Fashion Week Studio’s Neoclassical Night of Couture
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Courtesy of the artist (c) VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025. Photography by Jens Ziehe.
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Courtesy of Mariia Dred for Berlin Fashion Week
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nder the frescoed ceilings of Palazzo Serbelloni, Milan’s aristocratic elite gathered as chandeliers glittered against marble and mirrored glass. It was late September 2025, and Fashion Week Studio, the independent powerhouse reshaping the global runway, was about to transform this neoclassical palace into the epicenter of contemporary couture.
Curated Global Vision
The opening act, Evaro Italia, bathed the room in Mediterranean light. The Portofino collection shimmered with sapphire lace, sequined sheaths, and embroidered florals, evoking terraces above the Ligurian sea. Under the chandeliers, the audience was transported to a Riviera of ease and opulence. Italian glamour distilled into silk.
From there, 1981 Clothing grounded the evening in cultural authenticity. Founder Nonso’s The Traveller fused Nigerian heritage with cosmopolitan tailoring: ivory tunics, indigo embroidery, and palm-motif shirts walked barefoot to the rhythm of pride and belonging. Fashion became passport, memory, and manifesto.
Then came M-Kay’s, whose Bridal Romance swept through Serbelloni’s ballroom like a vision of modern nobility. High-neck Victorian silhouettes and corseted trains glided across marble floors, culminating in a finale gown of sequined ivory beneath a cathedral-length veil. A moment of pure silence before thunderous applause.
By contrast, Santísimas Ropa Intima turned intimacy into rebellion with Altares: sculptural lingerie in sheer black mesh and gold jewelry transformed models into divine icons. It was less show than ceremony. An ode to feminine divinity and power.
As night deepened, the tone shifted from sensuality to allegory. Kyle Denman staged Couture as Allegory, merging theatre and theology. Scarlet brocade jackets, halo crowns, and a finale white gown with cathedral train explored fragility and redemption. “Not an ending but a meditation on rebirth,” wrote one critic; Denman’s work blurred faith, performance, and fashion into art.
Closing the first day, Andrea Quezada unveiled Surrealist Couture, where Mexican symbolism met modern sculpture. Leather bodices, ombré tulle, and geometric tailoring echoed pre-Hispanic mythology while gazing toward the avant-garde. Heritage became wearable poetry.
The Heartbeat of the Runway
If the showcase was a symphony, Lara Dizeyee provided its crescendo. Her Milan Enchanted collection transformed couture into cultural testimony. Known for reimagining Kurdish heritage through a modern lens, Dizeyee’s finale presentation moved guests to tears and went viral worldwide. Each garment, a chapter of resilience, wove symbolism and craftsmanship into a single, powerful narrative.
Standout looks included Rojhalat, dedicated to Kurdish women and the rallying cry Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (“Women, Life, Freedom”);
Reverence, honoring the Yazidi community; and Colors of Us, a closing anthem of unity. “Each piece is a story,” Dizeyee said.
“Each thread is a memory, a vow never to forget who we are.” In Milan’s neoclassical grandeur, her message, fashion as resistance and hope, felt eternal.
Models, Muse, and Message
An international cast elevated the collections into living art. Karina Ramos, former Miss Costa Rica, embodied elegance and dialogue, interviewing Dizeyee post-show to bridge designer and audience. Colombian model Carolina Picorios brought warmth and fluidity across aesthetics, while Nesrin Sanad, whose résumé includes Louis Vuitton and Cartier, added global prestige. Together they did more than wear garments, they narrated them.
The audience reflected the same global polish: high-society figures, diplomats, and cultural icons mingled with influencers commanding millions of followers. Their presence underscored Fashion Week Studio’s new status as a nexus between fashion, diplomacy, and digital culture.
Emotion as Luxury
Fashion Week Studio’s mastery lies not only in staging but in curation as storytelling. Each designer brought a unique dialect, Italian romance, Nigerian identity, Kurdish resilience, Mexican surrealism, woven into a seamless narrative of cultural coexistence. Hottois’s vision transforms the runway from competition into conversation, where craftsmanship becomes a shared vocabulary of artistry and ambition.
Couture as Social Language
For Milan’s elite, to wear a piece from these collections is to claim participation in a larger story: of heritage, purpose, and belonging within the global sartorial elite. Fashion, at this echelon, becomes diplomacy by other means, an aesthetic dialogue between nations, histories, and souls.
As guests drifted into the midnight air, one sensed they had witnessed more than beauty. They had seen fashion at its highest calling: a union of art, identity, and power, where culture walks the runway and history takes its seat in the front row. In the mirrored grandeur of Palazzo Serbelloni, Fashion Week Studio didn’t just host a show. It defined a moment, one in which couture once again proved itself the language of the world’s most discerning hearts.
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