di Jordan Bowen e Luca Marchetto

JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 2022

ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS BY DAVID DICKENS, NICHOLAS NEIGER, CHRIS THOMPSON COPY EDITOR: PIER ANDREA CANEI

EDITORIAL - pag 17

A Message to everyone

BY ALESSANDRO CALASCIBETTA

The late Virgil Abloh achieved a perfect synthesis between fashion and contemporaneity with his last two Louis Vuitton collections; Alessandro Michele has found an ongoing equilibrium through the introduction of the semiformal in Gucci Man; every season Sarah Burton takes a reassuring sartorial approach to menswear by Alexander McQueen, and Pierpaolo Piccioli is working on the dreamlike aesthetic of the Valentino to render it more commercial, and Jonathan Anderson is engaged in a search to reinvent volumes with Loewe and JW Anderson – and now, among the successful fashion designers who have made a name for themselves in the second millennium, Kim Jones is the first to promote a new concept in men’s fashion. He does so with a crisp cut, restating values that until recently seeemed to have fallen out of favour, taking a step backwards to re-evaluate a concept of menswear we had forgotten. With the Dior Men Fall 2022 collection presented in London last December, Jones left behind the immateriality and somewhat directionless search for identity to reveal – unexpectedly, it could be said with some justification – a sense of practicality and precision, introducing wearable clothing. Attractive and wearable.

I used the word “clothing” because that’s what it’s all about – an industry whose primary function is to make and sell garments that exist to dress the wearer. If there’s also a healthy dose of creativity to transform the garment or accessory into an object of charm and fascination, something beautiful and desirable that can communicate messages, it might be called fashion.

Yet, fhe future of fashion is, at least in part, already in the hands of an emerging cohort of talented individuals who accuse the media that count of ignoring them. In our defence it might be argued that they in turn look down at the doyens of the press as if to say “Still around, that one?” It’s not entirely clear if this snobbery is down to them or those PR people thinking they’re bigger stars than the designers, but that’s another conversation.

In this issue we talk about some young fashion designers. Some collections burn with passionate intensity while others are still dominated by a sense of uncertainty. It’s for you readers to decide, because among you are many potential clients of those youthful outfits. Like art, fashion is the most immediate medium of communication because the message reaches all, and the job of the fashion creator is one of the most fascinating I know – still, survival depends on goods leaving the shelves. That’s why when designers work on their collections they should stop for a minute and consider a very simple truth – when we look in the mirror we choose the clothes that make us look good, and put the unflattering ones back on the rail.

LIFESTYLE - pag 23

Trani’s house of clothes: an eclectic palazzo

BY FIORENZA BARIATTI

In the centre of Trani (BT), where the road leads down to the port passing between aristocratic palazzos and white stone architecture, a late 19th century mansion (pictured) is home

Trani’s palazzo Pugliese

to more than 200 brands. Classical luxury sits alongside meticulously selected items handpicked by Giuseppe Nugnes, the third generation proprietor of the Nugnes 1920 boutique, and by art director Carlo Cellamare. Palazzo Pugliese is many things: a journey into different worlds (the bespoke, the minimalist globetrotter and women’s fashion), a store spanning a thousand square metres, a lounge for the community that has developed over time, a club for those from the surrounding areas in Bari and Barletta who come to see (and buy). And also for those who come to admire the great 1960s chandelier, tread the unevenly textured wrought concrete floor reminiscent of an olive oil mill, wander past the light panels on the walls with some ultra-contemporary touches or wonder at the items on display in two monolithic elements made of copper, a material typical of the region’s domestic tradition.

LIFESTYLE - pag 24

Belgium’s top fashion museum is reborn

BY LUCA ROSCINI

“Ceci n’est pas la mode belge”: indeed, it is international. Antwerp’s MoMu fashion museum, northern Europe’s largest exhibition space, has experienced a renaissance. After closing for renovation, its 2,000 square-metre spaces include an auditorium with extending stage and new display systems for a collection that comprises over 35,000 pieces. The garments are by Belgian designers, including, of course, the so-called “Antwerp Six” as well as international names like Martin Margiela, Raf Simons, Helmut Lang, Yohji Yamamoto, Bernhard Willhelm, A.F. Vandervost and Olivier Theyskens. The reopening is rounded off by a series of events concluding in late January to promote fashion culture in Antwerp. “The city must breathe fashion”, says Culture Minister Nabilla Ait Daoud, “But also use it as an opportunity for introspection”.

As featured in The Men’s fashion book: Stephen Jones’ Fox hat for Thom Browne (1991)

BOOKS - pag 27

Menswear past and present

Two hundred years of fashion in “The Men’s Fashion Book”.

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

From A to Z and more: subcultures, deviations, descriptions, influences and citations. It is not just a matter of chance that male fashion is in the spotlight while culture at large is questioning the slide of the patriarchy, and the toxic masculinity it has generated, while investigating the concept of genderlessness and the shared wardrobe. This is probably one of the reasons behind the need to bring together a range of notions, information and stories in encyclopaedic form. Doing just that is The Men’s Fashion Book (it might be more fitting to call it a tome) published by Phaidon with it 528 pages expressing 500 voices including designers (126), brands (96), personalities, retailers, models (13), stylists, photographers (35), graphic designers and many other figures who have played an important role in the last 200 years of men’s fashion. Faithful to the encyclopaedia structure, the information is organized into a logical and organic system. The volume, written and curated by Jacob Gallagher with contributions from the publisher, proceeds in alphabetical order bringing together images and texts, including names like Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein, Rei Kawakubo but also renowned tailors and “unofficial” personalities such as Dapper Dan. Alongside mods, punks and rockers, tailoring and industry, fabrics, innovation and technology, there is also space for David Bowie and his capacity for stylistic mimicry.

The highly didactic, and very detailed, chronology makes it easy to observe the development of a sector that, over two centuries, has passed from tailoring to design and industry without ever losing the connotation of a code necessary to preserve male dominance in society. This can be seen also when the book analyses street style that, as occurred with sartorial fashion, continues to be a story of values that are predominantly male. At least until personalities like Harry Styles, who has his own dedicated section, burst onto the scene with an ability to represent themselves with clothes that have been stripped of their gender connotations.

BOOKS/2 - pag 28

Once upon a time, Louis

It reads like Balzac but it’s the original Vuitton: a story of the man behind the global brand.

BY PAOLO BELTRAMIN

The epic story of the fashion house that created the first global luxury multinational, LVMH (with its €5.3 billion in net profits in the first half of 2021), began in France in 1837 when a 13-year-old boy, the third of five children of a simple farmer, ran away from home and the stepmother that mistreated him and into the forest near the village of Anchay in Bourgogne. He never looked back. When the young Louis Vuitton arrived in Paris, the book of the moment was The Lily of the Valley by Honoré de Balzac, the protagonist of which seemed to be eerily similar to the young Louis. Caroline Bongrand’s biographical novel, Louis Vuitton, l’audacieux, published by Gallimard, boasts a wealth of detail and the compelling style of a prolific author capable of keeping readers

awake just like a good cup of coffee (the man himself was rumoured to have drunk about 50 a day). As a result, the book reads like a previously unreleased appendix to Balzac’s Human Comedy. What better compliment to pay a book (and a life) than to say it encapsulates the very soul of France?

It is impossible to spoil a tale that has a twist in every chapter, and there are 62 of them. Just to think that this impoverished boy became an apprentice, the apprentice developed into a talented businessperson and finally a revered maestro. Among those he encountered on his journey are Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III (“le Petit”), the famed Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione, cousin of the Count of Cavour, “Queen of Hearts” and femme fatale, but also the scientist Louis Pasteur (the importance of vaccines was clear even then) and oil baron John Davison Rockefeller as well as the sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. One fine morning, in fact, Bartholdi entered the shop on Rue Scribe and asked the aging Louis, who was about to hand over the reins of the business to his son Georges, to make a large bespoke trunk in which to transport his latest work to New York. The work in question was a model of a woman dressed in a toga and holding up a flaming torch in her right hand. Anything come to mind? Read it to believe it.

ART SHOW - pag 30

Gender and sexuality in the boutique

How Biba and Quorum turned into incubators for social change.

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

In 1966 Zandra Rhodes opened her London boutique, The Fulham Road Clothes Shop. She then became a fashion designer, earning the title “Princess of Punk”. She eventually became a Dame, and in 2003 she founded the Fashion and Textile Museum. Until 13 March it is the venue for Beautiful People: the Boutique in 1960s Counterculture, an exhibition showcasing the culture that nurtured the museum’s founder. In the mid-1960s a handful of boutiques in London’s Chelsea district, including Biba, Mr Fish and Quorum, sparked a fashion revolution based on psychedelia and vintage appeal, giving free rein to wide-ranging individual styles inspired by the socio-political zeitgeist and debate surrounding gender and sexual liberation. It may be a mystery to us now how a group of shops could become the incubator for a vast street movement, creating a counterculture that overturned conventions in dress, but in fact the process isn’t that much different from the phenomenon of creating communities on the social networks. A disparate crowd of young people

collected around these shared values that Marianne Faithfull described with these words: “We were young, rich and beautiful and the tide – we thought - was turning in our favour. We were going to change everything, of course, but mostly we were going to change the rules”. The exhibition reconstructs the interiors of the period and displays garments from the time. Biba’s wallpaper and chequerboard flooring create a setting for the psychedelic clothing and Granny’s room is packed with William Morris print jackets, especially the resplendent Grenadier Guards jacket worn by Mick Jagger (pictured above) for the band’s appearance on the TV programme Ready Steady Go. The standout piece is the reconstruction of Quorum, a temple of refined fashion presided over by the inseparable trio of Ossie Clark, Alice Pollock and Celia Birtwell. However, Biba closed its doors in 1975 and Vivienne Westwood opened her SEX boutique, and safety pins and punk put an end to the brief but sparkling era of the Beautiful People, “Rich, hippy chic and Bohemian”.

