MFGS 2024: The new rules

Everything is ready for the XXIII edition of the MFGS-Milano Fashion Global Summit. For three days, from Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 October, the event organized by Class Editori with Cnmi-Camera nazionale della moda italiana, as an institutional partner, returns to the city of Milan with an event that aims to examine all the key elements currently driving the universe of fashion and luxury, reviewing the main aspects of the sector: from financial assets and the renewed geopolitics of luxury to case histories of successful realities, maxi-chains, and the emergence of the next generation, up to beauty themes and artificial intelligence.

All of the hot topics that are currently thought to be essential and strategically helpful to comprehend 2.0 business and create strategies and business models capable of overcoming obstacles in the future. The purpose of the event is to provide a 360-degree view of the current context by bringing together prominent Italian and non-Italian executives, entrepreneurs, and creatives. The topics covered include environmental sustainability and the ethical use of technology in production processes.

The goal of the first day, «The new rules: top players», is to capture an exact picture of the state of the fashion and luxury industries' finances while also highlighting the difficulties and areas that professionals in the field must venture into in order to succeed in standing out. The first day's work will begin with the customary institutional greetings from Class Editori and an overview of the industry from Cnmi president Carlo Capasa. Then, after connecting from China, the mic will immediately go to Remo Ruffini, president and ceo of Moncler, who will discuss the brand's future plans. These include the Genius project's involvement with Shanghai fashion week, the conclusion of the work, and the company's collaboration with Lvmh's top executive, Bernard Arnault.

After that, Renzo Rosso, the Otb group's founder and president, will follow, and then Diego Della Valle, the president of Tod's, will give a testimony about his perspectives on the history and savoir-faire of contemporary fashion, emphasizing the value of craftsmanship through an ad hoc panel. Alfonso Dolce, managing director of Dolce&Gabbana, will instead be responsible for introducing the new markets, new opportunities, and new challenges that need to be considered for the continued success of a legendary Italian brand. After him, two roundtables will provide an overview of the economic situation. One animated by keynote speakers Chiara Rotelli from Mediobanca and Francesca Diviccaro of Intesa Sanpaolo, the other by Quadrivio’s ceo, Alessandro Binello, head of luxury and branded lifestyle for Jp morgan emea, Marco Voci, and managing director, head of global luxury and fashion investment banking, Citi emea consumer and retail Bcma, Roberto Costa. The testimony of Filippo Cavalli, ceo of Autry international, will close day one, illustrating the evolution of the signature sneakers with the consequent consolidation of its retail network between America and Asia.

«The new rules: Made in Italy and the challenges of the supply chain» is the title of the second day, and through various reflections that touch on multiple focus points, the main protagonist will be the creativity and experience in the field of international managers and Italian entrepreneurs. Adolfo Urso, the minister of enterprises and Made in Italy, will open the works on this second day. He will have the responsibility and honor of outlining the current relationship between the institutions and the region's excellences. During the morning of October 22, in addition to the luxury geopolitics overview given by board member and luxury strategic advisor Michele Norsa, there will be a number of topics that will touch on and push on creative supply chain solutions or win-win investments that can advance the business. In this context, Alsara and her ceo, Shahzad Akhtar, will go into great detail on how to establish a new intersection point between innovation and talent. With the recent launch of its ready-to-wear brand Made in Italy Retori, headed by Salma Rachid, the holding company founded by Rachid Mohamed Rachid (ceoof Mayhoola for investments, major shareholder of Valentino, and owner of Balmain) has also placed a wager on the other reality in its portfolio, Akoni, a Swiss group of glasses made in Japan.

Going back to the conference schedule, Mario Abbadessa of Hines Italy and Flavio Sciuccati, senior partner of Teha-The European house Ambrosetti, will each offer a strategic point of view regarding the relocation of brands to Milan and the transformation of the city itself. The summit will feature testimony from two prominent figures in the field of female entrepreneurship: Roberta Benaglia, ceo of Style capital, and Ninell Sobiecka, of L'Oréal, a cosmetics giant. Benaglia will trace the financial boundaries within the fashion system, while Sobiecka will screen the value of beauty, a category that has seen a significant surge in commercial power in recent years due in large part to the tastes and preferences of Gen Z consumers. Final talks of the first half of day 2 will focus on supply chain opportunities and Italian start-ups. In the first instance, Jacopo Sebastio and Enrico Casati of Velasca will engage in a two-voice discussion; in the second, Attila Kiss, the leader of the Florence group, and Matteo Marzotto, the president of Minerva Hub, will share their perspectives on the round table topic.

Rocco Iannone, designer of Ferrari, will warm up the engines and start the afternoon sprinting, making a pit stop between collection, runways, and roaring machines. The team designer, however, will not be the only style guide present at the event. In fact, Lorenzo Serafini, the new creative director of Alberta Ferretti, will provide an exceptional testimony, while Marco De Vincenzo of Etro will discuss the cutting edge of creativity and how to transcend artistic boundaries. After the speeches by Stefania Lazzaroni of Altagamma and Alexandre Boquel, director of the Masters of wxcellence at Lvmh, there will be talks that will explore other fashion professions, between sustainability and digital product passport, with prominent speakers such as Sebastian Suhl by Mosaiq group, Davide Aicardi by Altofare, Giuseppe Del Prete by Tlc, Diego Caldognetto by Fashion words, Michele Casucci by Certilogo, and Nicolas Bargi by Save the duck. The last day of the event will be dedicated to exploring the territory of lifestyle from a 2.0 point of view, where fashion, design, Ai, and online culture will be the main topics.

The start will be given by one of the top names in fashion, Gildo Zegna, president and director of the group Ermenegildo Zegna, followed by Corrado Brondi, founder of Give back beauty, and Federica Levato of Bain & company. While Brunello Cucinelli will focus on how China is drawn to Italy's authenticity, Livio Proli of Missoni (along with Fsi of Tamagnini), Luca Tonello, ceo of Deda stealth, and Giulia Molteni of the Molteni group will also share ideas and reflections during the day three interventions. Closing the event, there will be Massimo Bonini, Riccardo Grassi, and Beppe Angiolini, honorary president of Camera buyer Italia. All the interventions of the Mfgs-Milano fashion global summit will be available on Class Cnbc (channel 507 of Sky), on Class TV Moda, on streaming on mffashion.com, and live on LinkedIn on MF Fashion. (All rights reserved)