Massimo Giorgetti, a seaside creature from the sea (he was born and raised in Rimini, a popular Italian summer resort on the Adriatic coast), recently came under the spell of mountain life: “At my green age of 44 years, after a life spent in swimsuits on the beach, I must confess that I fell in love with the alpine landscapes and high altitudes – and the life of some famous climbers “, he said over Zoom. “They were men as adventurous as they were handsome – which is always a good combination.”
After spending a lot of restoration time wandering the valleys of northern Italy, Giorgetti was completely struck by their beauty. “The mountains are about loneliness, oxygen, breathing – their energy so strong,” he meditated. In the MSGM men’s collection, he wanted to convey the strong feeling of experiencing such a naturalistic scale.
“Vertigo” (Italian translation of Vertigo) was the title of the collection, a word that captures the dizzying sensation that high altitudes can induce; but it was also chosen by Giorgetti as a metaphor for what we experienced in our quarantine circumstances – a disturbing feeling of being lost, almost to the point of unbalancing us. Although naturally equipped with copious doses of optimism, Giorgetti acknowledged that times are tough and that #pandemicfatigue has an effect. But being able to escape even briefly for his beloved mountains proved to be an energizing antidote – partly an increase in adrenaline, partly calm introspection.
The collection refers to the winter sports repertoire, leaning between high-performance techno equipment and retro refinement. The patrimony returns were fueled by the energetic fist of MSGM streetwear and flavored with an underground atmosphere from the ’90s. Short Tweed suits with a vintage St. Moritz, they were worn under oversized sweatshirts in lysergic colors; the postcards of luxury ski resorts from the 1930s have been turned into enlarged prints. The denim pants and anoraks were left with contours of the Mont Blanc silhouette – they looked cool paired with XXXL boxer shirts in attractive colors, printed in abstract motifs that mimicked the textures of the rocks and the icy reflections of the glaciers.
The vibration of the collection conveyed more evocative images for a cool trippy rave in the mountains than a healthy snowboard picnic in the Swiss Alps. The feeling was enhanced by the electronic soundtrack of the online video presented today at Milan Men’s Fashion Week – a pulsating, high-octane adventure composed and performed by Italian artist Nico Vascellari and his band Niños du Brasil.
Asked to expand on the creative concept behind the video, which reproduces random models under a snowstorm (perhaps a hopeful future scenario for the boys on their way to an undisclosed party location in the mountains?), Giorgetti said that this season he gave up artistic collaborations that were frequently part of his fashion practice: “I wanted something normal. Sincere. Simple. The experimentation is very good. But nothing can beat a good-fashioned, old-fashioned show without nonsense, ”he said. “Even under the snow it would.”