A Milan graduate show reveals emerging designers and fashion’s future
Everything unfolded as ten emerging designers presented contemporary collections at Istituto Marangoni Milano’s 90th Anniversary Graduate Fashion Show
Milan became the stage for fashion innovation as Istituto Marangoni Milano marked its 90th anniversary with XC | 90, a graduate fashion show at Galleria Meravigli. Ten of the school’s emerging designers presented collections that combined the institution’s heritage with contemporary design, attracting fashion editors, industry professionals, and cultural commentators. From oversized volumes to sculptural silhouettes and an AI-driven soundscape, the event highlighted the school’s role in shaping fashion education and supporting the next generation of designers.
Istituto Marangoni Graduate Fashion Show: Defining Milan’s Future
At Milan’s Galleria Meravigli, nostalgia was nowhere to be found. The XC | 90 graduate runway show marked Istituto Marangoni Milano’ 90th anniversary with a bold leap forward—a catwalk serving as a generational manifesto, where the collections of the ten best graduates in fashion design took turns on stage, presenting a fresh perspective.
The stage itself set the tone, creating a liminal space between memory and vision. The city’s fashion insiders, editors, content creators, and industry figures gathered to witness emerging designers redefine the vocabulary of fashion.
The anniversary celebrations had already begun earlier in the week with FUTURES ARCHIVE, an exhibition inaugurated at Istituto Marangoni Milano’s new campus in Palazzo Turati. This exhibition reinterpreted nine decades of creativity and fashion education through the lens of the school’s students, serving as a fitting prologue to the night’s spectacle.
“Turning 90 is not an arrival, but the beginning of a new cycle,” emphasised Paolo Meroni, the School Director at Istituto Marangoni Milano. This sentiment resonated throughout the evening.
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Highlights of XC | 90, the annual Fashion Show that celebrated 90 years of Istituto Marangoni
XC | 90 Runway Highlights: Bold Volumes and Colours
As the runway show unfolded, it became a choreography of extremes: monumental volumes, balloon sleeves that inflated like kinetic sculptures, deconstructed trenches that twisted familiar codes, and knitwear moulded into unexpected architectures.
The colour palette shifted between tension and release, showcasing acid green and electric blue as bold statements of power, while dusty pinks and muted nudes conveyed a sense of restraint, and metallic accents hinted at a futuristic horizon.
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Looks from XC 90 Fashion Show
Top Emerging Designers to Watch from Milan
Alumna Beatricia Rotaru presented her graduate collection “A ME VEL PRO ME” as a theatrical meditation on destiny, while Giorgia Candida Sorbillo displayed her irreverent “VADO. C’È L’ALTALENA LIBERA.”
Maresia Cristini introduced “RESTO IN SOSPESO”, an emotional mosaic where contrast and harmony coexist, and Marco Tulli’s “OTIA LIBERRIMA” offered a new take on classic menswear.
Jacopo Maria Arena debuted with “DIVERSO”, inspired by the Platonic myth of the androgynous being, while Vittorio Tinti presented “GALLERIA 67,” which explored a dialogue between Brutalism, nature, and the memory of Arte Povera.
Kyunghoe Ku’s “RIBELLIONE LEGACY,” deconstructed military codes. Katsiaryna Yermakova’s “RESIDUE” translated a search for “home” into garments, drawing from childhood memories and seascapes. Asia Pecorini’s PSICOFORME unveiled visionary volumes that embodied a dreamlike yet minimal elegance. Lastly, Giuseppina Lamiranda’s “ANCESTRAL RHYTHMS” staged a journey into roots through rhythm and memory.
The atmosphere was heightened by the soundscape created by Emiliano Zelada, which alternated between melancholy and experimentation, weaving in AI-generated voices that added an otherworldly pulse to the show—part theatre, part algorithmic dream.
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The show spotlighted ten emerging talents from the school, each presenting colours and bold volumes in their collections
Fashion Jury with Global Industry Leaders
On stage walked the ten most promising Fashion Design students of the 2024/2025 academic year. They were handpicked by a jury of fashion heavyweights, including Alessandro Sartori, Francesca Ragazzi, Marco Rambaldi, Sara Sozzani Maino, and Stefania Valenti, Managing Director of Istituto Marangoni.
Beatricia Rotaru Wins XC | 90 Graduate Show with A ME VEL PRO ME
The XC | 90 graduate runway show culminated with the announcement of the winner: Beatricia Rotaru and her collection A ME VEL PRO ME. Suspended between consciousness and subconscious, her work conjured a visionary “Theatre of Life”—an exploration of fate and identity where ancestral echoes met contemporary glamour. Draperies breathed, silhouettes expanded and contracted like living organisms, while her refined imagination transformed emotion into wearable form.
Looks from "A ME VEL PRO ME" by Beatricia Rotaru
Collective Voices: Diversity and Reinvention on Milan’s XC | 90 Runway
Yet the XC | 90 graduate fashion show was not about a single voice. The runway became a mosaic of visions from emerging designers. Asia Pecorini presented fluid, aquatic drapings; Giorgia Candida Sorbillo dazzled with pop hues and theatrical volumes; Giuseppina Lamiranda blended strict tailoring with disruption; Jacopo Maria Arena challenged traditional menswear codes with a rebellious spirit; Katsiaryna Yermakova combined romantic elements with sculptural cuts; Kyunghoe Ku offered poetic layered compositions; Marco Tulli created sharp, essential looks with a commanding colour palette; Maresia Cristini navigated between lightness and bold chromatic drama; and Vittorio Tinti traced a fine line between classical rigour and contemporary edge.
Under the art direction of Diana Murek, Director of Education at Istituto Marangoni Milano, the diverse aesthetics came together to form a coherent narrative with each designer emphasising the idea that the school’s legacy lies not in repetition, but in reinvention.
From Istituto Marangoni’s Heritage to the Future of Fashion
As the lights dimmed and the designers walked the runway hand in hand with their muses, the applause felt almost cathartic. The XC | 90 graduate runway show at Galleria Meravigli was not just a celebration of heritage; it was the unveiling of a new generation unafraid to challenge, experiment, and imagine.
In Milan, for one night, the past and future collapsed into a single vision: Istituto Marangoni wasn’t merely celebrating ninety years—it was launching into the next chapter.
Agnese Pasquinelli
Alumna, Milano