Milan Fashion Week: From Italy to Poughkeepsie
Kelsey Kuefner '26 and Carlie Taylor '26 in front of the Francesca Liberatore Model Casting building. Photo by Kelsey Kuefner '26 and Carlie Taylor '26
Whether they are analyzing WGSN images from the comfort of their homes or working backstage at a runway show, Marist Fashion students and professors are sure to be immersed in significant industry events like Milan Fashion Week 2025.
“Milan has a unique positioning between old and new. It's a city where you can find both ancient architecture and the latest looks on the runway for Milan Fashion Week,” said Marist University Fashion Professor Eliza Kapitan.
Kapitan describes Milan as a city that “offers a fantastic mix of art, finance and fashion.” Along with New York, London and Paris, Italy’s Fashion capital has been included in the big four fashion weeks since 1958.
An article by British Vogue explains how Milan’s growth in the industry was largely due to its manufacturing links, the popularity of ready-to-wear collections, the prominence of Italian fashion in film, such as 1960s La Dolce Vita and more affordable luxury products.
Fashion Merchandising students like Kelsey Kuefner ‘26 and Carlie Taylor ‘26 took full advantage of the opportunities Marist has to offer by applying for an internship experience provided by the Marist Italy program.
In fact, the brand they interned for, Francesca Libertore, works closely with Marist. The designer herself even attended the Silver Needle Runway last May.
“A few of our friends have done it in the past, but I didn't really know much about it going into it,” said Kuefner.
Nevertheless, the interns hit the ground running in mid-week chaos.
Taylor said, “They were in the middle of doing the model fittings. At first, we just kind of watched as we were getting a lay of the land, and then eventually we were specifically helping with different accessories.”
They worked on everything from model fittings to organizing headphones with outfits for the brand’s collaboration with Sony.
“It was a mix of everything,” Kuefner said. “We were more or less added to a larger team of people to kind of just see where we’re needed. There are so many moving pieces that go into runway productions.”
However, their roles on the day of the show were a bit different.
“I was more of a backstage person, so I was hoping to coordinate where the model should be, who's dressing them, make sure they're wearing the right stuff and then get them into the lineup,” Kuefner explained.
She also acknowledges how beneficial this experience was for her future career in styling.
“It’s really good to have just hands-on experience for dressing the models and transporting the clothes, taking care of the clothes,” Taylor added.
Taylor took on a more PR and press-related role, spending more time in the front of the house, helping guests to their seats and dealing with photographers.
“I'm really happy I was able to do the PR and see all the photographers and all the press that they were letting in before and see how those interactions were going downstairs before the show started,” said Taylor.
She even volunteered to get her hair done for a trial.
“It was a really interesting experience. My hair was kind of destroyed. There was a lot of hairspray,” she said with a laugh.
Surprisingly, this crunchy hairstyle taught her about the show’s inspiration.
“ The models are almost distracted and in their own little world, not thinking about what's going on in the outside world,” Taylor said. “The hair was the little blinders that horses wear on their eyes.”
Aside from Francesca Libertore, staying in Milan led them to yet another runway.
Kuefner said, “We were getting breakfast, and there was a bunch of press outside. We were like, ‘What is going on here?’ But then I looked it up and there was a show literally right next door.”
They only viewed two shows in person, but as the fashion students they are, Taylor and Kuefner’s curiosity got the best of them as they logged onto the global trend forecasting website WGSN and took note of the trends they saw.
“The Autumn/Winter for ‘26 is going into darker colors and muted, berry tones,” said Taylor.
Kuefner added, “Overall, this season in fashion was definitely interesting, because there are so many new creative directors in different brands. So, it's kind of been like musical chairs within fashion brands right now.”
Six hours behind, back in Poughkeepsie, Kapitan also logged onto WGSN.
As a trend forecasting professor, Kapitan analyzed Milan’s collections and identified a common theme of “Free Flow,” the “flowy silhouettes and open-work of lace and crochet.”
She backed up her claim by pointing out textures like fringe, feathers and basketweave. In addition, the professor noted, “The sheer trend was present, and we saw reimagining of menswear for women.”
Between miscellaneous intern tasks, Kuefner and Taylor saw a glimpse into the future of the fashion industry. In true Milan nature, the girls describe a potential emphasis on ready-to-wear styles.
“Because of the political state of the world right now, fashion might not seem the most important thing to everyone. The flashy luxury world of fashion is never going to die down, but not everyone can cater to that right now, so they're going to have to adapt to what everyone else wants,” Kuefner said.
Not only did they witness new directions in terms of the actual garments, but they saw what a future of kindness and respect might look like in an industry of such chaos.
Taylor described Francesca Libertore’s team as “super nice and really respectful with everyone on the team, which is a rare find in the fashion industry.”
“Everyone involved placed a lot of importance on people's comfort. That was definitely eye-opening to see that you can actually be nice to people. It is possible,” Kuefner added.
Milan Fashion Week has given these students insight, experience and a story to inspire future abroad students.
“This internship was honestly the perfect experience for getting a smaller side of things and seeing how it works in different ways in different countries,” said Taylor. “It was a really cool experience that you don't really get to see often.”