In 2020, Stella Jean pledged to only return to the runway when she would not be the only Black designer on the Milan schedule.

She and Edward Buchanan, in addition to Michelle Ngonmo, are to be credited for igniting a change inside the country’s fashion system once they first established the We Are Made in Italy, or WAMI collective, and shortly thereafter got the support of the Camera Della Moda.

On Friday night, their dream got here true because the collective mounted a show combining displays of Buchanan’s Sansovino 6 latest collection – hinged on denim that was distressed, bleached, acid-washed and worn back front – Jean’s spring effort, and a number of other looks by the Fab Five, the moniker utilized by the collective each season to discover the five designers with migrant backgrounds chosen for the talent support program.

The overall elections on Sunday have marked the complete Milanese week – with some designers using their fashion or their voice, and Instagram handles, to spotlight the importance of taking a stance and voting.

Said Jean backstage: “It’s lower than 48 hours until the elections, that are probably going to mark a disruption. This a signal of presence. Multicultural Italy exists, works and contributes to the economy.”

Amongst this 12 months’s WAMI collective, Vietnam-born Phan Dang Hoang presented flowing handkerchief dresses fabricated from deadstock silk scarves; Haitian talent Akilah Steward, who showed eco-designed satchel bags ; South Korea-born Kim Gaeun with a set inspired by cartoon villains including a pink-dressed Cruella de Ville, and Eileen Claudis Akbaraly, who runs the socially charged Made for a Woman brand empowering Malagasy women through craft. She presented a shoe collection and experimental raffia pieces.

A broader group including Claudia Gisele Ntsama, Mokodu Fall, Karim Daoudi, Joy Meribe and Neha Poorswani sent down the runway tribute looks to Giorgio Armani, who in 2013 invited Jean to showcase her collection on the Armani Teatro during fashion week.

“I sense that they’re proud to be a part of made in Italy, they feel they’ve the responsibility,” Jean noted.

The Haitian designer, who presented a spring collection inspired by her Haitian roots, reprised her signature look of print-bearing full skirts with crisp cotton shirts and chic puffy-sleeved blouses and frocks. She said Armani has proved “how fresh his mind and thoughts are.”

The Italian designer will offer one among the Fab Five the chance to intern at Emporio Armani.