Fragrance house

Mila Schön

Mila Schön was founded in Milan in 1958 as an haute couture atelier by Maria Carmen Nutrizio, who worked under the name Mila Schön. The house made its international debut at Florence’s Pitti Palace in 1965 with a collection using double-faced fabric. Its established design language emphasized graphic purity, linearity, rigorous cutting and essential forms, alongside the continued use of double-faced fabrics developed in the 1960s. After its haute couture beginnings, the brand expanded into prêt-à-porter, accessories and perfumes. Ownership changed in 1993, when Japanese conglomerate Itochu took over the Mila Schön group; in 1999, Itochu sold the Italian part of the group to the Mariella Burani group. In 2007, Brand Extension took over the brand’s licensing contract from Mariella Burani, and Bianca Gervasio became creative director in February 2008 for a relaunch centered on recovering the house’s original identity. Mila Schön died on September 5, 2008, as the house marked its 50th anniversary with a documentary and retrospective. In 2019, Vogue reported a new Milan fashion-calendar phase under Gunn Johansson, whose Spring 2020 work drew on the archives and the house’s double-face fabrics.