Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Tajani: “Thanks to a totally online calendar, which combines contemporary languages ​​and technology, many small artisan businesses are allowed to present their ideas and collections to buyers, journalists and operators in an effective and targeted manner”

Milan, January 14 2021 – During the Milan Fashion week Men's collection, WSM Fashion reboot returns, WHITE's format on sustainable innovation which for this edition debuts with an entirely digital project.

From 16 to 18 January online on the new platform WSM-WHITE over 40 men's and gender fluid collections with artisanal and sustainable DNA. Illustrating the contents of the event this morning during the online press conference were the Councilor for Commerce, Productive Activities, Fashion and Design of the Municipality of Milan, Cristina Tajani with Massimiliano Bizzi, founder of WHITE, Beppe Angiolini of CBI- Camera Buyer Italia and the President of Confartigianato Marco Granelli.

Among the protagonists of this edition, in balance between craftsmanship and sustainability, we find consolidated presences such as Tiziano Guardini, Patrick McDowell, Blue of a kind, Yekaterina Ivankova, who was also the Special Project of the show. Added to these are Froy, an experimental knitwear brand founded by Arman Avetikyan, Bobblehaus which caters to Gen-Z with a mix of fashion, music, art and entertainment, NTMB (acronym for NEVER TOO MUCH BASIC).

Productions that pay great attention to craftsmanship and sustainability, giving life to unrepeatable creations with a strong personality, thanks to heritage, a concept that speaks of culture and makes each product a symbol of innovation through design. Among the brands we can include the sophisticated knitwear of Lucques, the hats of CHATTouché, the workwear-inspired jackets of Vanadio23, the gender fluid shirts of Waxman Brothers, up to the clothing project of Wundercamera Wardrobe born in 2018 as a wardrobe of Wundercamera Lab, an agency of artistic direction founded by Monica Lardera and Riccardo Forlini.

“In the impossibility of carrying out presentations and live events, this WHITE edition was nevertheless able to bring innovation and creativity to the world of fashion – comments Cristina Tajani, councilor for Commerce, Productive Activities, Fashion and Design -. Thanks to a totally online calendar that combines contemporary languages ​​and technology, many small artisan businesses are allowed to present their ideas and collections in an effective and targeted manner to buyers, journalists and operators as if they were ad hoc private presentations. Having placed the relationship between craftsmanship and sustainability at the center of this edition means having understood how the entire sector must and can be rethought in order to offer the market garments and accessories capable of interpreting and narrating current economic and social trends. Trends that are increasingly attentive to putting man and the environment at the centre, inevitably rediscovering more sustainable and responsible production methods and processes”.

“In this particular historical moment - comments Massimiliano Bizzi, founder of WHITE - the role of us organizers is to support SME companies with all means also through digital promotion, which must be oriented towards the world of buyers in order to be able to concretely connect companies to their network of already active customers. This is why we are studying and working also in view of February on a project that can be of concrete support to SMEs and aimed at creating a direct connection between companies and buyers".

An important part of this edition will be the match making between the companies presented and the buyers, who will be accompanied on the online platform to view the companies' collections and will be able to schedule their appointments in real time. CBI – Camera Buyer Italia will vote and choose two brands for two special projects with their associates. Furthermore, to facilitate the involvement of buyers, the WSM-WHITE platform will be connected to that of ICE "365 smart", to give further commercial possibilities and visibility to all the brands involved.

Several partners are involved in the WSM Fashion Reboot project, including institutions such as Fashion Revolution Italia, Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto, Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d'Arte (which promotes a "new Renaissance" of artistic professions, especially aimed at young people ), IDEAS Brand platform through its Sustainable Brand Platform (SBP) project, a new platform which, through an algorithm of its own creation and blockchain technology, offers an environmental and ethical evaluation of emerging brands at an international level, connecting them with buyers, up to The Sustainables. Agency & Showroom, an international reality that promotes sustainable innovation. And again Mirta and Barroco, two platforms that promote and sell the best Italian artisans online all over the world. All these entities were involved both for scouting and for the organization of a series of webinars dedicated to the evolution of sustainable fashion and advanced craftsmanship. Thanks to the presence of experts and opinion leaders in the sector, it will be possible to have a more complete vision of how the very concept of sustainable fashion is changing.