For two September days in Milan, the runway became the beginning of the conversation rather than its final destination. B ICONIC returned for its third edition on September 25 and 26, 2026, transforming Officine del Volo into a meeting point for international fashion, emerging talent, art, retail and the increasingly essential business that takes place beyond the catwalk.
Held during Milan Fashion Week at Officine del Volo, Via Mecenate 76/5, the 2026 edition revealed a more commercially ambitious identity for the project conceived by Giulio Di Sabato, Simone Ruggeri and Mitch Mihic and produced by Caremoli & Ruggeri. Collections remained central, yet the event expanded the traditional runway experience through networking, buyer access, retail opportunities and direct interaction between designers and the people who can help move their work into the marketplace.
At the heart of that evolution was the debut of a Pop-up Store & Temporary Showroom developed in collaboration with Best Showroom. Fashion, accessories, beauty and lifestyle could be discovered in an environment conceived for appointments, sales, orders and professional connections. Participants extended beyond the runway roster to names including Matteo Sorbellini and Korean skincare brand Ongju, giving the space a broader retail character.
The concept reflected a practical question facing designers today: what happens after the applause? Visibility has value, but a collection also needs buyers, distribution, relationships and a route toward the customer. B ICONIC’s expanded format placed those conversations within the event itself, allowing creative presentation and commercial development to occupy the same address.
That sense of exchange was international from the outset. The 2026 lineup brought together Kimooncho, Li Yuntao, Drycri, Sul Young Hee, Par.lune, Ludovica Milano, Golden Rabbit, Pelliot, Met Jeans and Massimo Sabbadin, creating a panorama shaped by distinct cultural references, techniques and approaches to contemporary dress.
The relationship between Italy and China received particular attention through B ICONIC’s collaboration with Fondazione Italia Cina and the Future Moda project, an initiative supporting dialogue and opportunities for young fashion talent across the two countries. Designer Li Yuntao was selected by B ICONIC and Fondazione Italia Cina within the project. His collection, Jade Crossing Blossoms, drew upon the cultural memory of the Silk Road, bringing references to Hetian black jade into conversation with lace and tulle.
Par.Lune
A New Generation Enters The Room
If internationalism supplied one of the edition’s defining currents, emerging talent gave it another. Through the B ICONIC Emerging Talent Program presented by Fondazione Fiera Milano, three young designers connected with Istituto Marangoni, IED and Accademia IUAD Milano were given the opportunity to present their collections without participation costs, supported by professional production and access to meetings with buyers and members of the press.
Giovanni Alberto Acanfora of Istituto Marangoni ultimately received the B ICONIC Emerging Talent Award for L’Anello Mancante. His collection brought the mechanisms that usually complete a garment into visual focus: zippers, buckles, hooks and fastenings became integral components of its construction. Oversized silhouettes met crumpled leather, washed denim, ripstop and metallic surfaces, turning functional details into an expressive vocabulary.
Sofia Licari of IED and Benedetta Panuccio of Accademia IUAD Milano completed the emerging-talent selection, placing three young perspectives inside an event where established industry figures, buyers and international participants were already circulating.
The result captured one of fashion’s enduring pleasures: discovery. Before a designer becomes a familiar name, there is that first encounter with a silhouette, material or idea capable of making an audience look twice.
Kimooncho
Kimooncho Takes The B Iconic Award
Craftsmanship commanded particular attention in the awards. The B ICONIC Award went to Kimooncho, recognized for a contemporary interpretation of Eastern aesthetics and the kimono. Her pieces are handmade by the designer in natural silk, with original prints produced in Como, creating a dialogue between textile craftsmanship, personal authorship and cultural memory.
Antonietta Tuccillo received second place for deeply personal work rooted in crochet. Her handmade pieces emerged during her experience of cancer treatment, when crochet became part of a creative journey through illness and recovery. Her appearance at B ICONIC carried that private act of making onto a public Milan runway.
Tuccillo’s participation also connected with the event’s social-impact program. Women for Women against Violence, conceived by Donatella Gimigliano and promoted by Consorzio Umanitas, served as B ICONIC’s Official Social Impact Partner. Its presence brought questions surrounding women’s experiences, violence, health and resilience into the wider cultural conversation around the event.