Mick Jagger (circa late Sixties)

ART SHOW/2 - pag 32

Masculinity is a developing story

Statues and underwear, unisex and the 1700s, dandyism and Rick Owens. the thousand variables that shape today’s man

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

Masculinity is a convention of the times. If the history books were not enough, the history of art bears witness, just like a photograph, to the variability of the meaning of “masculine” in clothes. Paintings and sculptures are among the first documents, even though classical sculpture left the hero’s body naked to express the essence of masculinity. Bringing together 100 items of clothing and 100 works of art is Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear. This exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, from 19 March to 6 November, is first and foremost a reflection on the changing nature of the representation of masculinity and then a historical examination of its power. Divided into three sections, Undressed, Overdressed and Redressed, the exhibition does not attempt to mimic the Barbican exhibition of two years ago (Masculinities: Liberation through Photography) but appears to complete that investigation by also including evidence from pre-modern times. In fact, to celebrate the diversity of the body, Undressed compares a Mathew Bourne ballet, Spitfire, in which the dancers perform in underwear, with the Apollo Belvedere and the Farnese Hermes, just as the Overdressed section analyses the variations and

possibilities of masculinities over the centuries, from the Renaissance to today, exhibiting the clothes of Gucci (the exhibition partner), Harris Reed, Grace Wales Bonner and Raf Simons alongside old paintings by Sofonisba Anguissola and Joshua Reynolds or works by Roberto Longo.

And then there is Beau Brummell to consider. Doing so is the Redressed section that accompanies the male figure invented by the dandy lord (which would result in the “bourgeois uniform”) both in military uniforms and the clothes of youth subcultures like the mods and teddy boys, and the garments of Prada and Alexander McQueen, indicating a possible direction and evolution in the research expressions of Rick Owens, Rei Kawakubo, JW Anderson and in the works of multidisciplinary South African artist and designer Lesiba Mabitsela.

MOVIE - pag 34

The elegance of espionage

A double-breasted tailored Savile Row suit is a perfect armour, according to “The King’s Man”

BY HAKIM ZEJJARI

Gentlemen, the wait is over! After a series of delays The King’s Man - Origins, the third film of the Kingsman franchise and a prequel to the crazy, ultra-elegant British spy saga Kingsman - The Secret Service (2014), has just appeared on the big screen bringing with it a swish menswear collection. This time director Matthew Vaughn takes us back to the origins of the first independent intelligence agency. The film is set during the Great War and introduces two new characters, both with impeccable style – the Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes) and young Conrad (Harris Dickinson), a fatherand-son team with clashing personalities must destroy a criminal plot hatched by history’s most nefarious minds. It’s a movie comic in a vintage sauce, a celebration of style that will make all of us feel

Ralph Fiennes

an urge to renew our wardrobe. “When I was younger I was influenced by what actors were wearing on the big screen”, says the director. “An attractive look sticks in the audience’s mind and helps make the film memorable”.

Reproducing the typically british class of the 007s of yesteryear, the Mr Porter men’s fashion e-commerce site has renewed its collaboration with the Kingsman franchise, creating a collection with director Matthew Vaughn and Michele Clapton, costume designer for The Crown and Game of Thrones. “The early 1900s was a fascinating period in the history of men’s clothing, with elegant suits and garments inspired by military uniforms”. One of the standout items in the collection is the belted leather aviator’s jacket (2,415 euro) worn by Ralph Fiennes (pictured above) in the film, a perfect mix of tradition and modernity that reflects the challenge met by this collection – to adapt last century’s fashions to modern times, using “softer materials and more contemporary silhouettes”. And once again we see a collaboration with some great names from the pantheon of historic British brands, from shoemakers George Cleverley to Turnbull & Asser, shirt makers to Prince Charles, and headwear from the prestigious, long-established firm of Lock & Co Hatters.

PHOTOBOOK - pag 36

A talented man

A Tom Ford story in pictures, and changing perspectives.

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

“The last 15 years of work that I had never told” explains Tom Ford, the man who’s had the fashion world dreaming for over 20 years, to encapsulate the contents of Tom Ford 002 (Rizzoli), the second volume that covers the period from 2005 onwards when, having left his role as creative director of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent the year before, he founded his own brand with Domenico De Sole, CEO of the two PPR Group brands, which today are part of the Kering Group. Following on from Tom Ford 001, released in 2004, this new volume, after a foreword from Anna Wintour, an introduction from Graydon Carter, and an interview with Bridget Foley, lays out the images of him working to build his brand’s lofty reputation, the brand that shares his name, whilst adding new strings to his creative bow by directing two successful films (A Single Man with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore, 2009; Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, 2016). At the same time he took his creative style in a different direction, moving away from the idea of ultra-explicit sensuality that had characterized his 20 years at Gucci towards a counterpoise that

encompassed both minimalism and the vulgarity of trash television. “The break with Gucci was very traumatic and depressing: I thought I would be there for the rest of my life. There was nothing before me, no fashion shows, no collections” claimed Tom Ford in an interview with Corriere della Sera, he went on to specify that “one of the things you can allow yourself as you age is to be very honest”.

Ford, who’s just turned 60, he was born on 27 August 1961, recently lost his husband, the journalist Richard Buckely, after 35 years together, and has a nine-year-old son who he describes as “the absolute perfection of my life”. This book, a visual ode to his work, capsulises his mania for perfection and sense of hyper glamour, all captured in photos by Inez & Vinoodh, Nick Knight, Steven Meisel and Mert & Marcus.

PODCAST - pag 38

A perverse fascination with crime

A podcast about fashion-related misdeeds: plagiarism and theft.

BY ENRICO ROSSI

A crimes is a crime, but if we’re talking about fashion, copying another stylist’s design is almost worse than committing a heinous murder. The American podcast Most Fashionable Crime investigates the most blatant examples of appropriating other people’s ideas and the mysteries concerning the disappearance of famous garments worn by celebrities, as even a lovely dress can be held to ransom. Together with Teryn Parker, the host/detective of Most Fashionable Crime, the listener becomes directly involved in searching for clues and examining every theory. Take, for example, the episode dedicated to one of Lady Gaga’s dresses, made by Valentino and designed by Pierpaolo Piccioli. She wore the garment in 2019 for the Golden Globes. It was then left unattended in in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and the journey from the chambermaid’s hands to the American auction house Nate D. Sanders was a relatively short one. Even the Roman fashion house’s reporting of the theft didn’t lead to the return of the garment. In ten episodes the podcast draws on a variety of sources to assemble the pieces of the puzzle. The FBI uses the same method, giving a teenager the job of recovering the jerseys worn by American football champion Tom Brady in two Superbowl matches. They were later found in Mexico.

These clothing-related mysteries catapult listeners directly into the showbusiness world – from Khloé Kardashian, accused of fraud for the design of her Good American clothing line (the problem was resolved through a secret agreement) to her sister Kim Kardashian West (pictured below), victim of a jewel heist during the Paris Fashion Week. Many other controversial figures make an appearance, from the fake heiress Anna Sorokin, alias Anna Delvey, to the “Granny Gem Thief” Doris Payne. One interesting feature of Most Fashionable Crime is how it presents popular and more sinister subjects and characters side by side, from the exploitation of fashion-industry workers to large-scale shoplifting by South American gangs.

Kim Kardashian

MUSIC - pag 40

Singer making movies

Spine-tingling voice, unique performer, fashion icon, director: Moses Sumney, a true artist.

BY PIER ANDREA CANEI

The figure of the all-round “musical artist” is an increasingly important phenomenon. A case in point - the word “typical” can’t really be used, as there aren’t, as yet, many like him about - is the 29-year-old Ghanaian-American Moses Sumney. Not only a singer, singer-songwriter and performer, he is also a multidisciplinary talent capable of penning memorable songs and expressing himself on stage, through the social media or on the pages of a magazine. He can interact with the creative energies of the fashion world, and as his instagram.com/moses account clearly shows, he takes what’s on offer and gleefully gives his own interpretation to all styles. He is the artist behind the recent Blackalachia video-documentary project financed by WePresent, the creative arm of the WeTransfer file transfer platform, acting as director, author and actor. In it Sumney, surrounded by a band in a rural setting, presents an intense live set without an audience, revamping tracks from the two albums that have helped establish a presence on the music scene - Aromanticism (2017) and grae (2020). One of today’s most distinctive talents around, he has responded to the standstills caused by the various

lockdowns by abandoning Los Angeles for the hills of North Carolina and embracing a natural, contemplative lifestyle. The film-performance is also an expression of this, featuring his shimmering soul music that’s as fluid as his identity as experimenter/ shaman, crossing genders to create an independent, indefinable presence.

The warmth of his rich, sensual voice makes it clear Sumney is no simple country boy. He also likes playing with his image, and has won the title of “Himbo of the Year”, a pet hunk (as it were) of fawning fashion media. But it’s not just narcissism: Moses Is equally at home picking out cuttingedge street fashion as he is striking statuesque poses in jeans. And the fashion houses are queueing up to (un)dress him.

