MILAN – It was a night of fun, fashion and networking Friday during Milan Fashion Week, as WWD celebrated the kickoff of the menswear showcase with a cocktail reception at 10 Corso Como, which sponsored the evening.

Industry players including Rosario Toscano, chief executive officer of Akoni; Canali’s CEO Stefano Canali; Etro’s CEO Fabrizio Cardinali; Spring Studios president GianMario Motta; Santoni CEO Giuseppe Santoni, and Harmont & Blaine president Riccardo Bruno, among others, enjoyed glasses of Franciacorta wine and canapés in the garden of the famed Milanese retail institution. The event, cohosted by Fairchild Media Group’s chief content officer James Fallon and Milan bureau chief Luisa Zargani, was also sponsored by Akoni eyewear, Spring Studios and Harmont & Blaine.

Despite the heat in Milan on the eve of the first day of summer, the event offered a moment for industry figures to socialize and catch up. Talk ranged from summer vacation plans to, naturally, business conditions.

Camera Nazionale della Moda president Carlo Capasa stopped by before heading to the last show of the day, PDF, while Corneliani’s CEO Giorgio Brandazza and Kiton’s CEO Antonio De Matteis and Maria Giovanna Paone, chairwoman and co-CEO of Kiton’s parent Ciro Paone, joined the night after wrapping up preparations for their respective brands’ collection presentations, both planned for Saturday.

Promoting the cross-pollination between industries, Artemest’s CEO Marco Credendino and Frette’s CEO Filippo Arnaboldi mingled with Caruso’s CEO Marco Angeloni, Gianluca Borghi, CEO of 10 Corso Como, and Andrea Rosso, sustainability ambassador for the OTB group, accompanied by his partner Fabiola Di Virgilio, with whom he has created indie home brand RedDuo.

Invited to tour the 10 Corso Como retail and exhibition space, many guests indulged in the photo-ops provided by the Gentle Monster’s boutique inside the concept store or the Guido Guidi photography exhibit in the gallery space upstairs.

The cocktail reception was followed by an intimate dinner as part of WWD’s Global Impact Council, a network of fashion, retail, beauty, luxury, design and technology leaders coming together several times a year to shape, in conversation with one another, the future of their industries. Tiziana Fausti, owner of 10 Corso Como, welcomed guests with brief remarks. This was the second such event in Milan after several previous dinners in New York and one earlier this month in London in association with the Saudi Fashion Commission to launch WWD’s first Culture Club of people driving the city’s culture today.