As many are aware, Milan Fashion Week is dazzled with a fusion of traditional, innovative and inclusive brands throughout the week-long event.
At Milan Fashion Week 2024, many brands featured sustainable clothing, inclusive fashion and a diverse array of models offering a fresh perspective in an industry that can often seem exclusive. Some outstanding brands that were highlighted include Victor-Hart, Onitsuka Tiger, Sagaboi, Ara Lumiere, Maxivive, Tokyo James, Rave Review and Phan Dang Hoang.
The brands featured genderless fashion, plus-size models and clothing and intersectional approaches to fashion that subverted traditional notions of beauty. These brands and fashion houses not only showcase the latest trends but also display their values and missions through their designs as well. Although the fashion industry is often based on Eurocentric and thin aesthetics, the mentioned designers aim to disrupt this trend of exclusivity through their revolutionary craftsmanship.
The Milan Fashion Week Fashion Hub featured sustainable clothing created by designers such as Victor Reginald Bob Abbey-Hart. His clothing line featured under the name Victor-Hart was established in Italy in 2021 and focuses on hybrid workwear inspired by his Ghanaian heritage and culture. Hart creates reworked and upcycled pieces that are wearable for everyone rather than just appealing to a singular customer base. He is incredibly passionate about creating clothing that pleases himself rather than satisfying others and sells clothing within the ranges of extra small to extra large. His work focuses on sustainability and the ethical use of materials through recycling and upworking denim and other textiles. Some of the main trends featured at his exhibit include denim patchwork pieces, distressed and recycled elements, multitextured fabrics, and black, blue and grey color schemes.
Onitsuka Tiger is a Japanese sports brand founded in 1949 by Onitsuka Shokai featuring gender-non-forming clothing for those who defy typical gender categories of male and female. They offer shoes from sizes thirty-six to forty-nine and clothing from sizes extra small to two extra large. Some of the trends featured on this season’s runway include corporate looks composed of structured blazers, loafers and work pants in neutral palettes. Colors such as the company’s signature pale yellow, as well as patterns and textures such as stripes and sequins, were also present.
The photo above depicts two Victor-Hart mannequins dressed in (left) denim trousers and a dress shirt and (right) a denim dress.
The photo on the left depicts an Onitsuka Tiger model wearing a yellow and black striped long-sleeve shirt, brown trousers with a brown belt, and white dress shoes.
SagaBoi is a men’s fashion brand founded by Geoff K. Cooper in 2015 and is associated with the Caribbean subculture “saga boy”, meaning “playboy” or “a man who dresses very fashionably”. This company highlights Caribbean heritage incorporating Cooper’s Amerindian, African, Chinese, European, Indian and Syrian ancestry as the foundation of the designs. This company offers its clothing in sizes small to extra large. SagaBoi features clothing with bold colors such as pinks, reds, blues, yellows and greens that mimic the colors that are worn in the Caribbean islands. Along with these colors, black and white fur coats and accessories were also paired with eye-catching textures and patterns.
One revolutionary exhibition featured in Milan Fashion Week was Ara Lumiere. Ara Lumiere is a brand founded by creative director Kulsum Shadab Wahab and showcases the stories of acid attack and burn survivors. Through this company, survivors create clothing that transforms their “disfigurements” into empowering pieces and expresses the healing and transformation that they have gone through. They offer clothing in sizes ranging from extra small to triple extra large. Ara Lumiere features colors such as hot pink, navy blue, baby blue, mint green, and white. There are also some nature-inspired patterns such as florals, leaves and polka dots. Along with these colors and prints, flowy fabrics are used to give a laid-back vacation feel to their clothing.
The image above depicts a SagaBoi model wearing navy trousers, a red knit shirt, and a red and green multicolored fur jacket. (Via Milano Fashion Week)
The image to the left depicts an Ara Lumiere mannequin wearing a loose-fitting pink dress with a palm tree pattern.
Maxivive is a clothing brand founded in 2007 by creative director Papa Oyeyemi. His passion for non-conformity and the subversion of societal norms is communicated clearly through his craft. He is recognized for his activeness in the fashion, art and activism spheres and roots his innovative designs in his life experiences. Clothing is offered in sizes medium to extra large and incorporates Afro-futuristic elements. This season’s runway featured many unique textures such as fuzzy wool fabrics, glitter-covered textiles, and brightly colored plastic elements. The collection also incorporated motifs inspired by ideas of survival and rebirth which were greatly influenced by Oyeyemi’s personal near-death experiences, adding an emotional element to the outfits.
Tokyo James is a company founded by Iniye Tokyo James in Lagos, Nigeria in 2015 that offers men a modern, simplistic choice of fashion with an avant-garde taste. James incorporates African skills and techniques into his designs and advocates for intersectionality in his work. This company offers clothing in sizes ranging from extra small to extra large. At Milan Fashion Week, the Tokyo James collection featured oversized coats, suits and hoods. Colors such as gray, white, brown, tan and pops of green were present as well. Many of the designs also included different textures and materials to implement uniqueness.
The image above depicts a Maxivive model wearing a textured white tress with a large shoulder detail and chunky red heels.
The image to the left depicts a Tokyo James model wearing a lime green dress fitted at the waist, black pointed-toe flats, and a chunky coral-colored necklace and earrings. (Via Vogue Runway)
Phan Dang Hoang is a young designer from Vietnam who moved to Milan to pursue his passion for design and drawing. His latest collection, titled “Sculpture”, is inspired by sculptor Diem Phung Thi. The silhouettes, colors, cut-outs, draping techniques, pleating, padding and stitching mimic the cubic movements and transformations achieved by the sculptor. Hoang created this collection to celebrate women’s bodies and ideas of “non-standard” beauty. This company offers clothes in sizes ranging from extra small to extra large. Phan Dang Hoang features flowy silhouettes, pointed-toe heels, oversized workwear and shiny accessories in his designs. They also include colors such as green, tan, brown, orange, red and more.
The image above depicts a Phan Dang Hoang model wearing a lime green dress and pointed-toe black ankle boots, paired with a black purse. (Via Not Just A Label)
Rave Review is a woman-owned clothing brand established in 2017 by Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück to make fashion a more responsible industry. Their goals are to demonstrate the fun and creativity behind reworking items and they exclusively use recycled and recyclable materials to stay true to their values of being sustainable and eco-friendly. The company has been successful in offering high-end fashion while using a circular business model and it offers clothing from sizes extra small to extra large. Some trends present on their runway this season include argyle, stripes and patchwork as well as other multicolored textiles. There was a diverse array of models from many backgrounds with plus size, dark skin and mature people featured on the catwalk offering a refreshing change to the industry “norm”. The looks were all created using one hundred percent upcycled and reworked fabrics and featured both revealing and modest outfits.
The image above depicts a mature model wearing a recycled outfit who was featured in the Rave Review show. (Via Milano Fashion Week)
The image above depicts a Rave Review model wearing a gray and checkered shirt, red and green checkered pants, and a large crossbody duffel bag. (Via Milano Fashion Week)
The image on the left and right depicts two plus-sized models featured on the Rave Review runway in an upcycled dress. (Via Milano Fashion Week)
Overall, these featured designers challenged industry standards by making the active decision to incorporate gender non-conforming, plus size and sustainable fashion looks. These collections are setting the standard for new pushes toward diversity and inclusion within fashion and aim to represent people from all backgrounds. Rather than monetizing exclusivity, these designers instead established revolutionary clothing companies that find value in highlighting and celebrating people’s uniqueness.
*All other photos were taken via writers.