REPORT - pag 43

Spring fashion preview

BY FIORENZA BARIATTI AND LUCA ROSCINI

Stress tests for Archive garments Travelling the world in search of testers, i.e. journeying far and wide in order to seek out people engaged in hard, tough jobs in close contact with nature, people whose passions lead them to challenging natural environments, like the slopes of volcanoes or Iceland’s geysers. This is a story that Michele Lupi, Men’s Collections Visionary for Tod’s, began working on with Davide Monteleone, an explorer and photographer for National Geographic, when he was living in Moscow. It is a double narrative, one side in Italy and the other abroad, and consists of a collection of images that are a testament to human resistance and that of the Fay Archive garments. Archive is a Fay project that aims to highlight the brand’s roots as a maker of jackets for American firemen, acquired by the Tod’s group in the mid-eighties. Years have since passed and thanks to Alessandro Squarzi, creative director of Fay Archive, the Firemen’s outerwear has been updated and transformed into an icon piece of the Marche brand 4 Ganci. Archive doesn’t make “fashion collections”, Archive “works with people who work” and that is why it has chosen to communicate through people. Their so-called “testers” are given a 4 Ganci jacket to use, or rather, in Lupi’s words, “to put to the test”. Now is the turn of Giampaolo Bergamaschi, a driller by profession, Enduro motorsport rider and skilled motor mechanic. Among Enduro enthusiasts he is known as ‘Bleu’ and he lives in the high hills in the north, just a stone’s throw from where four regions meet. Always outdoors assembling engines and motorbike frames, he is a “man who never turns back” says Lupi, “not even when faced with obstacles that seem insurmountable and that would discourage most people”. He is now wearing the 4 Ganci on his travels, but in a year’s time that jacket will probably end up on display as if it were a work of art, demonstrating the robustness of the material and workmanship as well as the timeless aesthetics of this garment, which began life as workwear.

A bomber revolution in the 2000s Having begun life as a garment for pilots of the Royal Flying Corps to protect them from wind and humidity while flying, the bomber jacket continued its stylistic evolution with developments in its shape, materials and colours. Then it returned as a must for young people in the eighties, strictly black or midnight blue with a contrasting orange interior. The latest update, spring-summer 2022, comes from Herno and is called Gloss, a hooded bomber jacket personalised with the brand’s logo – the ‘H’ for Herno – made of crinkled nylon with a matt effect. The colours, the strong point of this product from the ‘Made in Italy’ outerwear brand, range from orange to military green, purple to cobalt. The company founded in 1948 and reinforced with some important creative additions, such as research into materials and an enthusiasm for the practical transformation of ideas, continues to experiment by reimagining garments from the male aesthetic tradition.

Pragmatic design A 30-year-old advertising campaign on the inclusive spirit of the A|X Armani Exchange brand was the inspiration behind the Everything from A to X project: garments that are easy to wear, mix and match. A collection of organic cotton T-shirts and sweatshirts, anoraks, parkas, chinos, shorts and knitted blazers, all are essential pieces that respond to a single “product philosophy”: pragmatic design and sustainable materials. These are joined by footwear and accessories (including box-fresh white trainers and a nylon backpack). “A system of elements that everyone can interpret freely, without the need for anything else.”

Hidden functionalities Awc is the new acronym that defines all the functions of Geox Respira outerwear for next spring-summer. Any weather condition – AWC – is intended to highlight the versatility of these garments. The technology involves a very light inner lining that allows thermoregulation and comfort while the outer layer ensures the garment is rainproof. Cutting-edge technological solutions for a collection that ranges from parkas to twill overcoats. The brand’s traditional features of breathability are ensured by the so-called “breathing tape”, a ventilation strip

Fay Archive

Combinations for beach types One brand, many facets. The story of Guess began 40 years ago when the Marciano brothers left France for Los Angeles and their decision to move brought immediate rewards. Jeans were the item of the moment and the Marcianos were proposing them in a different guise, with distinct cuts and innovative washes, in other words “in a fashionable interpretation”. The advertising campaigns featured young women, such as Claudia Schiffer, Carré Otis, Eva Herzigova and Laetitia Casta, fully capturing the brand’s provocative spirit. And that is how it has remained, as can also be seen

in the men’s Activewear range for spring-summer 2022: wavy fabrics, cotton twill, scuba, stretch nylon printed with the logo or camouflage variations in earthy grey, indigo, white, dark mauve, ocean blue, red and light heather shades. Dedicated to a trip inspired by 1970s California (beach volleyball with a touch of basketball, enriched with modern touches, mirror details, tropical prints and logos, neon coloured ribbons and laminated effect finishes), the modern retro theme combines college style with technical details. Different fabrics (light wool, technical linen, cotton, blends, silk, leather, Supima cotton, suede, stretch gabardine), prints (foliage, desert and stripes) and colours (navy, salt white, pistachio, cream yellow, Turkish sea blue, moss, lilac, silk blue, mountain honey, hazelnut wood, light blue and crème brûlée) can be found in the Marciano collection, which includes Gentleman essential. The latter is a capsule collection of everyday garments, while Le jardin du desert consists of elegant, lightweight pieces with defined silhouettes: shirts and short chinos are complemented by field jackets and sweaters. Bowling shirts, gabardine trousers, silk-blend T-shirts, safari shirts and seersucker suits create the look called The good Italian.

Art on the track Experimentation and functionality have always been the vehicles communicated by Stone Island. Now translated into videos and works (presented at the recent edition of Art Basel in Miami) that unite art and motocross, a seemingly jarring pairing called Annex, created by Thibaut Grevet. “By putting art on the motocross track, we are exhibiting the pieces in a setting that is not traditionally a place for high art. In this way we are highlighting the influence of each work with a shift from aesthetics to thought,” says curator Katja Horvat.

Top of the pops From the stage to prints on white T-shirts: Jim Morrison, Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury are transformed from pop icons to elements of aesthetic communication thanks to Marco Lodola, an Italian artist whose production is proudly pop and has always been linked to the tradition of popular music. Lodola has created three iconic prints on T-shirts for Antony Morato, all linked to these three musicians. They will be available to buy from March.

The perfect wave Recco, Varazze, Santa Marinella and Forte dei Marmi, Portonovo and even, surprisingly, Ostia Lido. You don’t have to dream of California or the coasts of Australia to find the perfect wave: Sundek’s Goldenwave collection is wholly inspired by Italian surfers. The oceans are referenced in tie-dye washes and the irregular bleaching of the colours, not only on swimwear but also on clothing.

The tech value of daily life Transgenerational volumes are the subject of Loro Piana’s stylistic reflection applied to the upcoming spring-summer season. Here’s what this means: using research capable of codifying the archives but also embarking on new pathways to rediscover silhouettes of coats, dresses and knitwear that are outside the most imperative trends and, therefore, transgenerational. The result sees trench coats with micro checked belts, hooded bomber jackets and cotton parkas with leather details, ribbed knitwear with graphic textures and trainers with suede or wool uppers and contrasting white soles. The spotlight is on two outerwear items that define the idea behind the collection: the trench coat, called Clayton, made of wool and cotton, and the hooded jacket in petrol-coloured Nubuck, both symbols of a natural evolution of the most normcore elegance as informal becomes the rule.

Thanks to the game of polo “I am fascinated by the quality of play of the Indian polo clubs, so much so that I have always had a dream:

Guess Activewear

to organise a ceremony, a party, in that very land with all the descendants of the families of the great players to thank them and acknowledge them on behalf of La Martina. We are what we are today thanks to their legacy,” says Lando Simonetti, founder of La Martina. But the party seems to have already begun thanks to the partnership for the distribution of the brand’s products with Reliance Limited Industries (a company that produces petroleum products, petrochemicals, fibres and items for weaving). Over the next three years, numerous corners as well as five single-brand stores are planned, all in India.

A run through nature Running on a trail that includes climbs and descents is not exactly easy: you need power and training and, of course, suitable clothing, primarily footwear. Anyone who knows the mountains knows this. And Rossignol is currently the most blatant case: an expert in highaltitude sports, it has decided to broaden its collections and diversify its range by extending it to include the outdoor world, with multi-activity products that combine versatility, style and technical qualities. Without going as far as the extreme discipline of trail running, Rossignol is proposing the Skpr outdoor footwear for running, hiking, mountain sports and, why not, the city. All models feature Sensor3 technology, a special insole with three pressure points on the foot that relieve stress and improve performance by stimulating blood circulation.

The material loves being dyed Research and creativity: with this “formula”, Renato Pigatti and Graziano Moro, designers and co-owners of Outhere, are using alternative materials, such as the latest generation of polymers and new yarns derived from cellulose, in the production of their garments, “as well as telling the story of current urban trends through outdoor contaminations”. This means, for example, the inclusion in the Advanced+ range of the glass effect technique, thanks to which the garment is subjected to a special resineffect dye. Also new for spring-summer is the perfection of the “H2O reactive” technology for cotton nylon poplin, which is even more resistant to rain and wind, as well as the innovative ultrasound dyeing process that gives the colouring an irregular appearance.

Reflective elements Combining opposites, and thereby breaking down the unilateral boundaries of stylistic codes: Hogan intends to do just that with the lace-up model created for next spring. A seemingly classic shoe with an image that is as British as it is traditional, it is given an unconventional edge by the ultra-light rubber sole and, above all, the shiny black leather. The colours of the soles, which can be brick red or cobalt blue, modify the look.

Screen-printed uppers Punk culture and Japanese streetwear in the collaboration between Dr. Martens and Neighborhood, respectively, a (formerly rebellious) London cult brand and a hipster project born on the streets of Harajuku in Tokyo from the creativity of Shinsuke Takizawa. Made entirely in the UK in Chelsea boots or lace-up shoes, the collab’s two models have contrasting white silkscreen prints on the uppers reminiscent of Pollockstyle paint splashes. All-Italian style “Colour, radiance and a decidedly Italian nonchalance.” For Harmont & Blaine, these are the three values the company shares with Andrea Pompilio, which have resulted in a capsule collection where the real star is colour (rich but desaturated, enhanced by the choice of monochrome and the garment-dyeing process) as well as soft lines. The shirts, so quintessentially Harmont & Blaine, feature large volumes and extensive use of patchwork, or are dissected and reassembled; the trench coats have contrasting linings, the small blousons have velvet collars; safari jackets, anoraks and boxy blazers are mixed with tapered trousers, shorts, boxing shoes and baseball caps.

