Massimo Giorgetti's MSGM may be the best shot Milan has to a next big thing. Amid a sea of suits and entrenched traditionalism, his streetwise label takes its cues from novel, usually non-sartorial sources. Giorgetti's particular strength is his way of pastiching graphic prints and jarring patterns. This was seen in his recent sweatshirt collaboration with Toilet Paper, the image-heavy magazine-cum-book from artists/satirists Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, which has become something of a cult publication. With an eye for colorful, suggestive abstraction, Giorgetti might have counted himself among the great Italian futurists, had he been born a century ago.
That sense of appropriated rearrangement marked the designer's impressive Spring men's collection. Backstage he spoke of wanderlust, road trips, fragmentation, and culture clash, the words "never stop" a constant refrain. On the runway, those motley themes made for rather high-concept fare—a fantastic jumble of national flags in muted colors; pastel stripes veering in all directions; a summery yet noirish frond print; leather sandals worn with toeless socks; and visors dangling around the neck. Blue denim and khaki were sprinkled throughout to signify Giorgetti's street origins—and all of the above was set to a jumble of another sort, a schizophrenic remix of Yacht's catchy "I Walk Alone" track. To an ever-scrolling generation for whom cognitive dissonance is a good thing, it will make complete sense.
