Outside is dark. Winter is knocking at the doors. Fog is winding through the streets on the notes of “The Dark Side of the Moon”. This is the week in which everyone wants to be a Goth. But how to? How can one actually pretend to be so, even for one night? And what does it mean? Is it still a contemporary style? Everything started at the end of the Seventies, in the train of the Punk Era. Many of the so called Post-Punk music bands found the headquarter in the just opened Batcave nightclub in London, developing a social music movement and a new dress code characterising it. So,…
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A chat over dinner with Alberto Baldan, CEO of La Rinascente
You may think that I am exaggerating, and to some extent it is true. I did not dine privately with Mr Baldan, but this is how the evening felt like to me. When I saw the event promoting a tasty aperitivo with the CEO of the most famous department store in Italy, I thought of one of those networking events where the guest awkwardly speaks for 5 minutes and then has to rush away. But I couldn’t be more wrong: organised by Hub Giovani, a group of inspired young students and professionals who get together to discuss about work, culture, innovation and much more, the aperitivo with Baldan was so enjoyable…
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Il Nuovo Gucci: in the Backstage of the Italian Empire’s Rebirth.
We’re in December 2014, and the mutli-brand luxury group Kering announces the departure of Patrizio di Marco and Frida Giannini, respectively Gucci’s CEO and artistic director. This wave of departures from Gucci comes as no surprise, and marks the beginning of a fresh start for the Florentine brand. Set up in 1921 by Guccio Gucci and acquired in 1999 by the ancestor of Kering, PPR, the double G brand was, at the time, going through a rough patch. 2013 has proved to be a downturn in the brand’s sales, a situation that worsened in 2014, with lower sales volume of 1.8% at 3,49 billion euros. Considering that Gucci is the…
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Decades of Fashion: the 60s
“Hey mama hey mama – Look around -Everybody’s groovin’ to a brand new sound” Welcome to the 60s, Hairspray At the beginning of the Sixties, the world felt that something was changing. A rush of optimism was spreading around cities and, with the election of the new president of US, John F. Kennedy, in 1961, people believed that a new golden age had to start. The key actors of those years where those who were born after the World War II, also called the baby boomers. Having reached the teen age, the joyful, lighthearted youth embraced the pleasures of life without the knowledge of the dreads of past wars. They…
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Fashion Eliminates the Y Chromosome
As we learned in biology lessons, chromosome Y defines human gender. However, as we are learning from fashion today, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. The boundaries between masculinity and femininity are increasingly blurring and this seems to be more than a fast trend. In the past, when fashion was way more conservative, one could tell for sure what is appropriate for a man and what suits a woman. Today we see the stereotypes melting: while ladies wear boyfriend jeans, oversize shirts, T-shirts and hoodies, the aesthetics leaving their looks find place in menswear with brands like J.W.Anderson and Gucci introducing the man of unconventional, androgynous…
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Good American, Clashing Ideals?
It’s here! Yesterday Khloé Kardashian launched her new line of jeans “Good American” and the whole Internet is buzzing about it. Apart from the visually appealing styles, the line is being praised for it’s inclusive image. With sizes ranging from 0-24, made with stretchy fabric to showcase natural curves, the brand claims that its mission is to have a positive impact on the community. “Pledging to sustain the manufacturing of jeans in the United States and supporting charities that empower girls to realize their true potential,” reads the website. Co-founder, Emma Grede stated, “We believe everybody deserves to be shown off. Fashion should be made to fit women, not the…
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Brunello Cucinelli – “Beauty Will Save the World”
“Balance sheets are not saved through lives.” It is with this quote by Adriano Olivetti that the conference held on October 18th, organised by Gianfranco De Nigris, Roberto Montaruli, Bocconi Students for Fashion and B.lab Bocconi, and hosting Brunello Cucinelli, led off. The main focus of the event was sustainability and, as Francesco Perrini – full Professor of Management at Bocconi University and Senior Professor of Corporate Finance & Real Estate at SDA Bocconi – said, on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), or better in this case, to a return to the concept of Community. Introducing Brunello Cucinelli, Professor Perrini described him as a revolutionist, promoter of an alternative entrepreneurial path.…
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The power of East: how Asian designers do MFW
Finally we are back at Bocconi, back at BS4F, and back at Milan Fashion Week. The new year calls for new experiences, so we decided to try something out: while the members usually attend events organized by Italian brands, this time there were also emerging asian designers added to the busy schedule. Today we will discuss the fashion show of Atsushi Nakashima, Japan, along with the presentation made by Samuel Yang from China, and see what they do to make the fashion-saturated Milan find place for newcomers from the east. Atsushi Nakashima The Japanese designer Atsushi Nakashima studied Fashion Design in Nagoya Fashion College, Japan, and claims to have been…
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Top 5 Designers from Georgian Fashion Week
The world is changing; fashion is no more concentrated around Paris, Milan and New York. Today the world knows designers from China, Africa, Australia, and recently Georgia. For the ones interested in fashion there’s no way this place can remain unknown: the industry experts are betting on it here, there and everywhere. Today let’s take a closer look at the talents emerging in Tbilisi. Situated between Europe, the Middle East and Russia, Georgia is a newcomer of the fashion scene. The Mercedes Benz Fashion Week was only introduced to the country one year ago by Sofia Tchkonia, and essentially is currently far from what we have here in Milan. However,…
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The End of Big Chinese Fashion Manufacturers?
Over the past 30 years China has been a key pillar of manufacturing in general and even more of fashion manufacturing, but the last times has put the colossus under pressure. Nowadays Italy is the nearest competitor in fashion manufacturing , producing an eight of Chinese average output, but staying far far away from the surprising percentage of China, that yield the 60% of the world’s shoes and the 43% of world’s clothing. However Zhongguo is facing a storm that could lead to the loss of its primacy: the arrival on the scene of cheaper sourcing hubs in Africa and Asia and the always higher production costs, together with long term…
