MILAN

Milan Fashion Week continued Thursday under the shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the possible economic repercussions as the West moves toward tighter sanctions.

The head of the Italian fashion council said more than 1 billion euros worth of luxury exports to Russia could be at risk, even as Russian buyers return to Milan for the first time since the pandemic thanks to a deal brokered with the government to recognize the Sputnik V for business travelers.

“If things continue like this, there will be damage,” Carlo Capasa, president of the Italian National Fashion Chamber, told The Associated Press. “But it is not even the moment to think about the economic damage, but instead the damage that man does to himself.”

Even if the runways didn’t reflect it, the invasion was running in the background as the fashion world made their rounds, and the realization that once again, the world can change in a flash. It was exactly two years ago during the February fashion week previews that the first case in the West of locally transmitted virus was detected near Milan.

“We’re coming out of the pandemic. I don’t want to think about a European war. I think we have had enough,″ said Arianna Casadei, the third generation of a shoe-making family from Italy’s Emilia Romagna coast.