{"id":6271,"date":"2026-04-21T16:58:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/?p=6271"},"modified":"2026-04-22T17:06:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:06:05","slug":"designer-fashion-summit-european-fashion-stands-its-ground-in-barcelona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.lineapelle-fair.it\/en\/focus-en\/designer-fashion-summit-european-fashion-stands-its-ground-in-barcelona\/","title":{"rendered":"Designer Fashion Summit: European fashion stands its ground in Barcelona"},"content":{"rendered":"

We attended the European Designer Fashion Summit (14\u201315 April) in Barcelona, where the European fashion industry discussed desire, sustainability and competition from fast fashion. Between AI, craftsmanship to be defended and the long shadow of China, let\u2019s explore the themes that emerged<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Domenico Casoria<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before delving into the challenges European fashion must address, we should start with what is written in the DNA of an entire sector: desire as infrastructure<\/strong>. This was emphasised by the French philosopher and anthropologist Gilles Lipovetsky <\/strong>at the European Designer Fashion Summit<\/strong>, the event that brought together some of the sector\u2019s most authoritative voices in Barcelona, which we attended on 14 and 15 April. \u201cFashion is a European invention<\/strong>,\u201d says Lipovetsky. At the end of the 19th century, he continues, \u201cthere was no sense of responsibility. Everything connected with fashion was based on a sense of frivolity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Desire as infrastructure<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Today, clearly, the approach has changed, but the question remains: is fashion compatible with sustainability <\/strong>(and with desire)? According to Lipovetsky, no<\/strong>. \u201cFashion is play and exploration. Why do we change our clothes? There is no real need to change an outfit, other than that linked to personal pleasure. There is a lack of compatibility between fashion and sustainability, which can only be reduced but not entirely eliminated.\u201d An emotional and cultural infrastructure, in a sense, that Europe has built up over the centuries, transforming clothing into a marker of identity. But desire has never been an individual impulse<\/strong>. Rather, it is the direct result of a series of intertwining elements: art, craftsmanship, storytelling. Interconnections that are more necessary today than ever. \u201cThe liaison between art and fashion is still necessary for fashion itself.<\/p>\n

An artistic director is no longer just a designer, but aims to be a \u2018creator\u2019 in every sense. This is the case with Karl Lagerfeld<\/strong>, who gave Chanel <\/strong>an identity. Not just clothes, but a global offering and a vision,\u201d Lipovetsky continues. At the core, once again, is desire. \u201cThere is this constant hybridisation; in fact, it has always been there: in the 1950s, it was more minimalist, but still present. When a customer today buys a piece from the collaboration between Louis Vuitton <\/strong>and Murakami <\/strong>or Jeff Koons<\/strong>, she is buying a work of art that breaks down barriers in every sense.\u201d One that restores meaning to the collections, making the consumer feel part of a system and not just a purchasing cycle.<\/p>\n

The long arm of fast fashion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

That desire, however, is now under threat. Above all, from fast fashion, which has learned to mimic it, to create an illusion of immediate access and low-cost participation in the language of fashion, at least from a communicative perspective. Collaborations with major creators, \u2018event\u2019 capsule collections, pop-ups that exist solely to be photographed: all of this constructs a different kind of desire \u2013 one that is faster, more horizontal, more performative. A different kind of infrastructure. One that does not stem from heritage, that does not construct meanings, that seeks visibility. All against the backdrop of the unknown factor that is China. Capable of setting up a market that scales, accelerates, replicates and distributes.<\/p>\n

For Lipovetsky, the China of tomorrow could dominate the teenage market, could overtake Europe in fast fashion, and could win on quantity. But it will not be able to compete on the culture of desire, because we are talking about a characteristic that is inherited and cannot be reproduced. Of course, Europe is no longer hegemonic, but it remains the only place where desire is still a historical<\/strong>, aesthetic<\/strong>, artisanal reality<\/strong>. A place of alternative possibilities. Everyone, however, agrees: diversification is the right word, bringing value back to the local, to storytelling, to cooperation between artisans and creatives, to the ability to build worlds and not just products. Only in this way can dear old Europe make its voice heard once more.<\/p>\n

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