More than any other fashion capital, Milan is defined by architecture. From Rem Koolhaas’s Fondazione Prada and Tadao Ando’s Armani/Silos to the converted Art Deco movie palace Metropol Dolce&Gabbana, the biggest Italian fashion houses frequently have grand show spaces to call their own. Elisabetta Franchi, the Bologna-born fashion entrepreneur who launched her eponymous brand in 2012, is a more recent entrant into the luxury space. Yet the scale of her ambition is reflected in her brand’s new home, Palazzo Acerbi, a 17th-century Lombard Baroque palace with a fresco-lined triple-height central staircase, known locally as the Devil’s House, and once the site of Valentino and Krizia’s showrooms in the 1980s and ’90s.
In Milan’s social swirl, Franchi’s slinky cocktail dresses with strategic cutouts have become something of a party uniform, carrying the same carefree energy that once animated Ludovico Acerbi’s lavish gatherings during the 1629–1631 Italian Plague. Legend has it that none of his guests fell ill, earning the house its occult sobriquet. For fall 2026, Franchi drew on a later, uncanny chapter of the palazzo’s history. During the 1848 First Italian War of Independence, a cannonball struck the facade and remained lodged there, a dramatic detail that she translated into a darkly theatrical, witchy-Victorian mood. Eveningwear offered new temptations: bustier dresses with exaggerated hip-to-waist ratios that looked inflated with petticoats.
The 19th century’s sculpted, corseted silhouette was a prominent motif. Bodices rose from wool coats and structured jackets, while wide glossy vinyl belts cinched waists. Accessories were standouts, especially pointy pumps and over-the-knee boots laced like stays, as well as sleek black cat-eye sunglasses. The mood wasn’t all heavy, however. Ruffled and flounced blouses, along with tiered maxiskirts, caught the breeze as models walked. Feathers were another recurrent theme, from delicate strands suspended from the ceiling and scattered across the seats to tufted mini-crinis and glinting golden brooches and buckle accents. “The devil before was an angel,” Franchi said.
