MILAN — Amid an uncertain macroeconomic climate, trade show organizer White Milano is turning the focus away from traditional retail and on to the hospitality and resort market.
In Milan’s Tortona District, the business-to-business event firm last week unfurled “On the Beach, Powered by White Resort,” a new format targeting hospitality and resort retailers. The event debuted with 100 brands in the resortwear segment, emerging as a unique platform for fashion buyers and luxury hospitality operators.
Resort Focus
In an interview, Massimiliano Bizzi, president and cofounder of White Milano and its owner M.Seventy, said the plan is to poise “On the Beach” as an itinerant event in resort hot spots to target international hospitality operators. Market observers see the value of the worldwide luxury hospitality and resort market rising from $115 billion to more than $150 billion in 2026. Hospitality and resort retail teams continue to look for rare, artisanal and wanderlust fashions that stand out from mainstream fashion, Bizzi explained.
“They see us as a way to bring fashion to their guests. Big luxury brands feel too mass-market now because customers can find them everywhere, even in airports. Resort clients want more niche, exclusive products,” he told WWD.
Brenda Bellei, chief executive officer and cofounder of White Milano and M.Seventy, said the umbrella project will always be “Powered by White Resort,” but the firm’s idea is expand it to new terrains with On the Mountain, On the Desert or On the Lake themes.
Some destinations already being discussed include Northern Europe, Brazil, India, Porto Cervo in Sardinia and eventually Saudi Arabia‘s resort destinations when tensions in the region die down.
According to analysts, fashion’s future hinges in part on the hospitality boom currently underway. The recent “Future of Luxury Marketing” report by Deloitte said the future of luxury commerce is expected to unfold at the intersection of hospitality, retail and service. “The new retail is not a place — it’s a fluid experience that travels with the customer and markets through immersion,” the report said.
An Evolving Format
“On the Beach, Powered by White Resort” is an extension of White Resort, which was dedicated to resort ready-to-wear and accessories. It was originally envisaged as a bridge between Italian and international small and medium-sized fashion enterprises and buyers from buoyant markets in the Middle East and Asia. White Resort will return again at the Nhow Hotel in Milan, during the broader ready-to-wear fair White Milano Sept. 24 to 27.
The present and future of On the Beach has been bolstered by a collaboration with business-to-business events agency True, which specializes in communication, territorial marketing and the promotion of high-end tourism, as well as the collaboration with Allumeuse, an international communications and public relations company active in the lifestyle, hospitality, fashion, design and tourism sectors.
A selection of brands from Makeno, one of South America’s best-known concept stores based in Medellín.
New Brands, New Styles
Within the fair, newcomers debuted on the Italian fashion scene. They included 12 brands from Colombia, selected by Makeno, one of South America’s best-known concept stores based in Medellín, founded by Paola Betancur and Manuela Rubio. Elsewhere, Hat Couture, a Campania, Italy-based firm that specializes in durable, foldable embellished straw hats; L’Eight, a Bologna-based company that makes embroidered jewelry, and Gran Canaria Swim Week, the only European fashion week entirely dedicated to beachwear, put forth proposals for the summer wardrobe.
At a time when independent fashion retailers are trying to adapt to the shifting wholesale landscape and the days of e-tail dominance have given way to a renewed interest in the in-store experience, new retail experiences with an itinerant vision also emerged at White.
Chapters, a Milan-based retail experience defined by curated, thematic installments, took center stage with a selection of brands and fashions brought together under the aegis of the Vitaminic theme. Within the booth were pajamas by Olivia von Halle and vintage-inspired market bags by Markétt.
Chapters started as an online venture last June, and was envisaged by Federica Montelli, a former head of fashion for Italy’s luxury department store Rinascente. Shortly after launching online, she added temporary physical spaces. These included pop-ups at the Cala Maka beach club in Italy’s Apulia region and in resort destination Forte dei Marmi last summer, in addition to a monthlong unit inside Milan’s Fondazione Adolfo Pini last December for the Christmas holidays.
Chapters now has a permanent two-story flagship with floor-to-ceiling windows occupying a corner on Via Tommaso Grossi in central Milan, a stone’s throw from La Scala theater.
Montelli said that On the Beach helped her reach potential partners on an international level, which will allow Chapters to expand its vision further afield. “We nailed the recipe. What we know how to do is be bold in execution and curate this retail experience within White or a summer experience like we do in Forte dei Marmi, but we could also do this at a hotel in the Hamptons, Dubai or South America.”
Chapters, a Milan-based retail experience took center stage with a selection of brands and fashions brought together under the aegis of the theme Vitaminic.
Courtesy of White Milano
The Hospitality Point of View
After attending the business-to-business event, Belmond area retail manager for Italy, Spain and Portugal Antonio de Rosa said boutiques in hotels should offer a sense of place and a connection to the local territory.
“Shopping in hotel boutiques isn’t just a matter of necessity, it’s also a way of taking home a memento of the place and of the holiday,” he said, adding that sales within Belmond Hotels boutiques increased in 2025 versus 2024.
The fair also attracted Alexandra de Witt Montaudouin, a curator and retail consultant for Bulgari Hotels & Resorts. De Witt Montaudouin said the new format made it easy for her to discover newness for Bulgari Hotels & Resorts’ guests. “I had the opportunity to discover new techniques, creative approaches and different products. And that is exactly what we buyers are looking for: companies capable of offering something new and authentic.”
Hat Couture.
Courtesy of Hat Couture
Over the past decade, White Milano has had to adapt to a difficult macroeconomic climate brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, tariffs, an ongoing consumer spending slowdown and the U.S. conflict with Iran.
As a result, White Milano has also been actively pioneering new initiatives with the Middle East with high hopes placed on the region. In October 2025, the organization signed an agreement with the Saudi Fashion Commission for the opening of the permanent showroom space The Circle in Riyadh at Misk City.
