Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (Camera Moda) lists the Autumn/Winter 2027/2028 women's edition, Milano Moda Donna, as running from 23 February to 1 March 2027. The full schedule of shows has not been published yet. The last edition, for Spring/Summer 2027, ran from 22 to 28 September 2026, and its calendar on the Camera Moda site gives a fair idea of how the February week will be laid out.

The city will be busy before the week begins. Milano Finanza reports that Milan hosts a Formula 1 week from 18 to 20 February 2027, with an evening event, F1 The Show, on 18 February. If you are planning to arrive early for castings, book your travel and somewhere to stay in good time.

Camera Moda's calendar sorts the week into fashion shows, presentations, appointments (listed as "on appointment") and events. Some shows are marked as live, the September edition also had a morning of digital shows, and many listings are by invitation only.

For a model, a show booking is rarely just the show. A diary of model Frida Aasen's day in Milan for Vogue Scandinavia moves from a fitting at Boss to hair and make-up for the Alberta Ferretti show, then on to evening events for Mytheresa and Moncler. Plan for long days that move between appointments across the city, and keep your phone charged so your booker can reach you.

Most show castings are closed: your agency puts you forward and sends you to the designers' castings. Model Vanizha Vasanthanathan, describing her Milan castings to Options, says her agency usually emails the day before, and you turn up any time in the working day, roughly 9am to 6pm. She prefers to arrive early.

Inside, she changes into the designer's clothes and shoes, hands over her comp card and walks back and forth, "maybe twice and that's it". "It can take all of 10 seconds," she says, but "you spend hours sometimes just waiting in line."

Open castings

Open castings are different. Anyone can attend them without an invitation or an agency. A report from Milan Fashion Week described hundreds of hopefuls queuing through the city's streets, at some castings for six to eight hours, for a few seconds in front of the casting team.

Treat open casting listings with care. Some are promotional, and one online listing for a Milan casting states that sending an enquiry does not confirm your place or guarantee you a spot on the runway. If you are unsure whether an appointment is genuine, ask your booker. The words "casting" and "go-see" are also used loosely: our go-see guide explains the difference, how castings work covers the rest, and the model's handbook decodes the other terms you will hear.

Pack a bag the night before and keep it the same all week.

• Comp cards You hand one over at each casting, so carry more than you think you need

• Your book Keep only your best and most recent pictures in it

• Recent digitals Have them on your phone, ready to show. Our guide to modelling digitals explains how to take them

• Plain, easy clothes You may be asked to change into the designer's clothes and shoes, so wear something simple that comes off quickly

• Water, a snack and a charger Queues can run for hours, and most venues will not have anything for you

• The day's addresses in one place Plan your route between castings so you are not working it out on the street

In 2006 Camera Moda and the mayor of Milan presented an ethical code of self-regulation for the city's catwalks. FashionUnited reported that it set 16 as the minimum age for models and took the World Health Organization's Body Mass Index of 18.5 as its benchmark, allowing for geographical and ethnic factors.

Some brand groups have their own rules. In September 2017 LVMH and Kering published a charter on working relations with models and their well-being. Under it:

• Minimum age Brands do not hire models under 16 for shows or shoots that represent an adult

• Night work Models aged 16 to 18 do not work between 10pm and 6am

• Sizes Women are presented at French size 34 or above and men at 44 or above

• Nudity for under-18s It needs the signed agreement of the model and their legal representative

In May 2019 Kering went further. It said its brands, including Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, would stop hiring models under 18 to represent adults from autumn 2020. If you are under 18, check with your agency which rules a client follows before you are put forward.

Since 1 January 2021, Italy has treated UK citizens as third-country nationals, according to the employment law network Ius Laboris. UK passport holders can stay in the Schengen area for up to 90 days in any rolling 180 days without a visa, but UK nationals generally need permission to work and stay in Italy, and work permits can take 60 days or more to come through.

Whether a particular booking needs a permit depends on the job, so raise it with your agency as soon as Milan is a possibility, not the week before you fly. The same goes for models from any other country outside the EU.