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Milan Fashion Week to Mourn Armani, Welcome New Stars

The death of legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani (C), seen here at 2009's Milan Fashion Week, will overshadow this year's event. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP/File
The death of legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani (C), seen here at 2009's Milan Fashion Week, will overshadow this year's event. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP/File
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Milan Fashion Week to Mourn Armani, Welcome New Stars

The death of legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani (C), seen here at 2009's Milan Fashion Week, will overshadow this year's event. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP/File
The death of legendary Italian designer Giorgio Armani (C), seen here at 2009's Milan Fashion Week, will overshadow this year's event. Giuseppe CACACE / AFP/File

Milan Fashion Week opens Tuesday, a feast of Italian style set to be dominated by the late Giorgio Armani's final collections and new faces at Gucci and Versace.

Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Max Mara, Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta are among those showcasing their Spring/Summer 2026 women's collections throughout the week, said AFP.

But the event will be overshadowed by the death this month of Armani, the legendary 91-year-old head of a multi-billion-euro empire who helped put Milan on the fashion map.

Sunday's Giorgio Armani show was already going to be a grand affair, the culmination of celebrations marking 50 years of the label beloved of the Hollywood A-list.

Staged at Milan's prestigious Pinacoteca di Brera art museum, the show is now expected to act as a final tribute.

The museum is also hosting from September 24 until January 11 an anniversary exhibition of Armani's top 150 creations, a project long in the making on which the designer worked "until the last minute", according to the group.

"We celebrate Milan Fashion Week in memory of one of its founders: Giorgio Armani," the head of Italy's chamber of fashion, Carlo Capasa, said earlier this month.

He said Armani offered "creative, entrepreneurial, and human lessons" to the industry at a time of transformation, "in which vision, quality, and consistency represent essential values."

New beginnings

But even as the Milan fashion world mourns its king, this week will also see several hotly anticipated debuts, notably Georgian designer Demna at Gucci.

After a decade at Balenciaga, Demna is now charged with reversing a slump in sales at the Italian brand owned by French giant Kering -- arguably one of the toughest jobs in the luxury industry.

Gucci is not on the official catwalk calendar in Milan, but a private event is scheduled for Tuesday evening.

"If I understand correctly, it's a presentation, a film that will be kind of Demna's vision, how he interprets Gucci," Kering's new chief executive, Luca de Meo, told reporters earlier this month.

"It's going to be something a little different. I haven't been allowed to watch it yet."

Meanwhile, Dario Vitale is making his debut at Versace, after taking over on April 1 from Donatella Versace, who was creative director for nearly 30 years.

Again, no catwalk show is scheduled for the flashy brand, which was acquired by Prada just weeks after Vitale took over.

Instead, on Friday night, there will be an "intimate event, revealing Dario Vitale's debut collection for the House. A unique unveiling, embodying Versace's foundations and reflecting Vitale's new language", according to the program.

Chinese confidence collapse

Other debuts include England's Louise Trotter, presenting her first catwalk show for Kering brand Bottega Veneta, and Italian Simone Bellotti for Jil Sander.

They are part of an industry-wide shake-up, including at Dior and Chanel, at a time when luxury brands are still struggling with slowing demand in China and global economic uncertainty.

Luca Solca, a luxury sector analyst at Bernstein, said there were small signs of an improvement in Chinese confidence, with an uptick in in-store traffic over the summer.

But he noted that "with prices going up, you need to give at least something new to consumers".

"I think that this unprecedented amount of change in creative responsibilities is responding to this imperative," he told AFP.

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Fashion

Japan's Traditional Kimonos Are Being Repurposed in Creative Ways

Designer Tomoko Ohkata, left, and her assistant Koki Unami hold Ohkata's designs made from old kimono, in Tokyo, on Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Designer Tomoko Ohkata, left, and her assistant Koki Unami hold Ohkata's designs made from old kimono, in Tokyo, on Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
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Japan's Traditional Kimonos Are Being Repurposed in Creative Ways

Designer Tomoko Ohkata, left, and her assistant Koki Unami hold Ohkata's designs made from old kimono, in Tokyo, on Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)
Designer Tomoko Ohkata, left, and her assistant Koki Unami hold Ohkata's designs made from old kimono, in Tokyo, on Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

The kimono, that elaborate, delicate wrap-around garment worn by geisha and samurai from centuries back, is getting a vibrant remake, appreciated these days for a virtue that’s more relevant than ever: sustainability.

