Milan Fashion Week 2025: Unmissable shows and Giorgio Armani in mind

Milan Fashion Week begins in earnest on Tuesday, an international rendez-vous for the entire fashion industry, which this year will be inevitably marked by the deaths of legendary designer Giorgio Armani and the iconic fashion photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri.

Both men left an indelible mark on art, beauty and creativity becoming key figures for decades with their stylistic visions helping change the way we seen and experience clothes and photography far and beyond Italian fashion.

Early this month the Armani group confirmed that its shows would take place as planned to mark the firm's 50th anniversary celebrations and the start on Wednesday of a retrospective exhibition at the Brera Art Gallery.

"We are celebrating Milan Fashion Week in the memory of one of its founding fathers," stressed the president of the National Chamber for Italian Fashion, Carlo Capasa.

A life in pictures

The life and times of fashion photographer Gian Paolo Barbieri will also be celebrated in the city this week in the first retrospective exhibition of his work since his death early last year.

The self-taught legend behind the lens often shot in black and white gaining him a reputation for his meticulous attention to detail. He was widely praised for helping to shape Italy's postwar glamour chic and went on to cement his mark in art through now iconic images for advertising campaigns.

He defined six decades of fashion and was renowned for his unparalleled ability to capture beauty, composition, and cinematic vision — capturing Audrey Hepburn, Naomi Campbell, Christy Turlington, Donatella Versace, Eva Herzigová, and also Vivienne Westwood, whose portrait hangs in London’s National Portrait Gallery.

Awards for sustainable fashion

Among the week's expected highlights are presentations of the spring/summer collections of leading major brands including Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta.

On Saturday 27 September at Teatro alla Scala,** the most sustainable fashion brands will be celebrated with the Cnmi Sustainable Fashion Awards 2025. The finalists were selected by Paola Deda of the United Nations Alliance for Sustainable Fashion.

Also on our watchlist is the 'Designers For The Planet' project, dedicated to eight young stylists who have placed sustainability at the heart of the creation of their collections. The participants in the programme were selected by Sara Sozzani Maino, the Cnmi's International New Talent and Brands Ambassador and creative director of the Sozzani Foundation.

At Palazzo Giureconsulti, a space dedicated to creativity and innovation

The National Chamber for Italian Fashion is also opening the doors of the Fashion hub, a space dedicated to creativity and innovation in the fashion industry. The public can access by registering by entering their email address or by scanning the QR code available at the entrance.

Thematic events include "Voices of Seoul", a collective project by Korean designers, now in its second edition, and "GoMongolia", a selection of five companies from the Asian nation. The complete calendar is available online, and it is also possible to follow some events via live streaming.

Also within the Fashion hub - conceived as a laboratory of ideas, experimentation and research, focusing on key issues for the future of fashion - a platform offers emerging designers visibility, professional connections and business opportunities.

Eternal Elegance – The Timeless Photography of Gian Paolo Barbieri opens at Zürich HQ on 25 September and runs until 15 January, 2026.