WHEN ILLUSION REPLACES INNOVATION

From recycled trends to disenchanted schools: why the system is heading toward collapse. Alessandro Turci speaking

New York Fashion Week (NYFW) took place from September 11–16, 2025, with major events organized by the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The annual showcase featured American and international brands such as Michael Kors, Alexander Wang, Altuzarra, COS, and Toteme. Screenings were held at Rockefeller Centre, while the main shows took place across various venues, including The Historic West Edge.

The only novelties at the New York fashion shows are the brands, for the most part unknown, some forgotten, others irrelevant. The proposals seem like a summary of what did best in past seasons, from neo-romantic to neo-gothic with sporty and college hints à la Miu Miu.

Not only is there nothing new, but it is not even clear what the sense of these presentations is, all in a race to grab even a tiny corner in an already saturated, listless, spoiled market.

The efforts of the commentators at the shows should be rewarded, for their consistency and determination that even becomes obstinacy (to make ends meet, one writes about everything).

The now obvious evidence of the imminent crash is in front of everyone’s eyes. Schools do not train but rather create illusions of possibilities that have become mere chimaeras, with the usual flashy terms that please nagging parents who bleed themselves dry to pay exorbitant fees: creativity, authenticity, identity. And if we also throw in Freedom, we’ve hit the jackpot! Fashion schools are a real business, aimed at those who are passionate about design, believe in it, or simply don’t know what else to do except become influencers.

We have reached the end, and I would say that the loss of the Fashion King par excellence, Giorgio Armani, is an exit worthy of the character. The king is dead, long live the king! But the king is now naked.

What we need is not illusion but an open horizon, where trust and hope can generate new scenarios and give us the strength we need to go on. To have trust means building positive relationships with others despite not knowing, that is, making it possible to act even though knowledge is lacking.

Knowledge, on the contrary, makes trust completely irrelevant. It is only possible to act within a fabric that has references of meaning, bearing in mind that the deeper the fracture, the more intense the hope will be.

Contrary to what is confused with optimism, the intense light of hope paradoxically feeds on the deepest darkness.

Alessandro Turci speaking