A genuine silk kimono, which literally means “worn thing,” lasts a hundred years or more. In a Japanese family, it’s handed down over generations like heirloom jewelry, artworks and military medals.

It never goes out of style.

The design of the kimono and accompanying “obi” sash has remained basically the same since the 17th century Edo period depicted in Akira Kurosawa samurai movies.

But today, some people are taking a different creative approach, refashioning the traditional kimono, and also taking apart and resewing them as jackets, dresses and pants.

“I noticed that a lot of beautiful kimono is just sleeping in people’s closets. That’s such a waste,” said Mari Kubo, who heads a kimono-remake business called K’Forward, pronounced “K dash forward.”

Hers is among a recent surge in such services, which also turn old kimono into tote bags and dolls.

The most popular among Kubo’s products are “tomesode,” a type of formal kimono that is black with colorful, embroidered flowers, birds or foliage at the bottom, The Associated Press reported.

She also creates matching sets, or what she calls “set-ups.” A tomesode is turned into a jacket with its long, flowing sleeves intact, and its intricate patterns placed at the center in the back. She then takes a kimono with a matching pattern to create a skirt or pants to go with the top. Sometimes, an obi is used at the collar to add a pop of color.

Kubo said many of her customers are young people who want to enjoy a kimono without the fuss.

A remade kimono at K’Forward can cost as much as 160,000 yen ($1,000) for a “furisode,” a colorful kimono with long sleeves meant for young unmarried women, while a black tomesode goes for about 25,000 yen ($160).

What Tomoko Ohkata loves most about the products she designs using old kimonos is that she doesn’t have to live with a guilty conscience, and instead feels she is helping solve an ecological problem.

“I feel the answer was right there, being handed down from our ancestors,” she said.

Recycling venues in Japan get thousands of old kimonos a day as people find them stashed away in closets by parents and grandparents. These days, Japanese generally wear kimonos just for special occasions like weddings. Many women prefer to wear a Western-style white wedding dress rather than the kimono, or they wear both.

Many of Ohkata’s clientele are people who have found a kimono at home and want to give it new life. They care about the story behind the kimono, she added.

Her small store in downtown Tokyo displays various dolls, including a figure of an emperor paired with his wife, who are traditionally brought out for display in Japanese homes for the Girls’ Day festival every March 3. Her dolls, however, are exquisitely dressed in recycled kimonos, tailored in tiny sizes to fit the dolls. They sell for 245,000 yen ($1,600) a pair.

The original old-style kimono is also getting rediscovered.

“Unlike the dress, you can arrange it,” says Nao Shimizu, who heads a school in Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto that teaches people how to wear a kimono and how to carry oneself while wearing it.

“In half a year, you can learn how to do it all by yourself,” she said, briskly demonstrating several ways to tie the obi to express different moods, from playful to understated.

Besides its durability, said Shimizu, that versatility also makes the kimono sustainable.

Younger Japanese are taking a more relaxed view, wearing a kimono with boots, for instance, she laughed. Traditionally, kimono is worn with sandals called “zori.”

Although it requires some skill to put on a kimono in the traditional way, one can take lessons from teachers like Shimizu, like learning a musical instrument. Professional help is also available at beauty parlors, hotels and some shops.

Most Japanese might wear a kimono just a few times in their lives. But wearing one is a memorable experience.

Sumie Kaneko, a singer who plays the traditional Japanese instruments koto and shamisen, often performs wearing flashy dresses made of recycled kimonos. The idea of sustainability is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, she says, noting that the ivory and animal hide used in her musical instruments are now hard to obtain.

She calls it “the recycling of life.”

