This week includes the back half of London Fashion Week and the front half of Milan. It’s hard to pick just one show to focus on, and we’ll have plenty of coverage this week from our team, both for the clothes on the runway and the business stories behind them. In the meantime, here’s a quick breakdown of it the financial stakes behind some of the most anticipated shows:
Burberry
Daniel Lee’s Burberry debut is set for Monday, coming after months of anticipation and early signs of change, most recently a new logo that showcased the British mega-brand’s heritage. Lee is under huge pressure to deliver out of the gate – Burberry is banking on his plans to reignite growth and push the label further into the market. Critical to success will be an elevated catwalk exit, a new take on the Britishness at the core of the brand’s DNA and a renewed leather goods offering, where Lee has a strong track record.
Moncler
The Italian skiwear company’s ‘Genius’ strategy returns after last year’s license, but this time the strategy is different. While top-selling collaborations with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s Fragment and Francesco Ragazzi’s Palm Angels return, fashion favorites such as Craig Green and Simone Rocha have been replaced by more mainstream partners such as Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. effort to broaden the reach of the initiative.
Diesel/MM6 Maison Margiela/Jil Sander by OTB
Renzo Rosso’s OTB is presenting three brands in Milan this week. The group said last week that net sales were up 12% in 2022, thanks to its luxury brands (which also include Marni), where Rosso has been able to install some of the industry’s best creative talent. Flagship Diesel appears to still be a work in progress — but OTB noted that the brand has a new look under creative director Glenn Martens and that some items were selling well, including the 1DR bag. The brand’s belt-skirt has taken the internet by storm. But it will take time for all the new hype around the brand to translate into sales. Group CEO Rosso also confirmed last week that he is still looking to add at least one more brand to his portfolio.
Prada
Prada could argue that it had the best year of any major luxury brand in 2022 (we’ll know how well when the group reports full-year results in a few weeks; it expects to hit an all-time high in 2013 with north of €4 billion in sales ). Between Prada and Miu Miu, the group set trends and achieved significantly higher sales. New CEO Andrea Guerra, announced in December, helped quell concerns about succession planning.
Gucci
Expectations are low for the second of four Gucci shows in the interregnum between creative directors Alessandro Michele and Sabato De Sarno. A menswear collection in January was politely described as “low-key” and less kindly as “possibly deliberately banal”. Surely the brand will have something up its sleeve to spice up the launch of its main women’s collection, but we’ll have to wait until Thursday to see. On the bright side, China’s rapid post-Covid opening bodes well for the brand, which was hit harder than most by “Zero Covid” and the recent spate of infections.
Bottega Veneta, meanwhile, is on a hot streak under Matthieu Blazy, both creatively and commercially. Comparable sales rose 11 percent last year, welcome news for Kering amid turmoil at Gucci and Balenciaga.
Ferragamo/Missoni/Bally/Etro
Every brand in this group has one thing in common: sometime in the last year, they installed a new creative director (and in Ferragamo’s case, a new CEO and a new logo as well). All four hope that buzzier collections will form the core of their turnaround plans. In some cases they are quite ambitious – former Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti promised to double Ferragamo’s sales within five years.
What else to watch this week?
Sunday
London Fashion Week: JW Anderson, Erdem, Christopher Kane, Nensi Dojaka, SS Daley
Monday
London Fashion Week: Daniel Lee’s Burberry Debut, Moncler Genius
Tuesday
The Moda trade show begins in New York
Wednesday
Milan Fashion Week: Diesel, Fendi, Etro
TJ Maxx reports quarterly results
Thursday
EssilorLuxottica, Farfetch, Mytheresa and Revolve report the results
Milan Fashion Week: Max Mara, Prada, MM6 Maison Margiela, Emporio Armani, Moschino
Eurozone reports January inflation data
Friday
Milan Fashion Week: Tod’s, Gucci, Jil Sander
Saturday
Milan Fashion Week: Ferrari, Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana, Bally, Missoni, Bottega Veneta
Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin@businessoffashion.com.