In possession of an exquisite holiday home on the coast of Liguria, known as the Italian Riviera, Massimo Giorgetti could be forgiven for enjoying a thoroughly good lockdown. He was at his nautical-inspired hideaway when the country’s government announced it was about to impose travel restrictions on the country. He could’ve decided to hole up there, starting each day with a swim and a spot of paddle-boarding before taking his laptop to the terrace.
But Giorgetti admits he felt the pull of Milan. “I felt guilty, being in such a beautiful place rather than in Milan in this moment of suffering,” he said, speaking over FaceTime from the gallery space in the city where he has an office, and where he had set up his spring collection. “I wanted to be close to my team. I felt it was the right choice.” He remained in Milan for three months, isolated in his Brutalist apartment, working with his team over video-conferencing apps, and the experience had a profound effect on his aesthetic. The result is a radical rethinking of the codes of MSGM, founded as a streetwear brand with an emphasis on youth. Simply put, the spring collection is simple.
“It’s a very different approach for us,” he agreed. “I wanted something dreamy and, at the same time, more clean.” His favorite look in the collection is a common-or-garden tank top, paired with an oversized shirt. “It’s less about the wow, the quirk, the weird—it’s more about real pieces for real women.” He opted out of a catwalk show in favor of a video, starring women who were invited to pick their own look, style it their way, and photograph it on themselves. On camera, the young women—who include Zinnia Kumar, a London-based scientist and chartered ecologist currently working on a research paper about colorism, business psychology, and sustainability, and Roberta de Titta, a young trans woman who this week coincidentally became the first trans person on the cover of Vanity Fair Italia—talk about the first time they traveled on a plane, or who they were named after.
Taking their advice as they dressed themselves was uniquely informative for Giorgetti. “I will be honest, it was an experiment, but I learned a lot. The girls would tell me, ‘I don’t like this ruching, I don’t like this fit, it’s too feminine.’ They wanted looser fits, more masculine styles.” They were also passionate about the environment, which chimed with Giorgetti’s desire to pivot to more sustainable materials. The collection features organic cotton and linen, recycled nylon, and the prints are “bucolic,” as Giorgetti puts it, comprising watercolor brushstrokes of sheaves of wheat. For a designer obsessed with youth culture, the experience has changed his view on his label. “I want to be much more sensitive and careful when it comes to my fabrics.”
The jubilant, attention-grabbing colors on which MSGM made its name are still present—highlights include a tangerine suit, a yellow-striped caftan that looks as jolly as a holiday umbrella, and a handful of relaxed oversized shirts with tie-dye detail—but there are muted additions. Particularly unexpected is a beige two-piece with raw edges in a one-size-up fit, and a carpenter jacket embroidered with tiny bunches of grapes. “It’s not genius, it’s obvious,” said Giorgetti, with a smile. “Everyone changed during the lockdown, and I changed too.”