“The performer breathes new life into them,” says the New York-based Kaneko.
“In the same way, a past moment — and those patterns and colors that were once loved — can come back to life.”

Fashion

Scottish Fashion Seeks New Talent for Homespun Crafts 

Members of staff work at the Alex Begg mill in Ayr, southwest Scotland, on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
Members of staff work at the Alex Begg mill in Ayr, southwest Scotland, on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
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Scottish Fashion Seeks New Talent for Homespun Crafts 

Members of staff work at the Alex Begg mill in Ayr, southwest Scotland, on January 15, 2026. (AFP)
Members of staff work at the Alex Begg mill in Ayr, southwest Scotland, on January 15, 2026. (AFP)

Far from the glamor of fashion weeks in Paris, Milan and London, a nondescript cashmere mill on Scotland's western coast that supplies luxury labels hopes local training programs can attract new talent.

"It's a dying trade," 61-year-old Maria Wade said of her job as a "greasy mender" at Alex Begg, a semi-rural mill that has been based in Ayr in southwest Scotland for more than a century.

The weaving mill supplies cashmere to prestigious fashion brands, which cannot be named for confidentiality reasons, as well as its own luxury label, Begg x Co.

"You don't get many people mending raw cashmere," said Wade, whose role is to meticulously inspect and darn any defects in the fabric by hand, before it is washed, cut and shipped around the world.

Famed for its luxury tweeds, wools and cashmeres, Scotland's textile industry has seen a sharp decline in recent decades as high manufacturing costs struggle to compete with cheap production abroad, and an ageing workforce retires, taking traditional manufacturing skills with them.

When technical transformation director Lorna Dempsey joined Alex Begg more than 25 years ago, the average age was "quite old", she told AFP, "about 50-plus".

Since then, the company has made a "conscious effort to try and recruit younger people" and brought the average age down to around 40.

It's no easy task in the run-down former mining town, with those interested in fashion careers looking to places such as Glasgow, around an hour's drive away, or even further afield.

"We don't have a lot of skills within the Ayrshire area, so it's very difficult for us to try and find skilled staff," said Dempsey.

The rise of fast fashion has made it harder to find young people with manufacturing know-how.

"A lot of our operations are definitely a skill from the past," said Dempsey, adding that people don't learn how to "darn their socks anymore."

- 'On my doorstep' -

The mill's partnership with the King's Foundation -- a charity founded by King Charles III and headquartered in the nearby Dumfries House estate -- has helped turn things around.

The foundation runs programs aimed at addressing "a skills gap within the UK textile industry".

Trainees learn about production lines, supply chains, working with different materials and sustainable design -- skills that employers say are often not covered in fashion school.

They are then given work experience at Scottish mills such as Alex Begg, and some like Emma Hyslop manage to secure a job.

Sat behind a fringing machine at the mill, Hyslop, 28, deftly ran a dark cashmere fabric destined for a Spanish luxury brand through its frame, twisting the ends of the cloth into fringes.

After getting a fashion design diploma at a Glasgow college, Hyslop did a six-week course with the King's Foundation, through which she discovered the luxury mill in her backyard.

"I had no idea about the place beforehand, and it's on my doorstep," said Hyslop, from south Ayrshire.

"We're actually quite a hidden gem," said Dempsey.

"So it's our job, our legacy, to keep bringing people through our manufacturing businesses, and keep bringing the skills alive again."

- Heritage skills -

The mill currently has four apprentices and is hoping to add more this year.

Dempsey also gives talks to local primary school children with the King's Foundation.

It is an issue close to the king's heart, with the British monarch attending Thursday's opening of London Fashion Week and meeting apprentices "supporting heritage skills and sustainability" -- including students on King's Foundation programs.

Nicole Christie founded her own sustainable women's luxury brand, Ellipsis, after completing a textile program at Dumfries House in 2020.

Entering luxury fashion in Scotland is "difficult", said Christie, with other major brands usually based in London or other European cities.

"At one point, leaving university, I did think that I would have to move down south," said Christie, who instead decided to build her brand in Glasgow.