The initiative promoted the Camomilla Fashion Award, created by master goldsmith Michele Affidato. Maria Elena Viola, Editor-in-Chief of Donna Moderna, was recognized for her journalistic commitment to women’s rights, gender-based violence and women’s health. Leo Mel was also honored for the courage he demonstrated while defending his sister and family and pursuing justice without responding with violence. Viola’s award was presented by Ludmilla Voronkina Bozzetti, patron of Women for Women against Violence, while Nicolò Maja presented the recognition to Mel.
Sofia Licari
Sul Young Hee And The Language Of Cultural Heritage
Another significant honor crossed generations and borders. Korean designer Sul Young Hee received the B ICONIC Award Excellence in Couture & Cultural Heritage, presented by entrepreneur and author Jasmine Haffadi.
The recognition celebrated more than four decades of Sul Young Hee’s dedication to haute couture and her approach to translating Korean tradition into a contemporary fashion language. In an edition defined by international exchange, her presence reinforced the idea that heritage can remain alive through interpretation, technique and continued creative practice.
The B ICONIC Award Excellence in Vision & Leadership went to Maura Basili, president of Camera Buyer Italia Best Shops, acknowledging her contribution to independent retail and the promotion of Made in Italy. The distinction was unanimously conferred by B ICONIC’s Board of Directors and presented by Professor Giovanni Bozzetti, president of Fondazione Fiera Milano.
The awards were considered by a jury chaired by Bozzetti, with Cavaliere del Lavoro Mario Boselli, president of Fondazione Italia Cina, representing the chair on the first day. The wider jury brought together figures spanning fashion, retail, business, culture and education, including Francesco Boggio Ferraris, Giulio Di Sabato, Nicola Spadafora, Maura Basili, Jasmine Haffadi, Angelo Argento, Gennaro Migliore and Arturo Artom.
When Fashion Meets Art
B ICONIC’s multidisciplinary character extended into contemporary art under the curatorial direction of Sofia Curci. Site-specific works by Eros Gasparini, Jacopo Rumignani and Federico Politanò appeared alongside Alex Belli’s The Materials collection, allowing the industrial atmosphere of Officine del Volo to become part of a wider visual experience.
The B ICONIC Award for Art went to Marzia Ratti, a visual and conceptual artist active since 2001. Her practice moves through installation, painting, material and light while engaging with science, bioethics and psychology and examining questions surrounding identity and consciousness.
The intersection felt particularly suited to an event examining fashion beyond the conventional boundaries of a runway show. Garments live through material, proportion, movement and ideas; contemporary art approaches many of those same territories through a different vocabulary. At Officine del Volo, the two disciplines were allowed to share physical and intellectual space.
From Visibility To Opportunity
Perhaps the clearest story to emerge from B ICONIC’s third edition was its focus on what visibility can become when it is connected to infrastructure.
A designer may command attention on a runway for several minutes. Building a brand requires what comes afterward: conversations with buyers, introductions to industry professionals, orders, retail relationships, press exposure and sustained access to markets. By placing a runway, pop-up retail environment, temporary showroom, art program and professional networking within one two-day format, B ICONIC explored those different stages as parts of a connected fashion ecosystem.
Its 2026 edition was supported by Zurich Bank, Fondazione Italia Cina, Fondazione Fiera Milano, Revlon Professional, MKS, IUAD, Level Up Motorsport, Ratti Group – Artisans at Work, Novaretail and McLaren Milano, with patronage from the Consigliera di Parità della Regione Lombardia, LILT, Confcommercio, Best Showroom, Confapi and FNAR.
As Milan moved through another fashion week, B ICONIC offered its own interpretation of what a contemporary fashion gathering can accomplish. There were clothes to see and talents to discover, but there were also orders to discuss, professional relationships to begin, cultural identities to explore and social stories given a visible platform.
For Kimooncho, the edition brought its principal fashion award. For Giovanni Alberto Acanfora, it marked recognition at the beginning of a career. For Sul Young Hee, it celebrated decades of couture and cultural heritage. For Li Yuntao, it provided another bridge between China and Italy. For Antonietta Tuccillo, handmade crochet carried a profoundly personal history onto a Milan runway. Together, those narratives gave B ICONIC 2026 its texture: a fashion event concerned with where creativity comes from, who receives the opportunity to show it, and where it might travel next.
