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Not only stands and events to present the SS 24 collections of Italian or foreign designers. But also an unprecedented context dedicated to the city: the White Village. This is the novelty relating to the edition of White Sign of the Times, an exhibition dedicated to contemporary and research fashion founded in 2000 by Massimiliano Bizzi and Brenda Bellei, which returns to Milan, again in the Tortona Fashion & Design District, from 22 to 25 September with 360 Italian and foreign companies, overall 20% more than the February edition. «Milan continues to be very attractive, as demonstrated by the numbers of exhibitors who have returned beyond the pre-Covid levels, – explains Massimiliano Bizzi, founder of White – and for this reason we have decided to create a space that I would call “after the show” open to the public and not only to operators. I imagine a city full of people who “live” fashion».
The project is shared with the Municipality of Milan – which has always sponsored the event, also supported by Ice and Confartigianato Imprese – with a view to leveraging a strategic sector for Milan: «For Milan, fashion means work, given the 11,000 companies of the sector that are based here, but also tourism and prestige – explained the councilor Alessia Cappello, owners of economic development, labor and fashion policies -. February fashion week generated around 70 million for the city and expectations for September are high. The White Village, then, I believe is an unconventional way to involve citizens and make known the uniqueness of Made in Italy». Perhaps attracting some young talent.
Among the key challenges of the sector, in fact, there is that of training new talent, to be included even in small realities: «Italian fashion is not made up only of big brands, but also of many small and medium-sized artisan companies», he said Barbara Mazzali, councilor for tourism, territorial marketing and fashion of the Lombardy Region. She who underlined the need for an injection of new life also on a creative level: «Emerging talents must be supported. We have just launched an acceleration program for fashion and design SMEs that goes precisely in this direction and now we are awaiting the projects».
In the September edition, White will also explode its international soul with the White Expo platform designed on the one hand for the promotion of talents from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Armenia and South Africa and on the other as a bridge with buyers from those same markets, often difficult to reach. In the meantime, around 20,000 buyers are expected in this edition.