"I'm really proud that I'm doing it here, and I really hope one day that I'll actually be able to give other people opportunities."

Fashion

London Fashion Week Opens with Tribute to One of Its Greats

London Fashion Week will pay tribute to iconic designer Paul Costelloe who died in November, and had been a stalwart of the British captial's catwalks since the show was launched in 1984. Niklas HALLE'N / AFP/File
London Fashion Week will pay tribute to iconic designer Paul Costelloe who died in November, and had been a stalwart of the British captial's catwalks since the show was launched in 1984. Niklas HALLE'N / AFP/File
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London Fashion Week Opens with Tribute to One of Its Greats

London Fashion Week will pay tribute to iconic designer Paul Costelloe who died in November, and had been a stalwart of the British captial's catwalks since the show was launched in 1984. Niklas HALLE'N / AFP/File
London Fashion Week will pay tribute to iconic designer Paul Costelloe who died in November, and had been a stalwart of the British captial's catwalks since the show was launched in 1984. Niklas HALLE'N / AFP/File

London Fashion Week, better known for nurturing new talent than for its big-name shows, kicks off on Thursday with a tribute to one of its stalwarts Paul Costelloe.

The Irish-American designer, who died aged 80 last November, was a regular fixture on the opening day of the British capital's fashion week since the inception of the show in 1984, AFP said.

Over four decades, his romantic, sartorial catwalks remained a constant: witness to the rise and fall of London Fashion Week (LFW) which has seen the departure of big fashion names to its counterparts in Milan, Paris and New York in recent years.

His son William Costelloe is now the creative director of the brand, which wrote on social media ahead of its LFW Autumn/Winter 2026 opening show: "A new season. A powerful moment. A legacy moving forward."

Tolu Coker, a British-Nigerian designer who launched her brand in 2018, will also show on Thursday her elegant, mainly-unisex designs inspired by diverse identities.

Notable names including Harris Reed and Richard Quinn will return to the catwalk in London, with Burberry closing the week in its usual fashion on Monday evening.

Other labels will bring a royal flavor to the runway, with brands worn by Princess Catherine including Emilia Wickstead, Edeline Lee and Erdem putting on shows.

However, there will be no show from the breakout Northern Irish designer Jonathan Anderson, who was one of the most eagerly awaited at London Fashion Week in recent seasons.

The 41-year-old took over at Dior last June, leaving him little time for his own brand, JW Anderson, which he founded in 2008.

For several years, London has been losing ground to its star-studded rivals in Paris and Milan, but it has clung onto its role as a breeding ground for young talent.

The British Fashion Council's NewGen initiative provides funding for emerging talent, with several up-and-coming designers finding their stride at LFW through the incubator.

'Great support'

Designers like Simone Rocha, Tolu Coker and Roksanda have become fashion week mainstays after making their debut on the NewGen catwalk.

Among the recent breakouts is Joshua Ewusie, a 27-year-old British creator born to Ghanaian parents who is due to put on his second fashion week show with his brand "E.W.Usie".

The young designer was supported by the King's Foundation, a charity founded by King Charles III, in partnership with Chanel, which gave him a studio space shortly after he graduated from the prestigious Central Saint Martins school.

His hometown London, which boasts several notable fashion schools, provides "great support for young designers," Ewusie told AFP ahead of his LFW presentation on Sunday.

"There's so many opportunities, I think, that London gives to help young brands start," he added.

His new collection is inspired by the 1980s, when his mother moved to London, says the designer. It's all about culture and identity, with leather as the star material.

French designer Pauline Dujancourt, known for her work with knitwear, also chose to stick with London Fashion Week after her studies at Paris's Ecole Duperre and Central Saint Martins in London.

"As much as Paris Fashion Week is incredible and I'm dreaming to be part of it one day, maybe there's a bit more room for younger brands in London at the start," said the 31-year-old designer, who will show her collection on Sunday.

"I think people have come to London Fashion Week expecting to see a bit of newness and younger generations as opposed to Paris and Milan, where it's more like established houses."