MSGM’s Midsummer Night’s Dream
Kicking off the first day of Milan’s Digital Fashion Week was Massimo Giorgetti’s MSGM, with a film celebrating the new Milanese generation of young creatives, as well as the joy of life post-lockdown. Inspired by writer Isabella Santacroce’s book Fluo: Storie di Giovani a Riccione (“Fluo: Stories of Young People in Riccione”) – who also happens to be from Riccione just like Giorgetti – the designer wanted to celebrate the joy and genuineness of falling in love during summers spent at the beach casually hanging out with your friends. Film Director Luca Finotti directed the video, shot in a variety of Milanese locations.
“I wanted the spirit of this project to be pure and refreshing as a glass of cold water in a hot summer day,” said MSGM creative director Massimo Giorgetti. “I think it’s all about freshness, lightness, love and optimism.”
Showing quintessential pieces of the MSGM men’s spring 2021 and women’s resort 2021 collections, the short movie conveyed a message of inclusivity also thanks to the diverse cast, which happened to include names such as fashion designer Naomi Oke, synchronised swimming champion Camilla Vettore, model Matteo Tagliabue.
MAGLIANO’s Identity Pastiche
Magliano always loves to play with a little bit of darkness – and while last season the Italian wunderkind presented us his provincial zombies, this season Magliano decided to guide us through a hallucinatory trip through the 1980s, an epic alchemic identity pastiche in the form of a film.
Filmed by Tommaso Ottomano, the video featured a series of models standing on a ‘ futuristic carillon’, posing and acting for the camera. Narrated by writer Isabella Santacroce, the video poetically recounted the stories of a series of ‘mythological’ characters Magliano drew inspiration from – The Latin Lover, A Narcissistic Pirate, The ‘Freakettone,’ The ‘Frocialista,’ ‘PPP,’ Two Ravers, the Mediterranean Gothic, The ‘Cruiser,’ The Elegant One, Two ‘Acid Ones’.
The collection included a play on his classic silhouettes: high-waisted tailored trousers, 70s collars on linen shirts, oversized doble-faz jackets and his square-toed leather shoes and sandals. This time around, the palette included bolder neons, fluo greens, yellows and pinks as well as his traditional palette of neutrals – greys, browns and blacks.
Overall – it was a poetic play on his standards, a continuation of his house’s traditional language.
Massimo Alba Poetic Craft
You’ll always find Massimo Alba when you need him. His relaxed contemporary classics are the eternally trustworthy items that could be defined as ‘understated luxury.’
The designer isn’t particularly known for experimentation or overturning his style from season to season, however, he has built himself a name for his excellent craftsmanship and mastery of Made-in-Italy techniques. This season, the designer experimented with two different ‘elemental’ techniques, employing watercolour dyes on t-shirts and summer corduroy and air-dyes on his soft, lightweight cachemire. Alba’s poetic spirit came through a series of embroidered phrases on t-shirts, light knits and terry-cloths bomber jackets.
Soft and light, the collection was airy and summery, to say the least.
PLAN C’s Nature Street View
When during the pandemic, everything closed down designer Carolina Castiglioni escaped to her family house in Engadin. Surrounded by nature, the designer was able to finally experience the beauty of nature and life at a slower pace. This rather blissful spirit is what she tried to communicate through her video for Plan C, this Spring Summer 2021 season.
Directed by Luca De Santis, the film is set in Engadin, near Celerina, and is inspired by the visual language of Google Street View - filmed using 360° view creating a sort of maps of the locations.
This optimistic take was also reflected in the clothes she presented, choosing to present patchworked prints of the landscapes of Engadina as well as of striped shirts. Bold spring-like colours such as greens, teals and cherry reds stole the show, while flower prints and stripe-like patterns were instead used to highlight geometric cuts and her usual boxy, oversized silhouettes. Her son’s drawings were featured on straw beach bags and canvas bags.