The illustrator’s new clothes Canadian artist Moya GarrisonMsingwana, aka Gang Box, paints and draws characters that combine nineties hip hop with Manga and popular fashion. He has risen to fashion fame thanks to the capsule he has created with Ten c, a clothing and outerwear brand founded by Paul Harvey and Alessandro Pungetti (the name comes from the acronym of the title of the Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes). The subject of the designs is the Artic Down Parka, the Italian brand’s iconic garment, worn by a Gang Box character, and printed on

Harmont & Blaine

three different T-shirts and a sweatshirt, available in only two colours, black or white, but with a touch, almost a whisker, of classic Ten c orange.

Massimo Piombo, to read and to wear “Choosing a book or choosing clothes always involves reflection.” “We look for nothing in a book or a jacket but a companion on the journey of constant change.” Or also: “Just as reading is dressing one’s mind, dressing means becoming a text for others.” There’s no denying that Massimo Piombo, designer and creative director of OVS, can come up with a maxim that conveys a genuine love for the written word. “His name is heavy, his heart light, his head imaginative, his eyes joyful and his soul volatile,” this is how Vittorio Sgarbi defines him in the afterword to Vestire viaggiare vivere, a book (published by La nave di Teseo) that collects the texts written by Piombo for the daily newspaper La verità. Born in Varazze, but based in Milan, Piombo is also a passionate traveller: at the end of the publication he shares his extensive contacts book of hotels, eateries and bars from London to Los Angeles. Just as, through his collections for OVS, under the banner of accessible elegance, he fulfils his greatest ambition as a designer: “To dress everyone”. (P.A.C.)

Flamboyant punk The inspiration comes from the British music scene of the early 2000s, when electronic music met indie rock: London-based designer and artist Charles Jeffrey LOVERBOY was “infected” by this high-energy musical movement. Working with Fred Perry, he used metal wire to create a glitter effect on his clothes. Call it flamboyant punk: frosted details on a mix of colours for the T-shirt, different textures and thicknesses for the knitted rugby shirt, a padded and quilted bomber jacket with all-over digital print, oversized shorts with glittery silver drawstring...

Urban waves: fluorescent and so street The soles are wave-shaped and injected with foam to cushion the impact with the ground and increase speed performance. These are the LV Runner Tatic, the latest addition to Louis Vuitton’s sought-after sneaker family. The French fashion house was inspired by the world of running and the soft silhouettes of nineties sneakers. Strong colours, even fluorescent ones, recall the non-conformist and street spirit of the first American rap groups.

Alongside Vale Rossi’s Academy The story began more or less 20 years ago when Fila “entered” the world of MotoGP. Today it marks a turning point thanks to the collaboration with the VR46 Riders Academy, the motorsport school founded by Valentino Rossi. The goal: to produce a capsule collection of clothing inspired by the world of motor racing. “The collection,” they explain, “is a fusion of sport and lifestyle and takes its cue from the world of two wheels, while reinventing the roots of the Italian sportswear brand (founded in 1911 in Biella, Italy), which are still deeply embedded in the world of sport. The designs and history of these garments represent the academy’s riders, their lives and the challenges they face, as suggested by the printed fabrics, styles and colours that tell stories of friendship, willpower, passion, perseverance and determination that underpin their talent.” Timeless moccasins Details: the antique brass straps; the deconstructed workmanship; the hand-woven uppers; the super flex natural rubber soles scented with vanilla; almost flat heels... And then there are the leathers (unlined calfskin, braids and suede) treated with soft tans, and a colour palette in keeping with the season, from sand to coconut to olive green, obviously including all shades of blue. Barrett’s moccasins reprise the style of the classic models but are once more revisited in terms of materials, accessories and soles to make them more versatile and adaptable to different looks (casual combinations with linen chinos or even Bermuda shorts) and situations (when formal outfits are required). It’s no wonder, since we’re talking about footwear that originated long ago with the Native North Americans.

UPCOMING DESIGNERS - pag 58

Creative momentum, and where to find it

BY GIULIANA MATARRESE

With a nod to Italian singer-songwriter Francesco De Gregori’s song ‘The football draft, class of ‘68’, perhaps today it is possible to talk about the style draft, class of 2021. In a country known for its reluctance to pass the ball on to the new generations, there is a large group of creative people

who, with differing origins, values and aesthetics, have carved out a space for themselves in the industry, as well as an international audience of buyers. Andrea Adamo, for instance, won over Cindy Crawford and Joan Smalls, as well as celebrities who influence the tastes of Generation Z, such as Kylie Jenner, with the brand of the same name launched in 2020. Not a stage name, his moniker seems to oblige him to be relevant: the Crotone native, who has already worked in the ateliers of Dolce&Gabbana, Zuhair Murad and Roberto Cavalli, reprises the study of the body conducted in the 1980s and 1990s by maestros such as Helmut Lang and Thierry Mugler, giving it new meanings as they are children of an era that celebrates body positivity and diversity (even epidermal). Rib knit tops, cotton poplin shirts and asymmetrical skirts are developed in a chromatic rainbow that lays bare a democratic concept: from ivory to black, passing through different shades of beige, no skin tone is neglected. This pathway of layers and revelations through portholes and cut-outs is also explored by Antonio Tarantini, founder of Atxv, and Alessandro Vigilante, who rediscovers the seductive power of materials like vinyl, which is transformed into coats in strong colours and longuettes with deep slits. Des Phemmes, on the other hand, succumbs to the evocative sirens of the 1990s: the tie-dye T-shirts and oversized jumpers that Kurt Cobain would have liked – and that Dua Lipa now wears – are joined by a decorative attitude that the founder, Sicilian Salvo Rizza, borrows from Giambattista Valli, in whose style office he worked for several seasons.

And if the aesthetic symphony of Des Phemmes plays a mellowed grunge, Çanaku, however, looks back at the rocking Rolling Stones: the reference icon of the collection by Jurgen Çanaku, of Albanian origin and now based in Italy, is in fact Mick Jagger. The mustard velvet double-breasted jackets, printed silk shirts and leather shirts embellished with lavallière ties reprise the Rolling Stones frontman’s brazen and hedonistic sensuality, adapting the volumes to modern times. While at home, Federico Cina, a finalist in the latest LVMH Prize – the world’s most important fashion competition for new talents – appears with a menswear and womenswear collection that recounts what is most Italian: the concept of the province. The 27-yearold from the town of Sarsina – also the birthplace of Plautus – let his memories of summer holiday camps inspire the Infanzia a mare collection for the coming summer season: sailor stripes and cable-knits are combined with soft, pleated trousers in pastel shades. “I tell a story about a part of the country that fashion doesn’t usually see,” explains Cina. “Romagna is always portrayed in its fun-loving side, but my grandparents were farmers and I

wanted to explore its bucolic charm.” From the nostalgia cloaked in a thick fog – just like the fog that covers the fields of Emilia-Romagna reminiscent of a Fellini film – all the way back to South Tyrol, whose folklore inspires Cormio. The collection transforms classic crocheted cardigans into boatneck dresses and crop tops, wrap skirts and scarves: a heritage that inspired founder Jezabelle Cormio, an ItalianAmerican who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and who uses knitwear as a canvas on which to experiment. “Not having a technical background”, explains Cormio, “I bend the classic rules of knitwear to my ends, weaving garments that are not usually built on that consistency, such as tops that would classically be in Lycra and crepe.” This approach appealed to Gucci’s creative director, Alessandro Michele, who included Jezabelle Cormio in Vault, a virtual shopping area where the fashion house promotes creations by various emerging talents that reflect its aesthetic. Vault also features the work of JordanLuca, Italian-English duo Jordan Browen and Luca Marchetto. “We met at a party,” explains Marchetto. “Jordan worked in millinery with Stephen Jones, I spent several years in the style offices of Vivienne Westwood and Erdem, and we decided to join forces. Jordan’s London punk attitude matches my taste for tailoring: Scottish kilts are worn with knitwear made from recycled cashmere and cotton yarns, while blazers are designed to be structured but light.”

This rebellion against the classic canons that define elegance also extends to product communication: the latest collection was, in fact, presented with a series of photographs available on OnlyFans, the entertainment platform that enables creators to monetize nude photos and videos. And if JordanLuca saw Alessandro Michele as a supporter, in the case of Alfredo Cortese, the mind behind AC9, the patron was Alessandro Dell’Acqua, who recognised the talent of the 34-year-old from Catania and presented his creations to the trade press. Nude-coloured knitwear, coated cotton and skirts with macro ruffles, the romanticism is disenchanted and not afraid of flirting with rock vibes, with biker jackets full of zips and boots with maxi platforms. This attitude of patronage has spread among Italy’s leading creatives. Valentino has, in fact, announced that, during February Fashion Week, it will “lend” its Instagram to Marco Rambaldi, a Bologna native at ease with the lexicon of Gen Z, whose fashion show it will broadcast. “Marco Rambaldi’s (last) show was a powerful celebration of the human and a vision of kaleidoscopic beauty,” explained creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.

Andrea Adamo, FW 2022 collection.

“We decided to start a new project from his collection, and I’m sure it will be just the beginning of something that will give new energy and inspiration to all of us.” Tattoo print leggings, patchwork tops rescued from the attic, animal print jackets: this tendency towards maximalism is also espoused, albeit with a different stylistic vocabulary, by Christian Boaro with the CHB brand. Tailored suits in Japanese wool – already worn by Maneskin and Naomi Campbell – with perfect proportions, which derive from the years spent in Gianfranco Ferré’s style office, find their perfect counterpart in men’s crop tops in Chantilly lace, duchesse coats with metallic thread, dresses constructed with the nylon used for down jackets and hemp trench coats, adapting the classic canons of elegance through a contemporary lens. Revolutionising the present, just like the rest of the ‘class of 2021’, all will be ready at the start of Fashion Week in January to take to the net, proving that 2021 was indeed a good year.

