Milan Fashion Week hears calls for more designer diversity

By COLLEEN BARRY
AP Fashion Writer

MILAN (AP) — The Milan Fashion Week opening Wednesday celebrates perhaps its most diverse season ever. The five-day calendar is showcasing collections by perhaps its most diverse lineup of designers, including the new creative directors at Salvatore Ferragamo and Bally and the return of Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean after a two-year hiatus. Jean, who debuted in Milan in 2013, pledged on the heels of Black Lives Matter protests not to return to Milan Fashion Week as long as she remained the only Black designer represented. This week, she won’t be. But she and other industry insiders behind a campaign to open the Italian fashion world to professionals with minority backgrounds say true inclusivity remains elusive.