Fashion in the times of the Coronavirus
In relation to the development of the spreading of the Coronavirus, the MIDO Board of Directors, as we have previously announced, has postponed the 50th edition to late May/mid June (the dates are still to be notified). The decision was made even before the issuing of the Ordinance, signed by the President of the Region of Lombardy, Attilio Fontana, in conjunction with the Minister of Health, Roberto Speranza, valid for the entire area of Lombardy. The document extends to the yellow area, (therefore including the city of Milan) some of the orders already applied in several of the cities of the red area and it is valid, for now, until Sunday, 1 March. In particular, in addition to including “the suspension of all events or initiatives of any nature, and any type of meeting in a public or private place, including of a cultural, recreational, sporting and religious nature, even if carried out in closed areas open to the public”, it explicitly orders the closing “of trade fairs”.
The consequences were also felt during Milan Fashion Week, which took place last week, so just before the Ordinance. Carlo Capasa, President of the Camera Nazionale della Moda (the National Chamber for Italian Fashion), gave each brand the opportunity to decide independently whether to open its event to the public.
Giorgio Armani, for example, in order to not “expose the guests to any health risk”, as King Giorgio himself stated, showed his collection behind closed doors and streamed it on his website, Armani.com.
In line with Armani, the Laura Biagiotti Maison, who also opted for a closed door fashion show, and Moncler who cancelled the event entirely.
Others, instead, chose to hold their fashion shows as planned and go against the tide: Dolce & Gabbana, Ports 1961, Drome and Boss.
Aided by the Coronavirus and the new way of experiencing fashion, Milan Fashion Week registered record numbers in streaming with 11 million views. Significant numbers which go to “compensate” the over one thousand Asian buyers and operators in the fashion industry which due to the Coronavirus were unable to participate in the fashion shows in Milan.