ANNIVERSARY - pag 62

Clothes inspired by an art-loving genius

Sixty years on from his fashion house’s first runway show, an exhibition with an unusual format celebrates Yves Saint Laurent by showcasing his work in six Paris museums, from the Louvre to the Pompidou Centre. Iconic garments, and examples of his creative method, expressing an interplay of fashion, painting and literature – and an enduring dialogue with Marcel Proust.

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

On January 29th, 1962, Paris was in ferment. Only four years before, on January 18, 1958, Yves Saint Laurent, the “Little Prince with the piercing blue eyes”, rescued French fashion by stepping into the shoes of his recently-deceased mentor Christian Dior and presenting, at the age of only 22, the first collection bearing his name – and what a show it was! The event, which changed the course of fashion forever, was held in the interiors of the mansion on rue Spontini. Here, together with the handsome yet introverted 26-year-old Pierre Bergé, he opened the Maison Yves Saint Laurent. The four years since he was hailed as the saviour of French fashion as he looked out from the balcony of the Atelier Dior in avenue Montaigne proved to be eventful ones. The unprecedented triumph of the show on 18 January 1958 with the Trapèze and the birth of the Now Look, superseding the New Look created by the house’s founder, was followed two years later by Saint Laurent’s conscription into the French army, at that time involved in Algeria’s war of independence. There, near his native city of Oran, the place he had

fled from in order to study in Paris, he suffered the experience that was to blight his existence - the sexual violence inflicted by his fellow soldiers that caused him physical damage and sparked a deep, lifelong depression. He was sent back to Paris for hospital treatment, and here he received a dismissal notice from Dior – but his life was soon to take a much more positive turn. At the funeral service for Dior the young Saint Laurent had met Pierre Bergé, a young intellectual who was a friend of Jean Cocteau and the great patroness vicomtesse Marie-Laure de Noailles. The next day they become inseparable and life-long lovers. Bergé promised to set up a fashion house just for the young designer. He succeeded after seeking and finding financing, and a year later the “temple” where Yves Mathieu Saint Laurent would reign, becoming responsible for the most extraordinarily innovative fashion creations of the second half of the 20th century, including the Nude Look, Safari Jacket, the Le Smoking suit for women and designer jeans. When he decided to develop a men’s line, he based his designs on the wardrobe he had already prepared for Marlene Dietrich, transforming the diva’s androgynous look into the first nogender concept, which contemporary commentators reductively confused with the Unisex designs of the 1960s. Above all, though, he invented designer ready-to-wear, forever drawing a line between the artisanality, invention and uniqueness of Haute Couture and the industrial production, reproducibility and democratisation of ready-to-wear.

It’s no exaggeration to say that exactly sixty years after that debut French culture is not dedicating an exhibition to Yves Saint Laurent but rather holding a celebration that brings together the essence of his genius, his ability to create fashion by drawing inspiration from the arts – painting, sculpture, literature and music. Yves Saint Laurent aux Musées is an exhibition held across several venues, and from 29 January to 5 May it will be occupying the spaces of the Centre Pompidou, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Musée du Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée National PicassoParis and the Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris. Nothing like this has ever been seen before, and no other fashion creator has been honoured this way. It is another record for this universally recognised fashion genius, the only stylist to have an exhibition dedicated to him while still alive (YSL: Twenty-five years of design, 14 December 1983-2 to September 1984, curated by Diana Vreeland, former editor of Vogue. Convinced of the uniqueness of Saint Laurent’s talent, she defied the resentful anger

Pablo Picasso’s Portrait of Nusch Éluard, 1937

of his contemporaries). But this time it’s different – the Paris exhibition celebrates not only the clothes but also explains the creative techniques of a couturier who transformed himself into a designer and for whom a successor has yet to be found. The exhibition’s starting point is the fact that the arts were a crucial element in Saint Laurent’s creative expression. He explained his method in these words: “In order to survive,

every man needs his own aesthetic

ghosts. They alone make life possible. I believe I have found them in Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse. But also in Marcel Proust. I’m totally eclectic”. He famously summed up his ideas by saying “My weapon is the perspective through which I see my society and the art of my time”.

He was not, however, fascinated only by painting and the plastic arts. He knew Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu almost by heart, identifying with the novel’s “enervés”, the depressed neurotics and insanely emotional characters that the author exalted and embodied. He never wanted to read the final volume, Le temps retrouvé, because “If the Recherche came to an end something inside me would shatter”. His wonderfully creative but also intensely disturbed and domineering persona seems to draw life from these pages. This is also clear in the filmdocumentary L’amour fou, directed by Pierre Thoretton and released in 2011, three years after the designer’s premature death. In it his husband Pierre Bergé provides an unassuming description of their unique yet troubled love story, a long emotional rapport that survived Saint Laurent’s betrayals and drug dependence. Their relationship remained strong even when Bergé decided to leave their shared home and took a suite the Hotel Lutetia, next to their house. His debt to literature in his education and cultural growth enabled Saint Laurent to anticipate the age of cultural appropriation and creative hacking, establishing the system of an interrelationship among the arts, never separating fashion from other forms of creativity. Shunning simplistic didactic solutions, creative traps set by the simplistic deceptions of banality, he never featured art works directly on his garments, never writing Proust’s words on his dresses – he transformed them into the attitudes of the women wearing the clothes. He would never transfer a painting onto a fabric then drape it onto a mannequin – the painting or sculpture became the garment’s structure as it was not an illustration but a construction.

Which is why the exhibition’s three

curators, Madison Cox, Stephan Janson and Mouna Mekouar, met no obstacles when they asked the directors of the five museums

(as well as the YSL museum), some of the country’s most important academic institutions, to display the clothes in the galleries housing the corresponding art works. “It was surprising to see how readily all the directors welcomed the project, and the result is something totally new – Saint Laurent’s designs create a bridge between visitors with different artistic tastes, between those who love classical art and aficionados of contemporary art. Encouraged by this creative dialogue, they can enter the spaces of a museum they would never have dreamt of visiting before” says art historian, critic and curator Mouna Mekouar, wellaccustomed to handling interactions between state-funded museums and private foundations. This ability is reflected in the way the exhibition unfolds, starting from the Pompidou Centre, where the green fox fur coat from the spring-summer 1971 collection is on display. The collection had an unfavourable critical reception, even being described as the collection du scandale (its recollections of Germanoccupied France were judged to be too retro, although in fact it was inspired by Saint Laurent’s model and collaborator Paloma Picasso’s style of dress – she bought her clothes at the Puces flea market). Unexpectedly, though, it came to be identified with this fur, whose totally unnatural colour was taken from Made in Japan – La grande odalisque, a painting by Martial Raysse of 1964, depicting a female figure wearing only a turban. No facile references can be found in the gallery of the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris. Here, the satin Bluse Normand from 1962, a gilded velvet evening dress from 1975 and a black velvet coat with powdered silver trim from 1983 enter into a dialogue among themselves and with the Struttura al Neon per la X Triennale di Milano of 1951 by Lucio Fontana.

“Like Proust, I’m fascinated most of all by my perceptions of a world in transition”, said Saint Laurent, bringing us to the Musée d’Orsay. Here, the Proustian world can be found in the Cabinet d’arts graphiques, and one of Saint Laurent’s most creatively fruitful themes came to life, one that is still intensely relevant – the dialectic between masculine and feminine. Here, in fact, the five models of the women’s dinner suit are on display, the first from 1966 and then two from 1967, one from 1988 and the last from 2001, as well as the magnificent trailing evening dress made for baroness MarieHélène de Rothschild for the Bal Proust in 1971 and a drawing by Saint Laurent for the set of a themed party fourteen years previously.

Yves Saint Laurent

On the opposite side of the Seine

stands the Musée Picasso. “Big trouble. I seemed to be out of ideas. One Sunday I went to an exhibition on the Ballets Russes and I discovered Picasso’s drawings for the costumes for Diaghilev’s ballet Le tricorne”. This inspired the 1979 collection Hommage à Picasso et Diaghilev displayed in the Marais Museum.

A visit to the Louvre reveals the rock crystal encrusted jacket in the Galerie d’Apollon, and before the visitor can recover from this cultural feast, the exhibition comes to its final venue at 5, Avenue Marceau, the site of the Musée Saint Laurent and the Bergé-Saint Laurent Foundation. The exhibits here embody the designer’s words: “It’s true, Haute Couture is defined by its fabrics. But it consists of secrets whispered from generation to generation...all my clothes are born from a gesture – a dress that does not reflect a gesture isn’t a good dress… I start work on a collection in a state of deep anxiety, without knowing where to go until all of a sudden I see what direction to follow. Then I’m happy”. So, without reprising the pointless debate around whether fashion is art, this multi-site exhibition skilfully expresses the wonderful, and slightly incestuous, relationship between two similar yet different types of creativity.

PORTFOLIO - pag 70

Models and celebs: the dangerous charm of an indiscreet eye

BY MICHELE CIAVARELLA

The most successful photography isn’t the stolen snapshot but the images taken by a paparazzo when a celebrity poses without realising it. In concise terms, this is the essence of the so-called Ron Galella Law. Galella, known as the dean of Hollywood paparazzi, was also the friend and persecutor of 1970s celebrities on the East and West coasts of the USA. In the book The Photographs of Ron Galella (Greybull Press), published in 2002 with an introduction by Tom Ford, Diane Keaton, one of the most frequent objects of the photographer’s indiscreet lens, wrote that “There’s always a relationship between paparazzo and celebrity. Even if many deny it and many pretend to ignore it. That’s how every paparazzo’s photos provide a true picture of the celebrity, the marvellous, not-so-mysterious victim of Narcissus’ kiss”.

