There is something endlessly fascinating about the creative energy emerging from Milan’s fashion schools. Season after season, young designers reveal an astonishing command of silhouette, construction, storytelling, and visual identity, often with the confidence and sophistication one might expect from professionals already established in the industry. Their work invites us to reconsider what it means to be a student in one of the world’s most influential fashion capitals.
On September 21, 2026, just one evening before the official opening of Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2027, Istituto Marangoni Milano offered a particularly compelling illustration of this creative maturity with DYSFLEXION, its annual fashion show that I personally attended, celebrating ten exceptional emerging designers.
Held at the magnificent Palazzo Turati, the school’s new Milan campus, the event brought together architectural heritage, experimental fashion, and a generation of creative minds approaching design with remarkable individuality.
Several days after the runway presentation, the collections remain worthy of attention. Their conceptual ambition, attention to craftsmanship, and deeply personal narratives speak to the extraordinary creative potential being cultivated in Milan.
DYSFLEXION: Fashion as an Exploration of Identity
At the heart of DYSFLEXION lies a fascinating question: How do we define ourselves in a world where identity is constantly evolving? Drawing on the ideas of reflection and transformation, the show’s central concept examined identity as something fluid, shaped by personal experiences, relationships, memories, and the continuous process of change.
The ten participating designers translated this philosophical exploration into clothing, each developing a distinct aesthetic vocabulary through fabric manipulation, experimental construction, sculptural volumes, and expressive silhouettes.
The result was an exploration of individuality, with collections addressing themes ranging from emotional resilience and nostalgia to gender expression, surrealism, domestic expectations, and the relationship between sound and consciousness.
The setting added another dimension to the presentation. Palazzo Turati, an emblematic example of 19th-century Milanese architecture, provided an evocative backdrop for a fashion event dedicated to new perspectives. The encounter between historic surroundings and contemporary experimentation reflected the creative dialogue that continues to shape Milan’s identity.
Ten Emerging Designers, Ten Distinctive Fashion Narratives
The designers featured in DYSFLEXION were selected through a rigorous process involving more than 200 third-year students enrolled in Istituto Marangoni Milano’s Fashion Design & Accessories undergraduate program.
An initial selection narrowed the field to 30 finalists before an industry jury chose the ten designers whose collections would appear in the show.
The judging panel included Marco Rambaldi, Galib Gassanoff, Satoshi Kuwata, Gregory de la Hogue Moran, Youwie Roes, Marco Carrieri, Chiara Allegri, and Paola Sandrini, bringing together expertise from different areas of the fashion industry.
The final selection emphasized research, critical thinking, design methodology, and excellence in execution, qualities that were central to the creative vision of the event.
Alessandro Bonasi – What’s hidden behind a pleat
Alessandro Bonasi, with What’s Hidden Behind a Pleat, explored the expressive and functional possibilities of twisting, draping, and asymmetry. His genderless collection reconsidered traditionally feminine design codes, using unexpected construction details to reveal the transformative potential concealed within a garment.
Alice Altea Molteni – Mªtto
Alice Altea Molteni presented Mªtto, a spirited celebration of individuality inspired by 1960s Italian cinema and the visual universe of artist Pino Pascali. Playful touches of pink, handcrafted details, and pixel-inspired beadwork created an aesthetic where humor and elegance coexisted with a refreshing sense of freedom.
Antonio Rotolo – Prima che la materia
In Prima Che La Materia Ceda, Antonio Rotolo examined the charged moment when opposing forces meet. Inspired by the energy of fusion and the photography of Garry Winogrand, his collection approached femininity through the tension between strength and vulnerability, discipline and spontaneity.
Benedetta Battaglia – Nature’s half life
Benedetta Battaglia turned toward emotional transformation with Nature’s Half Life. Taking inspiration from the concept of half-life, the collection considered the changes that follow a traumatic experience. Organic volumes and artisanal techniques gave visual expression to regeneration, memory, and the beauty of imperfection.
Giulia Travaglini – Ancora cinque minuti
A more intimate atmosphere defined Giulia Travaglini’s Ancora Cinque Minuti, a collection rooted in the delicate emotional territory of waiting, remembering, and wishing to prolong a fleeting moment. Fluid materials, tactile surfaces, and references to everyday memories created a poetic meditation on time and attachment.
Guo Gongyi – L’appuntamento
With L’Appuntamento, Gongyi Guo explored the encounter with one’s inner self. Architectural precision met instinctive gestures in garments shaped by the coexistence of opposing impulses. The interplay between structure and spontaneity became a study of personal equilibrium.
Matilde Gonella – I gesti che non abiti
Matilde Gonella drew inspiration from the striking photographic imagery of Miles Aldridge for I Gesti Che Non Abiti. Her collection examined the contrast between immaculate domestic appearances and the desire for inner freedom. Controlled silhouettes, disruptive details, and expressive color suggested an evolving journey toward emancipation.
