Etro Just Staged the First Major Live Runway Show Since Lockdown
Fashion

Etro Just Staged the First Major Live Runway Show Since Lockdown

Not since Louis Vuitton in March has a fashion show from a major brand, complete with a live audience and photographers, actually taken place. The uncertainty looming among designers as a result of the pandemic left many wondering what runway shows would look like this year, if they even returned at all.

If the show put on today by Etro in Milan is any indicator, however, things probably won't look entirely that much different. Other than seats being spaced out a bit more (which would presumably mean less people to fit in), it seems that there's only so much precautionary measures a show could implement.

According to photos from the event, most guests did appear to have masks on although many took them off once the show began. If the audience looked mostly white, which some users pointed out on Twitter, an Etro comms director says that it was due to local travel restrictions and that some POC invitees couldn't make it.

The event was part of Milan's first digital fashion week, which runs for four days and features several Italian brands showing their new collections in video format. Only Etro and Dolce & Gabbana (which showed later that day) planned a live show.

As for the collection presented today, which combined Men's Spring 2021 with Women's Resort 2021, Creative Directors Veronica and Kean Etro were inspired by travel and set out to portray different guests of an international hotel (the show was held at the Four Seasons). A live performance from the Ensemble Testori Orchestra held court as the models strode past.

"We want to highlight that we are a family, that Etro is a family living in a world of joie de vivre, color and positivity," they said in a statement. "This season, we want to bring to the stage real clothes for real people, discovering a new authenticity. Just what we like, what we think is absolutely relevant, what makes us feel good. Nothing more than this."

See, below, for some of the collection's key looks which include an abundance of stripes, madras checks, paisley motifs and floral camo patterns.

Lead photo via Getty/ Runway photos courtesy of Etro