My thoughts on Milan Fashion Week

Depict AI search, $6B AI margin boost, DCDX Top 50, Gen Z luxury rethink, NikeSKIMS, H&M’s elevation

Author

Olga Merzlyakova
September 29, 2025

I was very excited ahead of Milan Fashion Week, and from what I could see through the screen, it delivered. There was a lot of praise for Louise Trotter’s debut at Bottega Veneta, while my personal favourite was Simone Bellotti’s debut at Jil Sander — very much Jil Sander. But what struck me most is how creative directors are now innovating not just on the runway, but in how we experience fashion. The industry was anticipating purely artistic creativity; now we are seeing just as much business creativity — marketing, content, storytelling, merchandising.

Two examples stood out to me. First, Glenn Martens at Diesel, who turned his show into an Easter-egg hunt across Milan. Instead of a traditional runway, models were staged inside giant transparent “eggs” and placed in 18 different public locations — from bars to churches — so anyone in the city could stumble across them. It wasn’t just a show; it was a discovery game, blending inclusion, access, and vitality.

And of course, Demna’s Gucci debut. I wouldn’t say the clothes were extraordinary, but the rollout was much more powerful: character drops on Instagram riffing on Italian clichés (“VIP in head-to-toe Gucci logomania,” “la bomba” dressed in fur, etc.), a short film to expand the world (it is as fabulous as it is absurd, Demi Moore, as always, is great) and the kicker — the collection available only in selected stores, for a limited time. Urgency, FOMO, and a smart play with emotions.

For me, these moments show that fashion today is as much about building worlds and mechanics of engagement as it is about designing products. And that’s something any brand — fashion or not — can learn from.

Caught my eye

Trends — what’s bubbling underneath the headlines

  • The End of Scrolling?
    Depict AI, a merchandising platform for fashion and lifestyle brands, has launched GPT Search—a natural-language tool that lets shoppers phrase queries in plain speech (“a midi dress under €150 for summer evenings”) and get results that actually match intent. Early adopters include Sandqvist, CDLP, Nanushka and Luca Faloni. Depict claims that with this feature shopping will become “more intentional”. More intentional shopping also means fewer clicks and less time spent browsing. The question is whether fashion brands—often measured by engagement metrics—are prepared for that shift.

  • Fashion Retail’s $6B AI Win

    Morgan Stanley’s latest analysis estimates that soft-goods brands and retailers could unlock $6 billion in operating cost savings by 2026 through “agentic AI” — automating inventory planning, supply chain orchestration, back-office tasks, and more. That translates to a possible ~20 % boost in EBIT and a margin uplift of ~200 basis points. It’s interesting take for the fashion industry. The next wave of profitability might come not from growth in demand, but from intelligent automation behind the scenes.

  • Relevance > Reach

    A new study from DCDX ranked the top 50 magnetic brands of 2025 by looking at organic popularity and how consistent they are in user-generated content across social platforms. Among them are Amazon, Formula 1, Target, and Pinterest, all showing strong presence in everyday conversations online. For me as a passionate brand strategist, the interesting part is that the art of branding comes less from pushing messages out, and more from becoming part of the conversation.

  • Luxury’s Gen Z Challenge

    It struck me that by 2030, Gen Z will make up a quarter of global luxury spending — yet many of the executives running these houses still don’t really understand them. This generation blends high and low fashion, values authenticity over logos, and embraces resale, rentals, or even “no-buy” movements. We can already see brands like Miu Miu winning Gen Z through smaller, more accessible entry products. To me, the bigger issue is change of paradigm: reaching Gen Z often means lowering price points while ramping up marketing spend — a model many luxury brands will have to rethink

Business moves, big numbers & “wait, what?”

  • NikeSKIMS Launch: Style, Sport and Skepticism. Nike and Kim Kardashian’s SKIMS have officially launched NikeSKIMS, a women’s activewear line first announced in February 2025. Unlike a one-off collaboration, this is expected to be a strategic partnership (whatever that actually means), aimed at boosting Nike’s struggling women’s business and giving SKIMS global sportswear credibility and scale through Nike’s distribution. The launch includes 58 pieces in inclusive sizes XXS–4X and is supported by a campaign featuring Serena Williams and other athletes. Consumers (myself included) seem more optimistic than investors: Nike’s stock climbed after the partnership was announced in February, but slipped again around the September launch.

  • Fast Fashion → Fast Profits. H&M’s Q3 operating profit jumped to 4.91 billion Swedish kronas, up from 3.51 billion a year earlier, driven by a better product mix, lower inventories, and stronger full-price sell-through. Under CEO Daniel Ervér, the brand is narrowing its supplier base to a “shortlist” of trusted partners to improve speed and consistency, while leaning into celebrity campaigns (like Charli XCX) to refresh cultural relevance. The H&M Studio collection sold out in minutes last week. For the past three years, I’ve somehow ended up buying something at every H&M Studio drop. The quality is unmatched (in most cases better than designer pieces ), and the durability of the garments often outlasts their trend relevance. We’re living in curious times: luxury brands are democratizing, while mass market is elevating. Consumers care less about price tier; they care about quality, timing, and brand story.

Wish I were there - pop-ups,  collabs, etc.

Pencil in, book the ticket, or just follow on social media — choose your option and let’s discuss afterwards!

Thanks for reading! Have a great week.

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