.

“There’s [now] the long anticipation surrounding Dario Vitale’s appointment at Emporio Armani,” Cardini says. “While this is not an actual debut, his arrival inevitably adds to the sense of renewal and energy that has been gathering momentum in Milan over the past few seasons.”

Other new names include Portuguese brand Marques’Almeida, which won the LVMH Prize in 2015, and has shown on and off at London Fashion Week since 2011. Mexican Ecuadorian brand Neithan Herbert, founded by Neithan Ruiz, will also make its runway debut, supported by Michelle Ngomo’s Afro-fashion initiative, which mentored the designer throughout the planning; Vogue’s global casting director Ignacio Murillo will cast the show.

Beyond the runway, there will be approximately 54 brand events throughout the week. After Wednesday’s shows, industry guests will attend a gala dinner hosted by Mayor Sala and CNMI chair Carlo Capasa to celebrate the opening of the “Dalì e la Moda” exhibition at the Palazzo Reale, running September 24 to January 31.

Meanwhile, OTB-owned Viktor & Rolf will stage a dinner at 10 Corso Como in honor of its new exhibition, “Spectrum”, running until November 22 and comprising 20 couture looks created over its 30-year history.

Many show-goers will likely stop by Prada’s newly opened Galleria store during MFW, a “full-on celebration of everything the brand stands for” across art, fashion and food, Cardini notes. “It is an exquisitely orchestrated universe in which Miuccia Prada’s extraordinary taste seems to extend from the clothes to practically every square inch of the building. In other words, a rather difficult place to pop into ‘just for a look’.”

Francesco Risso, meanwhile, is opening his Bureau of Imagination (a “manufacturing house for objects”), Cardini notes, “which sounds less like an office than precisely the sort of place one hopes to stumble into even beyond fashion week — a hub for surprise, experimentation and, one assumes given Risso’s personality, fabulous amounts of creativity.”

Milan is continuing its investment in emerging talent this season, spearheaded by CNMI international new talent and brands ambassador Sara Sozzani Maino of Fondazione Sozzani. On Saturday, September 26, Fondazione Sozzani will present its new Sozzani Award, celebrating those whose research and creative work contribute to contemporary culture across photography, fashion, design, and craft.

The first edition is dedicated to women’s empowerment and will provide the winning female creative or entrepreneur with a dedicated scholarship and grant up to €15,000. Finalists are: Paris-based designer Marie-Ève Lecavalier; Nigerian Paris-based designer Timisola Shasanya; and Japanese London-based designer Mai Suzuki.

“The city’s more established independent voices will also be worth watching, from Galib Gassanoff to Luca Lin of Act No.1, as they continue to develop and solidify their visions, alongside Francesco Murano and Ilenia Durazzi,” Cardini says. She’s also particularly eager to see what the Pecoranera knitwear collective will be up to.

“Their collective approach feels very much in tune with a moment when fashion is becoming increasingly interested in dialogue, collaboration, and less predictable ways of making things happen.”

Venerdì Pomeriggio returns for its second season, which Feroldi is excited to see. “Her [business] model — six genderless capsules a year, Made in Italy from deadstock — deserves real support,” she says.

Also, the Future Threads program at the Fashion Hub in Palazzo Morando brings together six emerging Italian labels, selected by Sozzani Maino, she adds. “Among them is CNMI Fashion Trust Grant winner Materia, which makes adaptive sportswear with magnetic fastenings, designed to be easy for everyone to wear.”

Marelli notes some other new names to watch. “I really like the vibe of Nicolò Romano’s work — it feels casual but cool, with a very natural attitude and a strong sense of contemporary youth culture,” he says.

“Domenico Orefice is another one. I appreciate his approach to tailoring and his ability to mix a more refined, sophisticated attitude with something unexpected and contemporary.

There’s a strong sense of identity in his work, which I think is particularly important for emerging designers today.”

Giorgio Armani, now under the stewardship of Silvana, will close out the week on Sunday, September 27. Capasa thanked both Prada and Giorgio Armani in the MFW press conference for bookending the week, “bringing guests to Milan from the very beginning, and encouraging them to stay until the very end.”

Indeed, this season, the feeling of newness extends well beyond fashion, Cardini notes. “Milan has acquired an increasingly magnetic international pull as a destination for tourism, business, culture and entertainment — a city that seems to have discovered that being fashionable is not necessarily confined to clothes.”