Sara Madella – Fare e Disfare – The winner of the Fashion Show
In Fare E Disfare, Sara Madella approached fashion through the principles of ready-made art and deconstruction, taking inspiration from the work of the Castiglioni brothers. Cuts, folds, and asymmetric constructions reimagined familiar objects and forms, presenting clothing as an ongoing process of dismantling, reconstruction, and remembrance.
Sofiia Jessome – Esonia
Sofiia Jessome transformed the intangible language of music into a visual experience with Esonia. Rhythm, sound, and emotion informed the collection’s silhouettes, textures, and movement, creating a dialogue between harmony and chaos. Memory and nostalgia emerged as essential elements in her exploration of perception and consciousness.
Quan Ziming – Le Paradis surrealiste
Completing the lineup, Ziming Quan presented Le Paradis Surréaliste, a collection inspired by 1960s futuristic imagery, origami techniques, and surrealist imagination. Geometric forms, animal references, and a black-and-white palette established a distinctive visual world where disciplined construction encountered dreamlike fantasy.
Together, these ten creative perspectives revealed the breadth of experimentation taking place within contemporary fashion education. Each collection approached its subject through an individual design language, demonstrating the importance of developing a recognizable creative identity alongside technical expertise.
The Remarkable Professionalism of Milan’s Emerging Fashion Talent
Perhaps the most striking aspect of DYSFLEXION is what the event reveals about the level of creative preparation expected of emerging designers in Milan. Developing a collection requires far more than an inspired sketch or an appealing silhouette. It demands research, conceptual clarity, material knowledge, construction skills, aesthetic judgment, and the ability to communicate a coherent vision.
The ten designers selected for this presentation approached these challenges with an impressive understanding of the relationship between artistic expression and professional execution.
Their collections demonstrate how contemporary fashion education can encourage students to develop their own creative signatures while cultivating the discipline necessary to translate ambitious ideas into finished garments.
For anyone following the next generation of fashion talent, this is an especially exciting prospect. The designers emerging from institutions such as Istituto Marangoni Milano are already engaging with complex questions surrounding identity, sustainability of ideas, emotional experience, and the changing cultural significance of clothing. Their creative vocabulary feels assured, intellectually curious, and deeply connected to the contemporary world.
Founded in Milan in 1935, Istituto Marangoni has spent more than nine decades educating fashion, design, and luxury professionals. DYSFLEXION offered a vivid expression of that educational legacy, placing the creative ambitions of its students at the center of the conversation.
From the Runway to CODEX: Extending the Creative Vision
The artistic exploration continued through CODEX, the editorial extension of DYSFLEXION. Developed as a photographic reinterpretation of the participating collections, CODEX introduced another layer of storytelling through styling, imagery, and unexpected visual relationships between the designers’ work.
By presenting garments in new creative contexts, the project encouraged viewers to discover additional meanings within the collections and consider how fashion imagery can reshape the perception of design.
The runway presentation itself was conceived as a multisensory experience, incorporating mirrors, choreographed lighting, and an AI-assisted soundtrack to reinforce the central theme of reflection and transformation.
The show’s professional production also benefited from a network of creative and technical partners. L’Oréal Italia contributed through L’Oréal Professionnel for hairstyling and its Luxury Division for makeup, while Great Lengths supported hair extensions. Amal Embroideries brought its embroidery expertise to the project, and Bonaudo collaborated in the development and experimentation of leather techniques.
These partnerships highlighted the importance of collaboration within fashion, where the realization of a creative vision depends on the interaction of multiple specialized disciplines.
A New Generation Worth Watching
Sara Madella – The Winner of the DYSFLEXION Fashion Graduate Show at Istituto Marangoni Milano
As the fashion world continues to reflect on the September 2026 Milan Fashion Week season, DYSFLEXION deserves a place in the conversation. The presentation captured something particularly meaningful about emerging talent: the willingness to question established ideas, experiment with unfamiliar techniques, and approach personal experiences as valuable sources of creative expression.
There was an intriguing diversity of perspectives among the ten collections, from the architectural and sculptural to the emotional, playful, and surreal. What connected them was a shared commitment to exploring fashion as a language through which identity can be expressed, challenged, and continually reimagined.
For those of us fascinated by the future of fashion, the work emerging from Milan’s classrooms and ateliers offers endless reasons for optimism.
The most memorable fashion moments do not always reveal their full significance immediately. Sometimes, revisiting them after the excitement of Fashion Week has settled allows their ideas, craftsmanship, and creative conviction to resonate more deeply. DYSFLEXION is one of those moments. And if these ten designers are an indication of the talent preparing to enter the international fashion industry, their next creative chapters will certainly be worth following.
