SSHEENA isn’t a conventional brand as per Milanese standards, so it’s no surprise that their creations are presented in a way that sets them apart from their counterparts in the Italian capital of style. Opting outside of the traditional runway format, SSHEENA presented Extinct Animals, their S/S 26 collection, with a party for industry professionals and friends of the brand at their store in Corso Giovanni Bertacchi, on June 22nd 2025 during Milano Fashion Week.
The location of SSHEENA’s store in a repurposed warehouse is somewhat hard to reach. You have to go through a series of hallways that go across typical Italian residential buildings, until you find yourself in a sunny backyard and you can see the warehouse. The space was curated with an unmatched sense of coolness, both literally and figuratively: natural and artificial bouquets of flowers, a feeling of freshness due to the air conditioning that was very much appreciated during the height of Mediterranean summer and an excellent selection of male and female models that wore Extinct Animals while they wandered around freely and posed for photographers.
Presentation of Extinct Animals S/S 26 at SSHEENA’s showroom in Milano, Italy. Images: William Aparissio (@aparissiophoto on Instagram)
The collection featured an abundance of tones in their muted versions: soft violet, sky blue, baby pink, pistacchio green, grey and white, with a preference for the use of intervened denim. The main motif throughout the entire collection were dinosaurs printed on multiple pieces like dresses, shirts, jackets and skirts. Accessories were kept at a minimum, rather complementing the outfits with black splashes of makeup and black, mid-heeled boots that kept the collection within the realms of what is attractive to a broader audience, cool and something you’ll want to purchase, wear for years to come and brag about to your friends.
Presentation of Extinct Animals S/S 26 at SSHEENA’s showroom in Milano, Italy. Images: William Aparissio (@aparissiophoto on Instagram)
For Sabrina Mandelli, founder and creative director of this fiercely independent brand, there were two main sources of inspiration for this presentation. In a conversation with The Vanilla Issue about Extinct Animals, Sabrina explained that: “It means how I feel as an independent designer. We try to recreate it here in our headquarters because here is where we create, where we have our showroom and we also have our atelier here. For me, it’s so important that people can feel and breathe what we work on everyday. That’s why I feel I am an extinct animal in a way.”
Presentation of Extinct Animals S/S 26 at SSHEENA’s showroom in Milano, Italy. Images: William Aparissio (@aparissiophoto on Instagram)
Dorothy Garrod, the first woman who became a professor of archaeology at Cambridge, played a crucial role in inspiring this collection. While being a pioneer in her field, both in regards to her contributions to this discipline and in regards to being a woman in a largely male-dominated field, her legacy tends to stay overlooked. Extinct Animals is a way of reclaiming Dorothy’s role in this discipline and bringing her to light in front of contemporary audiences who might never heard of her before.
Presentation of Extinct Animals S/S 26 at SSHEENA’s showroom in Milano, Italy. Images: William Aparissio (@aparissiophoto on Instagram)
The other creator that inspired this collection was Sabrina’s son. As it happens a lot with 4 year olds, he is passionate about dinosaurs, and his sketches about them became the foundation over which Extinct Animals was built upon. “Basically, all the collection started with the sketches of my son. A dinosaur is an extinct animal, so we started with this sort of childish drawing and then we create the concept around it. All the garments are genderless, made for an explorer regardless of if it’s a man or a woman.”
Presentation of Extinct Animals S/S 26 at SSHEENA’s showroom in Milano, Italy. Images: William Aparissio (@aparissiophoto on Instagram)
This persona is closely tied with the ethos and history of SSHEENA as an independent fashion brand. Its name comes from the fusion between the creative director’s name and The Ramones’ legendary song Sheena is a Punk Rocker, which in Sabrina’s own words: “It’s the most independent and feminist song ever. I don’t want to call my brand with my name, I prefer to create an imaginary character between a man and a woman.”
Following this idea of absolute freedom, and as a statement that encompasses everything that SSHEENA is about, Sabrina describes her ideal customer as someone who has liberated themselves from all societal constructs and stereotypes. “A man or woman who is completely free to do and say whatever they want. Freedom is the most important, so I hope that when you wear our clothes you will be that person.”
