Milan hosts Vogue World on the evening of 22 September — the fifth edition of the magazine's show and its first in Italy. Previous nights were staged in New York, London, Paris and Los Angeles; this one takes over the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, the 19th-century glass-roofed arcade between the Duomo and La Scala.

It begins at 8 p.m. local time, which is 2 p.m. on the US East Coast and 9 p.m. in Moscow. Watching costs nothing and needs no ticket: Vogue is streaming the evening globally on its Vogue World page.

The theme sets Italian craftsmanship against new technology — the organisers describe it as a dialogue between the hand and the machine. The evening is built as a series of thematic acts featuring Italian fashion houses, master artisans and invited performers. The guest list has deliberately not been published in full: the announcement promises unexpected appearances, and that is how earlier editions were run.

The show also raises money for the library in Quarto Oggiaro, a district in north-western Milan.

Vogue World opens Milan Fashion Week. The womenswear shows for spring-summer 2027 run from 22 to 28 September, with 60 shows on the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana calendar. Earlier the same day the CNMI Fashion Hub opens at Palazzo Morando from 2 p.m., with Prada first on its schedule. The headline names are spread across the week: 24 September brings Gucci under Demna, Max Mara, Marni and Emporio Armani; the weekend has Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta; Giorgio Armani closes on Sunday morning.

Vogue invented the format in 2022 for the magazine's 130th anniversary: the first night, in New York, mixed a runway show with a street fair and a fundraiser. It has moved city every year since, each edition built around a local theme — theatre in London, sport on the eve of the Olympics in Paris, cinema in Los Angeles.

The Milan venue is an argument in itself. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is not a museum but a working arcade full of shops and cafes, and it is where Mario Prada opened his leather-goods shop in 1913, the beginning of the house. For an evening about craftsmanship, it is hard to think of a better address.

We will cover the evening itself — the standout arrivals and the looks — separately.