Milan, Feb 25 (IANS) Milan's womenswear fashion week started here with Matteo Renzi becoming the first Italian prime minister to inaugurate the event.
It is strange that I am the first prime minister to open the fashion week, Renzi said at the event's inauguration on Wednesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The important thing is that I am not the last. It should become a tradition," he added.
The six-day fashion week running until Monday (February 29) will host 73 runway shows and a total of 184 collections for the fall-winter season of 2016-2017.
Established brands such as Giorgio Armani, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo will be flanked by several labels on the runway for the first time, including Atsushi Nakashima, Diesel Black Gold, Lucio Vanotti and Piccione Piccione.
The Italian fashion industry, including textile, clothing, leather, footwear and leather and fur as a whole, represents 41 percent of the European fashion industry, against Germany's 11 percent and France's 8 percent.
