After the success of the first edition, the Fashion Week & Design, initiative, promoted by the Mondadori Group – with its titles Grazia and Interni – and the City of Milan (the department of fashion, events and design) returns in the context of Milano Loves Fashion.
From Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 February 2011, more than twenty fashion brands will enliven the Ottagono in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele with performances, encounters, discussions and special events.
Fashion Week & Design is a new way for people to live and experience fashion and design in the city of Milan that both involves the public and is an important showcase for advertising investors.

The initiative was presented this morning by Angelo Sajeva, chairman and chief executive of Mondadori Pubblicità, and Giovanni Terzi, the the City of Milan councillor responsible for fashion, events and design. Also taking part were Vera Montanari editor of Grazia, Gilda Bojardi editor of Interni and the designer Fabio Novembre.

Fashion Performances
Grazia, a qualified interpreter of made in Italy style, has involved a range of exclusive Italian women’s fashion labels, making available its know how for the realization of innovative fashion shows that will take place at the centre of the Ottagono.
For the first time also children’s wear will be included in the Fashion Week & Design programme, with an entire day dedicated to children’s fashion on Sunday 27 February.

Michele De Lucchi and the Fashion Design House
Mondadori will open the Fashion Week with Michele De Lucchi, the internationally renowned designer and architect, who was asked by Interni – thanks to his extensive experience in the sector – to design the Fashion Design House, a special space located in the centre of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, where all of the events will take place.
Michele De Lucchi has designed a large octagonal wooden platform with a ring of video monitors that will transform the fashion brands into protagonists in an innovative way.
The stage of the Fashion Design House will become an authentic exhibition space where, every day, fashion and design will be on show where the staging will be enriched with a series of unseen elements and Poliform design objects.
Also the backstage will underscore the fashion events by being open to the public with the L’Oréal Paris make-up and L’Oréal Professionnel hair styling areas in full view thanks to a transparent structure, where the final touches of make-up artists and hairdressers can be observed. Between one catwalk show and another, it will also be possible to watch performances by Simone Belli, L’Oréal Paris national make-up artist and Pierpaolo Lai with the L’Oréal Professionnel Ambassadors and pick upo some of the secrets from make-up and hair styling lessons.
In addition, the Fashion Design House – which will enjoy the technical support of Caimi, Kartell, Listone Giordano, Tisettanta, and Panasonic – will also feature a photographic set where people will be able to observe the preparation and shooting of fashion services. Also McDonald’s is among the initiative’s partners.

Encounters with designers
Kicking off the events of the Fashion Week & Design will be a series of encounters with important designers and the editor of Interni, Gilda Bojardi. The first of these, on 22 February will be with Fabio November, followed, on 23rd, by Catherine Vautrin, on 24th, by Carlo Colombo and on Friday 25th byPatricia Urquiola.

R101 will be at the Fashion Week & Design with the speaker Chiara Lorenzutti, while La5 will broadcast in its daily Fashion slot everything that happens in the space.
Also involved in the Fashion Week & Design are: Ferrovie dello Stato, as main partner; Nokia making available to visitors of the Fashion Design House the new C7, the latest touchscreen and Saab, that will be a protagonist of the Milan Fashion week with the presentation of its latest model which will be on show in Via Silvio Pellico.

Fashion Week & Design is an event produced by DPR Eventi.