This week includes the back half of London Fashion Week and the front half of Milan. It’s hard to single out just one show to focus on, and we’ll have plenty of coverage this week from our team, both of the clothes on the runway and the business stories behind them. In the meantime, here’s a quick breakdown of the financial stakes behind some of the most-anticipated shows:

Burberry

Daniel Lee’s Burberry debut is set for Monday, coming after months of anticipation and early signs of change, most recently a new logo that nodded to the British mega-brand’s heritage. Lee is under enormous pressure to deliver out of the gate – Burberry is counting on his designs to re-ignite growth and propel the label further upmarket. Critical to success will be an elevated catwalk outing, a fresh take on the Britishness that’s at the core of the brand’s DNA, and a re-energised leather goods offering, where Lee has a strong track record.

Moncler

The Italian skiwear label’s “Genius” strategy is back after taking last year off, but the strategy is different this time around. While top-selling collaborations with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s Fragment and Francesco Ragazzi’s Palm Angels are back, fashion insider favourites like Craig Green and Simone Rocha have been replaced by more mainstream collaborators like Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Alicia Keys and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation in a bid to broaden the initiative’s reach.

OTB’s Diesel/MM6 Maison Margiela/Jil Sander

Renzo Rosso’s OTB has three brands showing in Milan this week. The group reported last week that net sales grew by 12 percent in 2022, on the strength of its luxury brands (which also include Marni), where Rosso has succeeded in installing some of the industry’s best creative talent. Flagship Diesel appears to still be a work in progress — but OTB noted that the brand has new visibility under creative director Glenn Martens, and that certain items were selling well, including the 1DR bag. The brand’s belt-skirt has taken the internet by storm. But it will take time to translate all the newfound hype around the brand into sales. Group CEO Rosso also reaffirmed last week he’s still looking to add at least one more brand to his portfolio.

Prada

Prada could make a case for having had the best year of any big luxury brand in 2022 (we’ll know just how good when the group reports annual results in a couple weeks; it expects to top its all-time 2013 peak with north of €4 billion in sales). Between Prada and Miu Miu, the group set trends and logged sharply higher sales. New CEO Andrea Guerra, announced in December, helped put to rest concerns about succession planning.

Gucci

Expectations are low for the second of four Gucci shows in the interregnum between creative directors Alessandro Michele and Sabato De Sarno. A menswear collection in January was politely described as “low key” and less-politely as “possibly purposefully banal.” Surely the brand will have something up its sleeve to make the presentation of its main women’s collection more of a splash, but we’ll have to wait until Thursday to see. On the bright side, China’s rapid post-Covid reopening bodes well for the brand, which was hit harder than most by “Zero Covid” and the recent wave of infections.

Bottega Veneta, meanwhile, is on a hot streak under Matthieu Blazy, both creatively and commercially. Comparable sales grew 11 percent last year, welcome news for Kering amid the turmoil at Gucci and Balenciaga.

Ferragamo/Missoni/Bally/Etro

Each brand in this group has one thing in common: at some point in the last year, they installed a new creative director (and in Ferragamo’s case, a new CEO and a new logo as well). All four are hoping buzzier collections will form the core of their turnaround plans. In some cases they’re quite ambitious – former Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti has promised to double Ferragamo’s sales within five years.

What Else to Watch for This Week

Sunday

London Fashion Week: JW Anderson, Erdem, Christopher Kane, Nensi Dojaka, S.S. Daley

Monday

London Fashion Week: Daniel Lee’s Burberry debut, Moncler Genius

Tuesday

Moda trade fair begins in New York

Wednesday

Milan Fashion Week: Diesel, Fendi, Etro

T.J. Maxx reports quarterly results

Thursday

EssilorLuxottica, Farfetch, Mytheresa and Revolve report results

Milan Fashion Week: Max Mara, Prada, MM6 Maison Margiela, Emporio Armani, Moschino

Eurozone reports January inflation data

Friday

Milan Fashion Week: Tod’s, Gucci, Jil Sander

Saturday

Milan Fashion Week: Ferrari, Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana, Bally, Missoni, Bottega Veneta

The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to brian.baskin@businessoffashion.com.