As polls point to Giorgia Meloni's post-fascist Fratelli d'Italia party and predict strong abstention, Valentino's creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli, Donatella Versace and influencer Chiara Ferragni have spoken out on social media to call on their subscribers to go to the polls.

"Go vote, these elections are very important for our country! On September 25, vote to protect the acquired rights, thinking of progress and looking to the future", urged on Instagram Donatella Versace, whose house parades this Friday in Milano.

Pierpaolo Piccioli, presenting himself as "a man of the left", also invited young people to vote.

“To think that there are people, human beings who right now can fear, be afraid, of the consequences of these elections makes me mad with rage,” he said.

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"I hope that all young people aged 18 and over will vote on September 25, because we must not back down an inch on acquired rights", he said in the face of Ms. Meloni's reactionary program on the societal issues.

"Yes to natural families, no to the LGBT lobby! Yes to sexual identity, no to gender ideology! Yes to the culture of life, no to the abyss of death!"

she said in June.

Chiara Ferragni invited her millions of followers on Instagram and Tiktok to defend "the right of women to abortion, the right of LGBT people not to be beaten, insulted, discriminated against, the right of those who suffer to decide their own life, that of a child to feel that he belongs to this country even if he is the son of foreigners".

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The businesswoman speaks in particular to all those who "do not feel represented" and to the "disappointed": "It is up to us to choose whether to protect and extend these rights or to abandon them in the hands of of those who want to hinder them".

"Not voting is only delegating to others what it is up to us to decide," she concludes.

"Front against the far right"

Fashion houses have also mobilized to allow those who work around Milan fashion shows to vote on Sunday.

"The house has completely reorganized the work to allow us to go home to vote," said Giacomo, who works in Gucci's style office in Rome but is in Milan for fashion week like the rest of the designers. teams.

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"We anticipated a lot of things to finish on Saturday, on our knees but reassured to be able to vote. Some of us go back to Milan on Sunday evening or Monday to continue the work after the show and everything is taken care of. by Gucci", he rejoices.

In the end, between designers, stylists, production managers but also product and marketing teams, 80% of the staff of the houses are mobilized for the Milan showrooms before the show but also after for the entire marketing phase of the collection.

Habits have been changed to allow everyone to return to their place of residence, as proxy voting is not authorized in Italy.

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The challenge is all the more important as the participation rate could drop below 70%, a historically low level for the peninsula.

"Some of us have to go and vote in Puglia, Sicily, Sardinia! It is also unthinkable that in 2022, with all the technological means at our disposal, we still have to travel to vote", s annoys Roberto Strino, 39, employee at Giorgio Armani.

"I will do it, because these elections are very important and we have to stand up against the far right," he added immediately.

“We have decided to close the Fendi showroom all day on Sunday,” announced Serge Brunschwig, CEO of Fendi, on the sidelines of the Roman house parade.

"We are paying for the travel of our Italian teams so that they can go to their polling stations and return to Milan on Monday or Tuesday".

© 2022 AFP