The name Paparazzo, invented

by Fellini for those armed with cameras relentlessly pursuing actors and actresses in the film La dolce vita, is an ambiguous term. For the subjects trapped in his lens it might be the professional description of a traitor or a friend but it has one great value – it communicates a semblance of truth that official photos by photographic and film agencies can never achieve. In any case, the images by these “passionate lovers of the stolen snapshot” have one thing in common – they capture the moment, convey embarrassment or joy, boredom and unpreparedness, spite and complicity. It’s not a question of nationality, culture or generation. It can be seen in the photos taken by Stefano Guindani and the crew of photographers from his agency, including Alfonso Catalano, Stefano Trovati — known by everyone as “Stefanino” so as not to confuse him with “the Boss” - Franco Ferrajuolo, Max Montingelli, and Carlo Scarpato - in the showbusiness world where the celebrities appear as welcome yet unknown guests. It’s easy to see that the difference between Naomi Campbell and an actress or between a designer and an actor lies in the natural management of the “improvised pose”, because fashion is more accustomed to managing attitude. So does that mean it’s glamorous people against screen dream makers? The denizens of the catwalks against the larger-than-life inhabitants of the big screen? It’s not a competition where the possible winner is known from the start. The victor is always the one who most rapidly adopts a gestural complicity with the lens.

The proof can be seen in the photos of people who a life on the border

between the two worlds. Take Lady Gaga – in the photos at the beginning of this feature she’s wearing a bra, knickers and fishnet stockings, and as she mounts the stairway at New York’s Metropolitan Museum to take part in the Met Gala 2019, she presents an improvised performance that owes nothing to the choreography of her shows but has everything to do with posing for a fashion shoot. Like all fashion world personalities, the pop diva uses clothes as an instrument in presenting her persona.

Lady Gaga

PSG players, from left: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Neymar, Marco Verratti.

STYLE SELECTION - pag 142

A tailor-made lineup

Paris Saint-Germain to wear Dior for the next two seasons.

BY FIORENZA BARIATTI

There’s no doubt about it: there’s always a first time for everything. And if you thought there were two worlds that couldn’t possibly come together, it turns out they actually fit like a glove. A match-up between a historic fashion house that made its name in French haute couture and a major football team founded in 1970 (and which is the most successful in French football history); Dior will be the official tailor of the Paris SaintGermain (PSG) side. The beginning of a new story: the other face of the Atelier’s art, sartorial craftsmanship, has always been at the heart of Dior’s savoir-faire and now Kim Jones, Artistic Director of men’s collections, has reinterpreted the formal aesthetics of tailoring tradition, even for this unusual occasion. Pietro Beccari, President and Chief Executive Officer of Christian Dior Couture, explains more: “The decision to collaborate with PSG for the squad’s official wardrobe came quite naturally, as we share values that we consider essential, such as the quest for excellence, to better oneself, collective performance and the power of continual reinvention. This symbolic alliance marks a new and totally unprecedented chapter in Dior’s history, signing, for the first time, a partnership in the sporting world with a club whose international renown and unique leadership shine a light on these passions across the world. Football instils a sense of team spirit, perseverance and the determination to never give up.” A modern, yet simultaneously classic sartorial style, one that also generously opens up to the most popular of sports and that, in real terms, consists of an elegant collection combining casual creations with formal outfits that blend tones of black and navy blue created for the occasion (the club’s colours are blue, red and white, those found on the coat of arms of Paris). The relaxed outfit is composed of a Harrington jacket, a sweater, and a polo shirt; whilst the formal outfit combines a cashmere coat, a jacket, a shirt, trousers, and a pair of Derbies. And so, (also) in this way, football demonstrates its sense of fair play.

STYLE SELECTION - pag 146

Testing our future

What about tomorrow? A young actor, an award-winning director and a bank all have their say.

BY FIORENZA BARIATTI

“Planting a tree, building a house, making a dream come true – the future is all these”. With these words an offscreen voice closes a short feature by Ferzan Özpetek that Banca Mediolanum has dedicated to the dialogue between generations, communication, choices and life. The film The Man Who Invented the Future, features Filippo Nigro (the father) and Enea Barozzi (the 17-year-old son). Barozzi, a representative of Gen Z, talks about codes and languages, saying, “Our generation has invented phrases and neologisms that enable us to understand each other on the fly. Of course, we don’t use them so much that we lose track of what’s being said. I think it’s inevitable that there’ll be a shift in the codes people use as one generation succeeds the other because there are more new instruments to interface with, and expressions will evolve in parallel with these. And like language, the workplace is also constantly evolving. I’m sure that jobs will become increasingly diversified and involve more technology and science, while the old manual and artisanal trades will remain unchanged”.

In Barozzi’s eyes, the shape of present and future appears clear, despite the fact that the reality he comes up against, well-illustrated by Özpetek, looks more like a world where adults cannot easily find an opening – instead they encounter scepticism and indifference, especially when

On set: director Ferzan Özpetek (center), between actors Enea Barozzi and Filippo Nigro

the subject is “Tomorrow”. But the two worlds are not so far apart if we listen to the words of the young actor, who defines his generation as “Aware, enterprising and spoilt” and that of the 50-60 year-olds as, “Vivacious, inquisitive and stubborn”. In this on-going cinematic journey through words unsaid and sometimes unrequested, the father identifies the right way to create a connection and provides a clear perception of the theme, knowing that “Life offers us instruments to make us aware of our future and determine destiny”, as they believe in Mediolanum.

Tasked with telling the story in images, Özpetek emphasises that “In recent times our ability to determine how and when to imagine the kind of future we can expect has been put to the test. The continuity of time’s flow will be protected, with its recurring cycles as described by the Neapolitan philosopher Vico when he wrote about history repeating itself, even though I believe that everything is destined to change, to enrich the course of our existence”. But it’s the 20-year-old who turns out to be the most pragmatic. “Many young people of my age, myself included, are afraid of never being up to the challenge, because we live in a world where it’s hard to find a middle way, especially in the professional world where, rightly or wrongly, we need more qualifications than was the case in the past. To be honest, I wouldn’t know where to place my trust, I only hope that the new generation will promote a change in mentality and that Italy will integrate better with the rest of the EU”.

And his realistic, concrete vision of life is equally down-to-earth. “Money has a value and crucial importance in this society. Shares and investments are the basis for a capitalist world like the one we live in”. And what’s your view of the future? “I think we risk running out of money to fund decent pensions for all workers, but we may find a new formula to solve the problem”. Future, then, is optimism.

STYLE SELECTION - pag 148

Bubbly from the mountains

The Trentodoc sparkling wine, gearing up for the future.

BY GIACOMO FASOLA

The first person to understand the potential of this area was Giulio Ferrari who, at the beginning of the 1900s, after various trips to Epernay, recognised the similarities between Trentino and the Champagne region in France and began to experiment with the classic method based on refermentation in bottles. More than a century later, the TrentoDoc Institute that represents producers that employ the classic Trentino method, includes 74 municipalities, 61 producers and 188 labels. Its excellence is also recognised abroad. In 2020 the US publication Wine Enthusiast crowned Trentino Wine Region of the Year, while at the latest edition of The Champagne & Sparkling Wine World Championships, the brainchild of Champagne veteran Tom Stevenson, Trentodoc won 72 medals, a record for an Italian sparkling wine.

The bond between the Trentodoc wines and the mountain territory in which they grow is indivisible. Only here, in a land where 70% of the terrain is located over one thousand metres above sea level and 20% over two thousand metres, can the vines cultivated up to an altitude of 900 meters benefit from the thermic excursion between day and night that is indispensable to achieving the ideal level of acidity required for the classic production method. Only here do the warm winds blow northwards from Lake Garda ensuring the health of the grapes. And while the land gives, the wine can give back. With this very idea in mind, Trento Doc intended to create a mobile app that transforms the wine tasting experience into a journey of discovery around places where the wine is produced: 200 points of interest and 58 itineraries, to learn more about the 58 vineyards that represent the excellence of Trentino sparkling wines.

As well as the precise locations of the vineyards, the new Trentodoc app provides fact sheets, a catalogue of all the labels and a calendar of events. This tool, which is available for experts and visitors, is projecting the Trento Doc wines into the future, without forgetting the importance of their past. “The application supports enthusiasts in every situation: whether tasting the wines or travelling around the region, information will be close to hand and simple to access”, explains Sabrina Schench, director of the Trento Doc Institute, “What’s more, at a time when safety protocols are now essential, it is sure to be a particularly useful tool.”

