Fashion is important all around the globe, but London and Milan are surely two of the world’s fashion capitals.
With both Milan and London holding fashion weeks in February, let’s look at the differences between these two cities and their fashion sense.
Milan and London have very different views on what fashion is and how people should relate to it.
Growing up in Milan, I always appreciated that fashion is central to everyone’s life, from teenagers to socially mobile professionals to seniors. In the city of my birth fashion is how you are judged. As an adolescent, if you didn’t wear the right outfit at a party or you didn’t have a branded handbag, you were labelled as “weird” or “not cool”.
Since I moved to London, I learned how fashion doesn’t have to bring people down. Fashion can be a way to express yourself and let others understand how you feel on the inside, by what you show on the outside. Most Londoners have their own sense of style and they hardly ever get ridiculed for it. Instead I soon noticed how people praise you if you dress differently and don’t follow fashion rules.
High-end fashion is also viewed differently in the two capitals. While Milan is set in its ways, London is more open to new brands and stylists.
During Milan fashion weeks, almost every runaway is booked by famous brands, such as Gucci and Giorgio Armani. It is unusual to find new talent under the spotlight. Although in the last decade Milan has opened itself up to the future a bit more, famous brands are still very much the centre of every fashion week.
By contrast, London’s Fashion Week leaves more room for new talent and street fashion is recognised as an important element in the fashion mix. However, since London, unlike Milan, didn’t previously have so many established brands, maybe this was first of all a necessity, not by choice.
Overall, Milan and London are quite distinctive when it comes to fashion and I felt a big difference when I moved to London. But no matter where you live, it’s important to remember that fashion is highly subjective. You should always wear what makes you comfortable and happy, without paying too much attention to other people’s opinions!
