“While everybody is touring the world to present resort collections, we’re touring Milan,” said Massimo Giorgetti during a walk-through of his latest MSGM lineup.
Scouted via the photographic tome “Entryways of Milan” — which the designer said he has been obsessed with since it was released by Taschen in 2017 — the city’s 1950s building Palazzo Ina served as the location to show off Giorgetti’s collection. With its mosaic pink columns and cobalt walls, concrete textures and marble flooring, the space resonated with MSGM’s energy and urban spirit and made for a smart, nonliteral choice to interpret a rather exotic seasonal theme for the designer: safari.
Nodding to a trip to Tanzania he took a few months ago, the inspiration was filtered through Giorgetti’s unique prism of colors, tie-dye and faded effects, feminine embellishments and overall nonchalant attitude, which further cast a refreshing light on obvious references, such as safari jackets and animal patterns.
A cow print had an abstract artsy feel on mannish velvet suits or pencil skirts, while a giraffe motif resulted in an almost optical effect when splashed on polished fluid dresses with bell sleeves and gowns with cutouts.
While gabardine separates in military green were cropped in mini proportions, injecting a more youthful vibe to utility pieces, Giorgetti added a personal touch to some looks via pictures from his iPhone’s camera roll. Images taken at sunset or dawn before one of his safari tours were printed on ribbed cotton tank tops and dresses, as well as on blazer jackets’ linings.
Other recurring and quintessentially MSGM elements were big bows and ruffles that injected a romantic spin into poplin shirts and pinstripe dresses. They added to an array of floral embellishments since Giorgetti turned his fascination with African daisies into fancy appliques in pleated organza; maxi prints popping on sweaters and suits; even more scaled-up graphics rendered in tonal shades on cotton canvas separates, and sweet motifs in jacquard knits.
Cashmere knitwear and tailoring emphasized the more elevated direction the brand is taking, as Giorgetti is rewriting his codes in a more sophisticated way but without compromising the brand’s signature approachability.
After all, isn’t the purpose of traveling to return home and see things with different eyes, whether they are wardrobes or cities?
“Milan has still a lot to offer,” said Giorgetti, revealing that this look book is actually the first of four iterations, kicking off a long-term photo project aimed at spotlighting the city’s architectural treasures. “And where you plan to set and photograph the collection helps the creative process, too,” he noted.
