Milan Fashion Week isn’t just an excuse to sit outside Bar Basso sculling negronis. The city that boasts some of fashion’s most legendary houses has an incredibly exciting carousel of both indie talent and industry showstoppers that’ll be on proud display on and off the schedule. As always, it’s a formidable list of designers but you don’t have to worry about that. We’re here to let you know what you shouldn’t miss!

Fiorucci are staging their first ever runway

If you looked at the official schedule for Milan Fashion Week, you’d think that Fendi are opening the season on the 17th. But they’re actually being pipped to the post by Fiorucci who are staging their first ever runway, off-schedule, an hour before Fendi. It’s all part of the major revival that has been on the books for Fiorucci for a while. Last summer, they hired a new creative director, Francesca Murri, who previously worked with Alessandro Michele and Riccardo Tisci, to bring the legendary brand back to its Milanese roots.

Fiorucci are showing on the 17th at 15:00 CET

The young brands dusting off the cobwebs

Of all the fashion weeks, Milan is by far the most formidable for young brands. But in recent years, many have really begun to make their mark on the megabrand-heavy schedule. Marco Rambaldi, for example, has become a cult favourite in the city for his designs that blissfully disregard gender norms. Founded in 2017, Rambaldi is also famous for embracing crochet and for having a purposefully homemade look that recalls the excesses of the 1970s style.

Rave Review are also a breath of fresh air on the Milan schedule. Their bombastic designs and focus on sustainability saw the brand shortlisted for the 2020 LVMH Prize. Founded in 2017 by the Swedish designers Josephine Bergqvist and Livia Schück, the brand is the opposite of what you’d expect from a pair of Scandi designers, but that is exactly why their slot on the schedule is so exciting. You never know what you’re going to get with them.

Marco Rambaldi is showing on the 18th at 12:30 CET; Rave Review are showing on the 22nd at 16:00 CET

Wild runway stunts expected 

Milan has really become a hotbed of crazy runways recently, mostly thanks to the efforts of Sunnei and Avavav. You may recall last September, Sunnei staged a show during which the audience were given panels so they could score each look out of 10. The brand itself, the brainchild of Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, was founded in 2015 and has gone against the grain ever since its inception.

Avavav equally have hit the headlines with their wacky runways. For FW24, members of the audience were controversially encouraged to throw assorted rubbish at the models and along the catwalk. The season before, the models comically ran out from backstage, acting like they were being chased or forced at gunpoint to walk the runway. God knows what they’re going to do this season.

Sunnei are showing on the 20th at 17:00 CET; Avavav are showing on the 22nd at 14:00 CET

Maximilian Davis will continue his streak at Ferragamo 

Manchester’s own Maximilian Davis will continue his impressive tenure at Ferragamo this season. Having revitalised the house in recent years, giving it a classy new logo and reestablishing its place as a proudly Florentine brand, Davis is sure to deliver another classy collection with an army of accessories that you’ll see everywhere in the coming year.

And, of course, the luxury brands will pull out all the stops

No matter what, Milan will always be synonymous with the classic Italian houses: Fendi, Gucci, Prada and Bottega Veneta. Each house is going from strength to strength currently. Kim Jones is delivering Roman street style in abundance at Fendi, Sabato de Sarno is making Gucci sexier by the season, Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada are delivering their strongest ever collections at Prada, and Matthieu Blazy has made Bottega Veneta unmissable. These are the shows you simply cannot miss.

Fendi is showing on the 17th at 15:00 CET; Gucci is showing on the 20th at 15:00 CET; Prada is showing on the 19th at 14:00 CET; Bottega Veneta is showing on the 21st at 20:00 CET.