Pitti Immagine Uomo Preview: autumn-winter 2022-23

THE SHOW

The Pitti method

BY ANTONIO MANCINELLI

- pag 152

Please do not call it a trade fair. Rather, call it an exhibition, an event, a gathering or even a ritual. Held in Florence, of course, a jewel of a city that twice a year, with Pitti Immagine Uomo becomes, in a sort of sophisticated inception, a four-day treasure chest of wearable ideas from the future, forecasting fashion a year before it becomes simple merchandise. A dialogue with the future that, given the event’s 50 years of history and more than 100 editions, aspires to be not just a commercial opportunity, but a revelation, a prophecy of fashions, manners and styles that will find their way into men’s (and why not? Also women’s) wardrobes. And not only wardrobes: over the years Pitti has produced epoch-making exhibitions such as Excess, Uniforme, Il quarto sesso and the more recent Romanzo breve di moda maschile. It has hosted the boldest and most glittering names in contemporary art, from Vanessa Beecroft to Thomas Demand, Matthew Barney to Doug Aitken, Shirin Neshat to Pipilotti Rist; it has published important essays in the form of catalogues or books in their own right; it has hosted the défilés of the newest fashion designers, with a notary’s attention to every minimal social, cultural and, therefore, also aesthetic change. It reminds us that what we wear has now become a fully-fledged part of the language of contemporary expression. Obviously, Pitti generates profits not only for those who take part, but also for the entire region. “In the preCovid era, the spin-off for the region was about 400 million a year just for companies linked to tourism, crafts, hospitality and culture. In thirty years we have brought in nine billion,” explains Raffaello Napoleone. Since 1989 Napoleone has been general manager and since 1995 managing director of Pitti Immagine, which remains the most important and authoritative – if not the largest – menswear trade fair, attracting buyers, companies, agents and manufacturers from all over the world, as well as journalists, intellectuals and artists. The snaking rivalry with Milan, where the most blasé designer labels are on show, is elegantly set aside by the Florentines and Milanese. “The important thing is to work as a system, there is no competition, especially these days,” says Claudio Marenzi, President of Pitti. Carlo Capasa, President of the Italian Chamber of Fashion, echoes these sentiments: “We should be proud to have Pitti in Florence and the men’s fashion shows in Milan, glad to be among those who manage to move forward at a time when it is not easy to do so.” Maybe Milan’s houses continue to consider Pitti a hyper-commercial fair, while in Tuscany they persist in viewing Milan as cold and lacking in collateral occasions that also let you dream a little. In fact, Pitti can count on an alliance with an urban backdrop with which it can provide quality entertainment that defies the closed and somewhat conservative character typical of a certain indigenous noblesse oblige, opening up palaces, villas, gardens, cloisters, museums, aristocratic residences but also disused industrial spaces that become catwalks, spaces for impromptu exhibitions, venues for even the most avant-garde fashion shows. Like when, in January 2020, the American-Liberian fashion designer Telfar Clemens, a designer of extreme collections, was invited to the rooms of Palazzo Corsini, where models passed dangerously close to antique furniture, delicate frescoes and fragile chandeliers: fortunately, nothing and nobody was damaged. The impact has been disruptive, as we hope will be the fashion show of Ann Demeulemeester, the Belgian designer loved by cerebral gentlemen everywhere, acquired in 2020 by Claudio Antonioli, who on 12 January will celebrate her 40 years as designer at the Stazione Leopolda, known to most for being a venue for Matteo Renzi’s speeches but acquired, restored and polished by Pitti itself. The Fondazione Pitti Discovery, set up in 2002, is in charge of organising exhibitions and collateral activities and has brought some major events to the city with the help of personalities such as Germano Celant, Franca Sozzani and Ingrid Sischy. Arts & Commerce, beauty & business, one might say: two realities that are inextricably entwined and on an equal footing, destined to trigger Stendhal’s syndrome for the innovations in clothing as much as for the architectural glories that visitors can

2004: the Vanessa Beecroft installation for Pitti Immagine at Florence’s Giardino dell’Orticoltura

become addicted to. They return here in the spirit of taking a short holiday in Italy, almost a Grand Tour redux,” smiles Francesca Tacconi, event coordinator and head of special projects. Come to think of it, this is a leitmotif that accompanies the relationship between numbers and projects, turnover and imagination that in 1951 led Giovanni Battista Giorgini to invent Italian fashion by having a number of Italian tailors show in his home, in front of a group of small buyers who marvelled at the clothes, enjoying the landscape, appreciating the courtesy, savouring the food, tasting the wine; in short, living inside a total work of art: today’s fake snobs would call it an ‘immersive experience’, but this was more than 70 years ago. “But the real turning point came in 1987, with the appointment of an enlightened entrepreneur, Marco Rivetti, as president. He then established the formula for a balance between a trade fair event and a major international exhibition,” Napoleone points out. The epicentre of the fair (oops! we said it again) is the Fortezza da Basso, a construction by Antonio da Sangallo (in collaboration with Pier Francesco Viterbo) dating back to the 16th century, surrounded by pavilions created in the 1950s and by others that are set up with ad hoc installations, two of which, for the first time in history (Show your flags, set up in the square in the Fortezza area in January 2020, and From Waste to New Materials, on the theme of sustainability), have this year been selected for the Compasso d’Oro, Italy’s top design award. The exhibition space is divided into different thematic areas, which change from year to year and bring together the various brands according to the styles and types of clothing they offer. “It’s a delirious architecture,” Napoleon jokes, “but it reflects the very nature of fashion, which absorbs more and more stimuli from different eras and historical moments. Moreover, the exhibitors who are selected by a jury made up of boutique owners, entrepreneurs and experts in the sector, cover all the possible requirements of interlocutors of different ages and different desires, in such a way that the event is considered indispensable for every level of consumer. We have never accepted requests to recreate our event abroad: it cannot be replicated elsewhere but we have exported our exhibitions to give an example of how we work. However, when it comes to “shows” like Pitti, there is only one. And it’s in Florence.”

THE BACKDROP - pag 156

Style, culture and entertainment

BY ANTONIO MANCINELLI

That one time in june 2017 when Jonathan Anderson, looking around Florence in search of places to showcase his collection (JW Anderson), arrived in Piazzale Michelangelo, which boasts one of the world’s most beautiful views, exclaimed “Will I have to put on the fashion show in a car park?” (He eventually chose Villa La Pietra, the campus of the New York University). And that other time when Hedi Slimane, now at Celine but in 2002 the breakout designer at Dior Homme, wanted to install inside the disused Leopolda Station a full-scale reproduction of the Versailles Hall of Mirrors, which required 34 stainless steel doors, all six metres tall, three wide and one thick immersed in the dark (at outrageous expense). “Where are the clothes?” guests asked as they tried not to trip over in the darkness. Or that other time, when Walter Van Beirendonck, in 2008 in the garden of the museum in Villa Stibbert, with Belgian precision, dressed and made up the models as fauns with long wax beards that melted because of the extraordinary heat and delays. Not forgetting, however, the time when the now late Virgil Abloh, in 2017 presented the Off-White range for the first time in Italy at Palazzo Pitti while Florence’s Musical May festival was underway, the concerts of which provided an unexpected soundtrack, resulting in an evening that was magical, unforgettable and so very Italian. Or when, in January 2019, Glenn Martens for Y/Project presented the fashion show in the cloister of the Santa Maria Novella church which was completely dark as there was no budget for lighting and so each guest was equipped with a torch, illuminating Cimabue’s huge Crucifix on their way to their seats: everyone considered it such a clever and spectacular sight. And then Romeo Gigli who had the idea to use the inhabitants of the San Nicolò neighbourhood as models on his fashion parade in 1991. Not to mention the great debuts of Dries Van Noten, Roberto Cavalli, Viktor & Rolf, the anniversaries (the G. A. Story show by Giorgio Armani directed by Bob Wilson, in 1996) the latest appearances (Versace’s show, just a few days before he was killed), the only runway show in Italy (Yohji Yamamoto, Rodarte, Cottweiler).

Listening to Lapo Cianchi, head of Communications and Events and Francesca Tacconi, Special projects and event coordinator, and their endless anecdotes about the “guest stars” invited to contribute special performances for the Pitti event in Florence, elicits laughter and emotion. “When we call them,” explains Tacconi, “they are generally flattered and cooperative, finding creative solutions even when finances are tight. When choosing them, first of all we listen to suggestions from people we trust. First among these is Antonio Cristaudo, Marketing Manager of the Pitti Immagine group – Mr. Pitti for

“Pitti Peacocks” are part of the Florence event

short – a traveller between the different fashion weeks around the world, who always manages to unearth new names, for example the South African Thebe Magugu, in June 2020, who inaugurated the first edition to reopen between one lockdown and another. An interesting feature is that the youngest names or those from the most distant locations are those who find the places where the city’s history resonates the most, where the past can be felt the strongest. It may seem strange, but it isn’t. Florence brings out a specific identity in the individual creator that exists in a happy contrast with the surrounding environment. Time and attention are dedicated to all of them and it is precisely that willingness to have an evening all for themselves that makes them so happy.” Aesthetic, sound, visual and artistic suggestions intertwine. This storm of stimuli can then be found in the streets, squares and alleyways of the city that transforms into a stage where people pouring out of the trade fair citadel into the centre of the city compete with their extravagant and strange looks, in contrast to the wannabe dandies dressed in formal clothes in a colour, a sort of cobalt, Bleu Royal, found only here, the vain breed of males known as the ‘Pitti Peacocks’. They flock like hippos to the watering hole, their tie knots bulging, to the square in front of the Fortezza da Basso, just to have their photos taken. And all this long before there were photographs of street style, influencers, and the most representative style icons, in a crescendo of narcissism that, who knows, perhaps was also at the origin of this year’s theme: Reflections, illustrated by a video and photos by Narènte, i.e. Lucio Aru and Franco Erre, two Sardinian artists who live in Germany. “The idea came about in Kreuzberg, in a bookshop called Motto. I bought a book there dedicated to the works of the artist Eric Oglander, who worked with mirrors positioned in the centre of landscapes to duplicate or hide reality. The mirror can represent duplication, selfrecognition, personal identity and the identity of the other, a contradictory sign that is deceptive, illusory and altering, referencing vanity, narcissism, voyeurism and evasion. But also new viewpoints, other perspectives and unexpected refractions,” explains the general manager of Pitti Immagine Uomo, Agostino Poletto. “Of course, there is also the exercise of reflection, of starting over that requires getting involved and not resting on your laurels,” he continues. It should also be said that Pitti has always experimented with new formulas to show fashion without having to crystallize it in a museum environment or showcase what men will be wearing in a year’s time: from the Leopolda Station, the venue of fundamental exhibitions, to the Museum of Costume and Fashion

at Palazzo Pitti, to the less well known Villa Palmieri at the Institute of Military Aeronautical Science, the entire city becomes a venue also of the imagination, redefining the relationships between commercial surroundings and cultural contexts, confirming the shrewdness of commerce in contrast with the inertia of institutions. “Trying to keep up with developments in menswear, we want to ‘stay on the ball’: when, in the 1990s, we realised that fashion was increasingly inspired by contemporary art, it was decided that adding moments to the fair where creative minds, also from beyond the world of fashion, could converge would also legitimise us with a new generation of designers, who had already begun to establish that dialogue: people who were bridging various forms of expression,” explains Cianchi. “We tried to focus the provocations and creative mutations in a city that becomes a throbbing hub of energies.” Which are you most fond of? “Those provided by Raf Simons, Jun Takahashi of Undercover, Rick Owens, Martin Margiela. Many of them began fruitful interactions, all with hugely different stories: fashion is an enormous confluence of small and precious that can carry the purest of waters.”

