Between sustainability and new languages, two projects make room for young talent

In addition to the long-awaited debuts of famous designers for equally famous brands - from Maria Grazia Chiuri for Fendi (today at 2pm) to Demna for Gucci (scheduled for Friday, also at 2pm) - Women's Fashion Week also hosts those of emerging creatives, with the first shows of, among others, Casa Preti, Florania Max Zara Sterck and Simon Cracker, and the first presentations of brands such as Afraa, Alice Yu, Avavav and Les Filles D'eva. Being a stage for new creative visions is a constant vocation of the National Chamber of Fashion (Cnmi), which yesterday inaugurated the new edition (the first was in September 2015) of its Fashion Hub, an incubator but also a meeting place, to promote emerging designers with many initiatives, the creations are arranged on special installations: the chosen venue, the historic Palazzo Morando, is in itself a bridge between the dimensions of time, as it houses the city's fashion museum.

Until 1 March, there will be installations and brand presentations: six Italian brands selected for their ability to redefine the concept of Made in Italy hosted as part of "Future Threads: Italy's New Wave", each with a project. Among others, Cavia, by designer Martina Boero, with "The Rules of Imperfection", and Lessico Familiare, appreciated for its minimalist and therefore sustainable approach, with "New Age, Same Playground". Then there is Marco Rambaldi (formerly head of knitwear and embroidery at Dolce&Gabbana) with 'Memoria Futura', while presenting their creations in 'New Gen, New Ethos' are brands linked to values such as inclusiveness, responsibility and innovation, including Pikol Clothing, which works in London with the upcycling of vintage tablecloths, and La Pacifico, a knitwear brand based in Fano that uses natural and fully traceable fibres. "Finally, 'Not for Free' is a site-specific installation by artist Sara Leghissa, which gives space to conversations with cis, trans, and non-binary women encountered in different cities around the world.

The inauguration of the Fashion Hub was also an opportunity for Cnmi president Carlo Capasa to reiterate his 'moderate confidence' for 2026: 'This could be the year of fashion's restart. We expect to close it with a plus sign. In the last few months of 2025 we witnessed a reversal of the trend and it seems to us that 2026 has recorded a positive start that gives us hope, Now is the time to respond with creativity".

A strategy that also includes another project dedicated to the promotion of new talents: this edition of Fashion Week, a showcase for the autumn-winter 26-27 collections, saw the debut of another initiative launched by the Chamber of Fashion together with Rinascente, in the wake of similar projects dedicated in the past to new generations of designers, such as the Shoppable Project.

With "Next On Air: A brand selection curated by Rinascente and Cnmi" a jury - composed of president Capasa, Mariella Elia, managing director of Rinascente, and sector journalists - has chosen 11 brands, six of them Italian, from those that participated in the international call for entries: winning the chance to exhibit their collections until 9 March in the Air Snake space, traditionally reserved for special projects and collaborations with major brands, in the Rinascente Duomo store are Ok Kino, Darya Golneva and Denis Caunov, Nubu, Be Nina and Dawei Studio for womenswear; Pronunce and Cascinelli for menswear; In Aèreas and Purepeak for beauty; Futuro Remoto and Defaience for fashion jewellery and Fiallo for footwear. This is a way of emphasising the identity that multibrands are progressively assuming, also to differentiate themselves from monobrands, i.e. proposing themselves as spaces for curating, researching and launching new brands.