SPECIAL: My Milan Fashion Week experience

Ciao ragazzi!

Today I want to talk to you about my Milan fashion week experience last summer! After visiting Amsterdam Fashion Week I also had the big privilege to check out some shows and street style during Milan Fashion Week!

I have A LOT (not exaggerating) to share with you guys so I am going to put the video and the street style in a different post but I already wanted to tell you some about my experience, the shows I saw and give you some tips for when you want to visit Milan Fashion Week as well 🙂

To start this story, I am very happy and lucky that I got in at some shows! I did not email for invitations, I was not invited upfront and I was a bit scared to just ask to get in, but in the end I did and it was awesome. It was a very exciting adventure which was mostly unprepared except for the fact that I happened (partially planned it that way) to be in Milano during fashion week. If you want to visit shows I do not recommend you go to Milano without having any invitations because it would be a shame if you did not get in. If you however am also interested in shooting some street style pictures and you want to capture the vibe, the Milan Fashion Week feeling, GO (but prepare!).

In total I went to 5 different shows, most of them were from somewhat less famous designers but one of the shows was from the amazing Fausto Puglisi. I was told by a lot of different people that ‘it would be difficult to get in’ or ‘nearly impossible’. But I think I quiet have proven that this is not true.

Read on for the full story!

One of the first things I did when Milan Fashion Week started was figuring out which show would find place at which spot. This is so different from Amsterdam! Milan Fashion Week has like around 20 different locations for shows, which makes the schedule very tight and makes it a challenge to be on time everywhere to shoot the coolest pictures.

The first show I went to was Byblos Milano, the show from a brand I really love. I got there and I was already pretty much late but the street style photographers were still very busy and I started asking around a bit. Where to get tickets, where to ask for a standing place. Well this was super easy, I was put in a line and I just walked through, yay, my first show I was every attending during Milan Fashion Week!

I had a spot at the back and I saw most of the items pretty good. I did not make really good pictures because of the lighting but I did make a little collage of my favorites for you!

After the show I went outside and did some street style shooting. While walking to the next show I suddenly ran into one of my favorite Italian bloggers (Marie Zamboli)! We took a selfie, talked a bit because she recognized me as well and than both went our own ways again. I arrived in time at the second show and I shot some great street style shots (more about that later). I saw my favorite Dutch blogger Linda Tol as well and I actually managed to get on video for a Dutch tv show haha (no idea if they are actually going to broadcast it but who knows!).

The second show was from Stella Jean. I got in very easily as well. When I asked for a standing position they gestured me to just walk and I was sort of stunned by how kind the people at the ticket control were. I got in at my second show!! (Really I am still surprised by the fact that I saw 5! shows during Milan Fashion Week, it’s kind of unbelievable…)

At some shows I did not get in, which is pretty logical, and so when this happened I just shot street style pictures or took a little break. After Stella Jean I went for some lunch and continued to some other shows. The next two shows I got in where IM Isola Marras and later that day I even got in at the Fausto Puglisi fashion show!

Photos from the dolls factory, blog by Anja Tufina (original link and blogpost which is a must read!) / Editorial Just-Brands & the Skinny beep.com

Photos from VOGUE.nl

On Thursday I was leaving Italy to fly back to Holland but I was still in Milan until 2 so of course I wanted to try some more shows! Normally I would have never been able to be in Milan during Milan Fashion Week so this (for now) once in a lifetime experience had to be ended with a bang.

And so it did. I tried to get in at Burani and I actually got a spot in the photographers corner! Yes all these pictures below are made by yours truly! The pictures are pretty much raw, unedited (except for some cutting corners and color tone). I am pretty proud of myself to have been able to make these shots and I am so so happy that I got to be part of Milan Fashion Week.

It has been a truly amazing experience and one to never forget!

A lot of thanks to the Milan Fashion Week organisation that has been so kind to allow me access to a couple of shows. I would never have dared to dream this!

Baci,
Saranda