Lucie and Luke Meier

BRAND NEWS/1 - pag 160

The Classics

A quintessential style for the male wardrobe

WORDS BY VERONICA RUSSO

Myths Military-type wool: tech and tradition Wool takes centre stage, and especially so in next winter’s Myths trouser collection. Not just any wool, but brushed wool, with its soft touch, or military-type wool, with a slightly rough, more modern feel; and then there’s cordura, also known as “combat wool”, for its robustness and warmth. Not forgetting that well-made products are often the fruit of great partnerships, such as that between Myths and Bonotto, the world-renowned woollen mill. It is from the collaboration between these two powerhouses that a new limited-edition collection has originated: Recycled Luxury Wool, 499 pieces in recycled yarn that are hand numbered and presented in a special personalised package. For those who can’t do without their jeans, Denim Myths is another new collection made with recycled fabric that’s produced in full respect of the environment.

Lebole Green Vintage upcycled to winter favourites We can no longer afford waste, and this is why why Lebole is launching

its most environmentally conscious project to date: Green Lebole - Eco Friendly. What to do to help the planet? By applying the circular fashion concept (the latest collection is called The Circular Collection): the pieces don’t just last for a few seasons (so no “fast fashion”) and, thanks to a partnership with Comistra, they are produced using regenerated wool. The textile company - this year outside the Fortezza da Basso - takes what are now vintage garments and gives them a new lease of life without dyeing them (the colour is the same as the original garments, which are selected on the basis of their colour). Even all the details used to embellish the pieces are “eco”: the buttons are made of Zetabi, a biodegradable cellulose; the label is produced using yarns derived from recycled bottles, and even Lebole’s hangers are made of cornflour, and are therefore natural. And, of course, there’s all the elegance you’d expect of a Lebole garment.

Lorenzoni Preppy fashion: campus inspiration Remember 1970s tartan style blankets? They immediately inspired “evenings spent chatting with friends in front of a fire.” And now they’ve inspired Lorenzoni’s brushed alpaca polo shirts, a retro look that’s also available in natural green and khaki. A nod to the past with an eye always turned towards the future: Maglificio Liliana’s garments, of which Lorenzoni is one of the brands, are made using natural, sustainable fibres that are renewable, recyclable and biodegradable (and the company also does all it can to minimise its impact on the environment, including through the use of a photovoltaic system for its energy and by using dyes that are kinder to the environment). Coming back to style, preppy plays a prominent role, with garments inspired by university campus styles, although our personal favourites are the knitted blazers or the shirt-jacket versions that are perfect for wearing over polo necks. Briglia 1949 Genderless: a whole new style The lines become more subtle, less emphatic, the trousers more comfortable, with a softened look. The spirit of the times: elegance that embraces comfort. Briglia 1949, a trouser company from Campania with a sartorial craftsman’s spirit (and 500 stores worldwide) offers a light, relaxed collection, starting with the choice of fabrics: all-natural materials ranging from cotton to wool, often combined with new generation fibres, but which are always “organic” in origin, such as modal (made from spinning reconstituted beech tree cellulose) and lyocell (extracted from eucalyptus trees). And this is also the debut for Briglia’s first Genderless winter collection: trousers for absolutely everyone, regardless of gender, since clearly distinguishing between male and female is now simply meaningless.

Latorre Self-sustaining corporate values Fashion must also be about kindness: towards oneself, with a soft ecosustainable cashmere treat, as well as towards the environment that we live in. Latorre has been quite clear about this in presenting its “Roots” collection. But to fully understand what this really means, we have to start by looking at their company headquarters in Locorotondo, Bari: it’s almost entirely energy self-sufficient. The company also invests in the environment through planting new olive trees and allocating some of the revenue generated by this collection’s top models to associations whose activities are geared towards regenerating the local area. Speaking of models: the most iconic is the new double-breasted coat featuring a back martingale and flap pockets. Produced using natural fibres, obviously.

Belvest Baroque style and millennial modernity. Presenting the new sartorial Two themes provide the inspiration for the Belvest collection (tailormade inspired classic menswear since 1964): a touch of baroque in perfect union with all the modernity of the millennials. Neither excludes the other, with both doffing their proverbial caps to the lightness offered by the vivid colours and soft outerwear (like the bomber jacket in 14.5 micron wool). Then there are the three-dimensional houndstooth blazers, the peacoat with shawl collar, the cotton and cashmere T-shirts for all-year-round wearing and the trousers, such as the “Sartorial Jogger” model with drawstring. And we mustn’t forget another of Belvest’s cornerstones: sustainability. A value that’s pursued, for example, by using natural fibres and even “organic” buttons such as those made of tagua, “natural ivory” obtained from coconuts.

Xacus Flexible, breathable: a brand new cotton Is there such a thing as a 3D shirt? Yes, Xacus invented and premièred it at Pitti Immagine in Florence. It’s the new Flex Shirt made of an innovative cotton that’s both flexible and breathable (high-tech polyamide and elastene fibres interwoven with exclusive yarns). The garment, with its lightness, moves with the wearer and remains immaculate from morning to night. But there’s more, this renowned Vicenza shirtmaker also offers soft flannels of varying weights (also printed, in collaboration with Liberty of London), corduroy or smooth velvet with macro designs, and continues to

make extensive use of fine, yet recycled, materials. Indeed, sustainability remains at the heart of everything Xacus does, including through the use of organic cotton or fabrics combining wool with tancel (organic, ecological yarn obtained from eucalyptus trees).

BRAND NEWS /2 - pag 168

Leisure

Consciously straddling sporty and urban vibes. It’s “no work” time!

WORDS BY VERONICA RUSSO

Impulso

Paul&Shark Wear the sea – and help save it As always, water, in all its forms, is foremost in the thoughts of Paul&Shark’s creative team. This latest collection is also essentially a declaration of love: the theme is to Wear The Ocean, but also to protect it, since it’s one of our most precious resources. So, for example, the new Save the Sea hybrid jacket is not just a designer piece, it’s also made of Typhoon Save The Sea, a fabric derived from transforming plastic bottles that have been recovered from the sea. Furthermore, the brand uses the e.dye Waterless Color System technology to dye its materials, a textile dyeing approach that reduces water consumption by 85 percent, cuts harmful chemicals by 90 percent, and produces 12 percent less CO2 than traditional dyeing methods. Pleasant, soft, sporty pieces with a soul.

Impulso Come for the knitwear, stay for the rest “Hybrid” is one of today’s buzzwords: sweaters and jackets are no longer simply just that, they’re now combining multiple features to become something quite different. And Impulso’s reversible overshirts are a great example: part shirt (with all the details) and part nylon outerwear. Another buzzword is “colour”: everyone’s hankering for a bright, positive future, so cardio orange or vitamin yellow are the perfect tones even in mid-winter, featured on pullovers rendered voluminous and soft thanks to their delightful braiding. Then there are the large-pocketed jackets that (another hybrid) combine exclusive yarns and technological fabrics with colour that, instead of being added, is dabbed away by hand to obtain a tie-dye pattern, a marbled effect. Another of the brand’s strengths is its jogging suits: knitted or interlock (in organic cotton) and designed for lazy souls who are sporty at heart.

Richard J. Brown Exclusive denim jeans, the Italian way Nature in all its forms. Respect and love for the environment form the foundations on which Richard J. Brown is built, an Italian luxury denim brand. And the 2022-23 autumn-winter collection, previewed at Pitti, is no different: the brand’s intelligent, super “organic” philosophy will feature strongly in each of its new garments. The clearest example of this approach to fashion is provided by the “With a Green Soul” garments: jeans created to boast a sustainable footprint with every component: from the fabric to the buttons, from the rear logo label to all the finishing details. Among the new creations are the Manila: traditional pleated trousers embellished with side buckles. And then there are the reactive materials that follow the body’s every move, the jeans’ soft cashmere internal lining and the delightful “crisp” gabardines.

Lotto Leggenda Archive design, sporty soul, retro twist The shoe is already an icon: revived from the Lotto archives, the Lotto Leggenda takes its inspiration from some of Italy’s most famous sneakers - and those most loved by sports stars - in the 1970s (sported by the tennis player John Newcombe), the 1980s (adorning the feet of the Azzurri’s World Cup squad in 1982) and the 1990s (endorsed by stars, staying with tennis, such as Boris Becker). For the 2022-23 autumn-winter season, and being previewed at Pitti, there’s the new Signature, improved and refined to create two variants to be worn whenever, not just for sport: the Edge, sporting a revamped cut and details, and the Mid in white or black leather, to fully exalt the shoe’s unique design. And then there’s the latest Tokyo, also dug out from the Treviso brand’s archives: this is the Tokyo Fuji, an evolution of the Shibuya, with extra volume and a more technical slant. Icons past as well as present, like the tennis player Matteo Berrettini: he, too, is a fan of Lotto.

Fred Mello US casual wear with a European touch The inspiration comes from the United States, but Fred Mello’s know-how, hand and craftsmanship are all very much Italian. And this perfect union has created pieces that look great just about everywhere (the famous “made in USA” casual wear), making you feel great both inside as well as out in the cold, with one eye on what’s hot (Italian taste) and the other on what no discerning wardrobe should ever be without. So make way for soft cotton and polyester parkas with quilted padding (the bright red version is hard to miss), jersey-lined hoodies and the ever-popular cargo trousers: those by Fred Mello are in slightly stretchy gabardine and sport a logoed button.