Can Milan’s Craziest Fashion Brand Grow Up?

One of the great mysteries of Milan, the city of Prada, Gucci, Armani and so many fashion Goliaths, is the scarcity of young brands. Sunnei, a self-declared outsider, is a star exception that has shown the Goliaths how to have fun in fashion with inventiveness and irony.

Surrounded by the midday senior crowd on the sunny patio of a tennis club in Milan, the label’s founders, Simone Rizzo, 36, and Loris Messina, 35, stood out with their fresh faces, in sneakers and the same oversize Sunnei T-shirts (one in white, the other in screaming acid green).

They hate to be called young or to hear Sunnei, marking its 10th anniversary this year, called a young brand. Yet in the fashion landscape of the city, they are still, comparatively, the kids in the room — albeit kids with a sharper grasp of what’s going on than many of the adults.

For years Sunnei was deemed an upstart, putting on concept shows for its committed fan base. Now, at 10, it is considered one of the hottest shows of Milan Fashion Week. With momentum, an important investment and some hard-won prudence, its founders are at a point where — as has historically been the case with many labels — they move to the next level or fizzle.

Sunnei liked to use their runway shows to disrupt social conventions. They often rope the audience into complicity at events. Last season, models walked down the catwalk while voice-overs of their supposed inner thoughts played for all to hear. At a different show, the audience was armed with scoring paddles, judging each look in real time.

Another collection presentation featured Sunnei staff members modeling and then crowd-surfing off the catwalk (unknowingly mirroring Telfar). The runway events are executed with a fraction of the funds that big brands invest, but are still reliably playful, sardonic and unforgettable.