Given that the last four owners of the brand since the founding family first sold it in 2008 have all been foreign, it is notable that the Ministry for Made in Italy decided to entrust this latest jewel in the crown of high-end Italian lingerie to Mr and Mrs Kern, rather than to Sandro Veronesi. 

Right up until the 1990s, a particular fabric was the key element of a collection. The choice of one fabric over another represented an aesthetic manifesto or, as we say now – unfortunately, sometimes to describe nothing at all – a ‘statement’. Today, however, it is fragmentation that dominates fashion, in both forms and materials

Having grown a little tired of seeing newcomers come and go from the calendars depending on the economic climate, we spoke to two major players in the market who genuinely support them, Fulvia Bacchi and Alessandro Dantone, and three up-and-coming figures with a large following – Simone Botte, Flora Rabitti and Angelo Cruciani – asking them three direct questions about markets, communities, necessary (and unnecessary) compromises, and the challenge posed by the algorithm 

The illustrator’s Instagram account, where she recreates the most photographed outfits of the moment using everyday materials, is approaching one million followers, and fashion designers are queuing up to comment on her imitations made from lemon nets and toilet paper