A former factory becomes Milan’s most talked-about classroom when Fondazione Sozzani links fashion, art and design to fresh training, funding and forward-thinking craftsmanship.
The ride north from Piazza Duomo takes only thirty minutes but feels like a different city. In Bovisasca, a vine-coated warehouse now carries the cultural weight once shouldered by 10 Corso Como. This is Fondazione Sozzani’s headquarters, and during Milan Men’s Fashion Week it turns into an arena for emerging voices. MTL Studio, Pronounce, Cascinelli, Simon Cracker, Lessico Familiare, David Catalan and Miguel Vieira each show here, staking out territory before the season gains speed.
Fondazione Sozzani began life in 2016 when Carla Sozzani and artist Kris Ruhs formalized the mission that grew from Galleria Carla Sozzani, launched in 1990. The early focus on art has since widened: fashion, design and publishing all coexist under the roof of the Bovisasca space, as well as at sister locations on Via Tazzoli and in Paris.
Sara Sozzani Maino, whose Vogue Italia projects put countless new labels on the map, now guides the foundation. In past public remarks she has condensed her approach to three tenets: talent, education, responsibility. That playbook is visible this week. The Mainframe pairs Francesco Casarotto’s sculpted masks with an AI-driven installation by FullScream Studio and a film by Ced Pakusevskij. Another project, Il Digiuno, curated by Riccardo Terzo, layers archival footage to examine beauty’s uneasy partnership with violence. Both events run with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana as partner.
Off the exhibition schedule, the foundation directs grants and mentoring through Camera Moda Fashion Trust. Recent beneficiaries, among them Francesco Murano and Moja Rowa, share a commitment to transparent supply chains and social progress. Financial support is only the start; access to editors, buyers and production advice follows.
Walk the building and its hybrid nature is clear. Concrete floors host a photo hang one hour, a pattern-cutting workshop the next. Students cross paths with critics while locals drift in, free of charge. The mood is informal but not improvised, built for work rather than show.
