Fashion Disaster: Has the Sheen Gone from Milan Fashion Week?

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Between Anna Wintour's shortened visit wreaking havoc on the show schedule and the scandalous just-released unauthorized Versace tell-all, Milan Fashion Week's "struggling to maintain its immaculate image," writes the Guardian's Jess Cartner-Morley. Formerly a sartorial mecca of unparalleled quality and craftsmanship and an epicenter of unabashedly flash luxury consumption, Milan's seen a sharp downturn in fashion industry profits—the Camera della Moda recently released figures that show the most dramatic drop in sales in 20 years, with 2009 revenues 15 percent lower than previously.

With Versace set to slash 25 percent of its workforce, 50,000 total jobs on the chopping board industry-wide, Gianfranco Ferre's recent declaration of bankruptcy, and Roberto Cavalli reporting a 22 percent decline in revenues in 2009, it remains to be seen who will weather this Italian fashion storm.
· Milan fashion week weathers Wintour storm [Guardian]