New Gucci designer debuts as Milan celebrates youth

Fashion is always about renewal, but in this round of Milan Fashion Week it's not just the collections that are getting a fresher-upper, it seems much of the Italian fashion system is.

Gucci's new designer Alessandro Michele, a brand insider little known until now in the wider fashion world, made his runway debut on the first day of womenswear previews on Wednesday, giving the historic brand a clean break from the past.

Michele's launch is a fitting banner over a push to embed new talent in Milan, where the density of the firmly established Italian system, with brands from Armani to Prada to Versace creating a de-facto Italian colony along New York's Fifth Avenue, has made it difficult for young designers to make inroads.