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MILAN – Milan’s designers concluded six days of runway womenswear previews with a gala awards ceremony at Milan’s renowned Teatro alla Scala to honor innovations in sustainability.
The first series of awards was launched in 2017, with the aim of recognising green innovation in an industry long associated with excessive demand, and to improve brand communication about the steps they are taking to improve their carbon footprint.
This week also saw the second edition of the Black Carpet Awards, honoring excellence among people of color living and working in Italy as a means of promoting equality.
British fashion designer Ib Camara and Angolan supermodel Maria Borges presented awards at the second edition of the Black Carpet Awards, honoring the contributions of people of color working in Italy across various sectors.
Among those honored were shot-put player Daniel Madame, actor Alberto Malaccino, educator Cinzia Adana Abonin, who founded a platform to promote inclusive education, Justin Randolph Thompson, founder of Black History Month Florence, and Alice Edun, founder of Italy’s first haircare brand for curly hair.
Despite the international audience, many laureates spoke in Italian, expressing this as a political choice to demonstrate their full integration and self-identification as Italians.
“It is right to bet on the merits of young Italians of foreign origin, in a context like Italy that often marginalizes us, or seeks to make us invisible,” said Edana Abonin. “This award shows me in my entirety, not only as a black person who works in a predominantly white context, but as a professional who tries to make a difference in her own way.”
Anna Wintour stopped by to meet the honorees ahead of the evening’s ceremony.
Afro Fashion Week founder Michelle Francine Ngonmo, who initiated the awards, said she hoped more sponsors would come forward so that future editions could also include prize money.
The fashion side of the Ferrari car manufacturer relies on automotive innovations for its luxury apparel collections aimed at brand lovers.
Rocco Iannone, creative director of Ferrari Style, is introducing soft leather looks inspired by the interiors of sports cars. Innovations this season include treated leather for a worn, grease-monkey look and denim with fibers pulled into lines to create tactile pinstripes. A favorite accessory is the sports car-shaped hard-case clutch.
“For us, performance means craftsmanship, and that is expressed through the clothing,” Iannone said.
British-Nigerian designer Tokyo James has taken a dig at the fashion world’s pursuit of perfection with a collection that embraces the smallest misalignments, such as crooked stitching.
“We have to stop looking for perfection all the time,” he said. “This is a fight against the way the industry is. We need to be more flexible.”
Tokyo James made his debut in Milan several seasons ago, when there was a renaissance of black designers on the Italian fashion scene. He is one of the few who still remain.
“I’m looking forward to better days,” James said backstage.
Francesca Liberatore created a collection paying homage to her father, the sculptor Bruno Liberatore, with his pyramidal structures as the main theme.
Models wore stylish bell skirts with embossed pyramids over knitwear for a fun, playful look that later became more serious and wearable in a mini version with pink cotton panels. Liberatore designed floral patterns that were embroidered white-on-white “to show the importance of roots.”
“It was a very personal story between me and my father,” Liberatore said.
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