If a collection’s look is an indicator of a designer’s mood, then today’s MSGM show suggested that Massimo Giorgetti is at the moment in quite a good place. He’s traveling, at least visually, in sunny California, where he’s hanging out with west coast skaters, chilling with latter-day hippies in Venice Beach, even going as far as Nevada for Burning Man. On his backstage mood board, pictures of huge waves from Wolfgang Tillmans’s exhibition at London’s Tate Modern were pinned alongside images of street art and purple explosions taken from Instagram, a constant source of research for the designer. They suggested, perhaps, an emotional need for escape, but also of unrestrained and instinctive self-expression.
The MSGM dudes Giorgetti sent down the runway wore workwear-inspired madras parkas in bonded techno-organza, reworked into oversized volumes; they were paired with skater shorts and huge backpacks with folk detailing. Color gave a joie de vivre jolt to sporty-inspired shapes; army green was paired with bubblegum pink or turquoise on canvas chinos and trucker jackets. A parka of inflated proportions was created with Tyvek, a papery nylon fabric, that was trimmed with fluorescent velcro straps and ribbons. It made for a cool look, Cali skater meets nostalgic ’70s Bali surfer.
Thick knitwear had a handmade, beatnik feel, as in a slouchy sweater embroidered with flashy lettering worn with very short shorts; on a sportier note, light blousons were layered over boxy tees. A tropical print was reduced to an abstract graffiti motif, and watercolor flowers seemed to explode on nylon ponchos, while garden bouquets made a surprise appearance hand-painted on a chino pantsuit.
The MSGM guy definitely has a gentle, preppy-meets-Pop side. He barbecues on the beach, likes a retro-tinged logo sweatshirt, and old-school sneakers with beaded details. He listens to The Prodigy and feels at ease with the idea of being a hippie, which for him is just an idea, certainly not a memory. He goes religiously to the gym, which isn’t really a bohemian concept, wearing tape-logoed shorts and jumbo T-shirts, for which he has a sort of obsession. There’s really nothing for him to rebel against.
