Milan Fashion Week: expected highlights

(AFP PHOTO / Giuseppe Cacace)

Fashion week attendees will have a busy three to four days after Milan-based designers have crammed their shows into a schedule that pleases that of American Vogue's Anna Wintour.

Fendi, Prada, Moschino, Ferré, Armani, Versace, Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Pucci, Marni, Cavalli, Missoni, Ferragamo - and those are just the biggest names showing over the four 'real' days of Milan fashion week, which starts February 24.

Some of the labels have announced online livestreams just as their New York and London colleagues before, with Dolce & Gabbana even launching an iPhone application for their broadcast, so that fans don't have to stay home in order to watch the show live. Taking place on February 25 at 3pm (GMT +1), the collection will also be shown live at live.dolcegabbana.com as well as the designers' Facebook page.

Event highlights surrounding the fashion week include Sephora's new megastore opening (the beauty retailer's biggest European outlet to date) on February 24, Carine's son Vladimir Restoin-Roitfeld opening an exhibition for the graffiti artist Richard Hambleton together with Giorgio Armani on February 25, and Ferragamo paying tribute to the style of Greta Garbo: The Mystery of Style opens February 28 at the Viale Emilio Alemagna 6 and remains on show through April 4 (more infos at triennale.it).

The fashion week will conclude with the inauguration of the Palazzo Morando, a new fashion, art, and design space at Via Sant'Andrea 6, on March 1.