Milano Unica’s record-breaking 40th edition was reflected in an air of buzzy concentration at Rho Milan as well as satisfaction from the organisers and government agencies firmly attached to the textile sector in Italy. European fairs have got off to a good start, despite prevailing global uncertainties. The edition was opened by Milano Unica’s president Simone Canclini.

MU prides itself on providing luxurious quality and choice to fashion from international chain labels to designer collections.  Statistics for the 40th edition quote 723 exhibitors, 12,000 buyers from 6,476 companies and 98 countries, with significant growth in key markets like Japan, and Korea, more luxury textiles and accessories and buyers from USA, Europe and the Far East.

Prints and art

Floral prints digital images and decorated fabrics were artistic and colourful, many based on Far Eastern flowers in a profusion of large-scale images as in the Japan and Korean Observatories. References to art and light were frequent in Milano Unica’s descriptions.

Accessories reflected MU themes, with natural material wood and stones for bead fastenings, laser chiselled designs contrasted with long feather taping, with wool and cotton for soft tactile effects. Fine wool, fluffy cotton and linen and synthetic blends included re-used polymers. Natural fibres dominate, principally Merino, summer wool, cotton and flax. The goal for artificial fibres remains to be fully sustainable, recycled or in circular production. Filo the Milan show taking place a month after also showed exclusively sustainable yarns at a MU Stand.

Linen is in the spotlight in all areas, solo in different weights and blended with many different partners - Spence Bryson had a linen/Pinatex blend and at Stephen Walters linen/silk fabrics for ties.

Idea Biella as the home of luxury menswear fabrics saw iconic names like Loro Piana, Reda, Vitale Barberis Canonico, famous UK mills such as William Halstead mohair specialists for 150 years or Moon’s wool/linen blends wooing a younger international clientele with more casual colourful designs and technical fabrics for summer.

Sustainability leads to invention

Moda di Mare dived into contemporary summer wear. Many knitted fabrics and light summer cotton collections were inspired by the MU suggestion of soft cloud-like looks described as sustainability in action, for including recycled wool coated fabrics

Eurojersey joined an MU concept project for new fabrics ‘Beyond Tailoring’ featuring unconventional developments for menswear fabrics. with easy to wear stretch and vivid colours. The looks were developed with patented Sensitive Fabrics stretch fabrics produced in Italy by Eurojersey using cutting-edge technology by Framis for thermo-taping and sealing and 3D printing by Stratasys. 

Invention revolves around new ideas, like Spiber the technology of brewed protein invented in Japan to create sustainable fashion from scratch, synthetic materials with no waste, already taken up by Botto Giuseppe. Elsewhere real food waste is reported as being used successfully for clothing print dyes in Japan.

Zips are a source of ingenuity knitted tapes using cotton flax organza for a fashionable contrast with dark denim.

Embroidered lace with recycled material at Iluna is well underway. The group says that its Green label for sustainability has developed 50% since 2022 by using recycled polyamide, described with wise words ‘real skill lies in transforming what we already have.’

MU40 Continues online at e-Milano Unica Connect.

www.milanounica.it