Loris & Simone Leave Sunnei With Statement Show
Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo, the creative minds behind Sunnei, have announced their departure from the Milan-based label they founded in 2014. The news came just hours after the duo staged an unconventional, theatrical presentation during Milan Fashion Week — one that turned heads not for its fashion, but for its conceptual punch.
In lieu of a traditional runway show, guests arrived to find themselves seated in what resembled an auction house. Christie’s branding adorned a grand wooden lectern at center stage, where an announcer declared that this was “not a fashion show, but an urgent act.” Attendees were handed mock catalogues listing two mysterious lots for bidding. Models flanked the room behind balustrades, posing as phone-wielding bidders.
Lot One: the Sunnei brand itself, framed as a “testament to Made in Italy.” Bidding opened at 6 million “fashion dollars” and closed at 112 million. Lot Two: the designers — Messina perched atop Rizzo’s shoulders — presented in a giant crate with a starting bid of 17 fashion dollars, eventually selling for 95 million. The entire performance was a hyperbolic, satirical commentary on the commodification of creativity in fashion.
Two hours later, a brief statement confirmed the rumors: Messina and Rizzo are stepping away. “After ten years, we feel an urgent need to change form, but not direction. We will continue to work in the realm of creativity, with even greater freedom, radicalism and a desire to experiment.”
The performance was, fittingly, a final act of rebellion. “Fashion is finance, creativity is for sale,” the designers wrote in a conceptual addendum. “This performance is not a direct critique, but a hyperbolic theatrical metaphor… where desire itself is called into question.”
Throughout their decade-long run, the duo transformed Sunnei into a cult favorite known for offbeat presentations and a bold, graphic aesthetic. They staged shows beneath Milan’s ring road, in empty swimming pools, and with models sprinting into the audience. From casting only senior models for their tenth anniversary to inviting viewers to rate collections in real time, Messina and Rizzo continually reimagined what a fashion show could be.
Their parting statement, much like their final show, leaves no room for ambiguity: this is both an ending and a provocation — a farewell as irreverent as it is intentional.