Salon, where the fashion begins

Like a year ago, the exhibition was moved from September to July, and like a year ago, it justified itself. The main theme of the exhibition was sustainability and ecology, and this was the topic of the opening conference.

President of the exhibition Ercole Botto Poala, president of the National Chamber of Fashion (CNMI) Carlo Capasa, president of the SISTEMA MODA ITALIA association Marino Vago and responsible for this sustainable development association, CEO of EUROJERSEY Andrea Crespi  were at the openning ceremony.

Ercole Botto Poala, Andrea Crespi, Carlo Capasa, Marino Vago (from left to right), photo © Evgeny Utkin

The President of the Salon noted with satisfaction the increase in the number of participants and the consistently high quality of the textile products offered by them. "Sustainable development is a way of life and action, a matter of conscience, commitment to future generations, a new way of creating, producing, distributing, selling", - he stressed.

"We are the industry that pollutes the world most after the petrochemical industry, and all this is thanks mainly to fast fashion", - Capasa said. Therefore, you need to think about how to produce, using what materials. Crespi spoke about the success of the exhibition in this direction. He stressed that the number of participants in the zone of sustainable development (produce products made from materials and through technologies that protect the environment) increased from 53 to 130 as compared to February 2018.

The number of participants of the Milano Unica is growing every year, photo © Evgeny Utkin

In July the exhibition presented more than 750 samples of eco-friendly products (in the previous February only 250). They were presented in Pavilion 8, where on large tables it was possible to touch the fabric samples, and then go to the manufacturers stand for negotiations.

One recent research showed that 24 of the 28 largest world brands are improving the environmental status of products and production processes, and therefore require new and more environmentally solutions from suppliers. The zone of sustainable development of the Salon is based on careful analysis, selection and attraction of enterprises that have chosen a line of environmentally friendly production for the protection of the environment.

More than 750 samples of environmentally friendly products were presented, photo © Evgeny Utkin

The trend that was born in the 70s, turned into a revolution of sustainable development in 2011, which quickly penetrated into fashion and began to exert a significant influence on the policy line of many fashion brands. The trend in the choice of material for clothing production is seen in the search for innovative materials, modification of the processing of traditional raw materials, the search for materials of green chemicals and paying more attention to the conservation of biodiversity in the environment. Of course, for the implementation of such tasks, considerable investments are needed, which leads to a change in the organization's model at enterprises and more costly production.

No less interesting was the Zone of Trends (Tendenze Aria) - textiles and accessories, reflecting the main themes of the season A/W 2019-2020. A new concept of the symbolic union of peoples and nations belonging to different cultures and geographic zones is United to be Unique. The main theme - Nations to Nations - is manifested in the contrast of colors, weight, structure of textile products, in which traditions, history and innovations of different nations are intertwined.

The Zone of Trends reflected the main themes of the season A/W 2019-2020, фото © Evgeny Utkin

The exhibition featured three Nations to Nations clusters, each combines three opposites - three countries and three conceptions of style: Organic Grunge (Union of Scotland, Turkey and Romania, affects the environmental problem), Handcrafted Essentialism (Union of South Korea, Switzerland and Sweden, minimalism and basic geometric figures) and Techno Romantic (Trio of Belgium, Azerbaijan and Indonesia, where the maximum elegance and manufacturability are combined).

In addition, Japan and South Korea presented visitors to the Japanese and Korean Observatories. The Japanese observatory, where the products of Japanese companies were exhibited, was divided according to the color and conceptual trends of the next winter season. The products with the ECO mark were especially highlighted. The Observatory of South Korea, embodying the concept of "Compatibility and Receptivity", was a response to global changes, the need to search for new materials. Stands mainly demonstrated the results of the development of innovative fabrics.

Japanese and Korean observatories, photo © milanounica.it

One of the new participants in the July Salon was the young THIN DOWN company, which represents an innovative product that is also relevant for the harsh Russian winter. This Thindown heater is made from natural goose or duck fluff by 85% and where the remaining 15% is polyester, which serves only for thermo-gluing: its thermal insulation performance exceeds the figures of all fully natural fluffs and more than three times higher than the synthetic heaters, while the fluff in the lines does not get out and the product can be washed in a washing machine under normal conditions.

With the company already work Bogner, Aspesi, Pueterey, Prada, Armani, Alexander McQueen, Replay, Ralph Lauren and other well-known brands. The EverTherm jacket from Eddie Bauer, with the Thindown heater, entered the top ten jackets of 2017 according to the rating of the specialized American magazine GEAR PATROL in the nomination "Best Innovation 2017". This jacket I tried on myself - it is weightless and light.

The 27th exhibition "Milano Unica" received 475 participants, to which 132 companies of Japanese and Korean observatories were added, the total number of companies reached 607.

Evgeny Utkin in the THIN DOWN jacket, photo © Evgeny Utkin

As noted Ercole Botto Poala, president of Milano Unica, a slight decrease in the number of Italian participants, compared to last year, is associated with an increase in the requirements for exhibited products; the number of foreign participants, on the contrary, increased.

According to him, in addition to commercial success, there was also a success in the sphere of sustainable ecological development, which is important in the rapidly declining natural resources. Milano Unica is the only exhibition where not only talk about the importance of sustainability, but also implements it in all segments of the production chain", - he stressed.

Evgeny Utkin, Milan, Italy

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