What Milan is buzzing about this fashion week

(AFP PHOTO / MARTIN BUREAU)

Alexander Wang launches a special edition of his Rocco bag, 10 Corso Como celebrates its twentieth anniversary, and the stars come out for amfAR.

In the runup to Milan fashion week, which kicks off September 21, fashion fans are getting excited about Wang's latest coup: the hip New York-based designer will honor the Italian city's famed White trade show with his White Pony Rocco Bag, made exclusively from lamb and pony hide for Milanese store Antonioli (where it launches officially on September 23) and London's Selfridges department store.

Meanwhile, another Milan shopping constant is making headlines this fashion week: 10 Corso Como, the city's iconic concept store founded by Carla Sozzani, is throwing special events for its twentieth birthday. If you're in town, stop by to visit its gallery, bookshop, or restaurant, and be sure to experience the best in cutting-edge shopping, paralleled only by the likes of Colette in Paris or London's Dover Street Market.

The most star-studded event of Milan's fashion week, however, will again be the amfAR gala on September 23: the Foundation for AIDS Research has invited celebrities including Heidi Klum, Eva Herzigova, and Bar Refaeli to raise awareness of the disease.