Fashion weeks proceed amid global crises and luxury's existential questions

The article examines the contradiction between the luxury fashion industry's spectacular shows and the concurrent global crises, including US tariff policies, the US-Israel bombing of Iran, and Middle East conflict. Despite the turmoil, Milan Fashion Week proceeded with 62 physical and digital shows and 73 presentations, followed by Paris with 68 shows and 31 presentations. The author questions whether luxury's grandeur still inspires desire when juxtaposed with images of destruction, and notes that the desire for status symbols has waned due to second-hand markets, imitations, and dupes. The industry faces a transformation requiring new forms of experimentation and social capital, yet some CEOs and artistic directors remain oblivious, clinging to outdated rhetoric. The piece is an opinion-review by Aldo Premoli, published on Artribune.