It’s not every day one catches Massimo Giorgetti in a total black look — let alone witness nine total black outfits in a row in one of his MSGM shows.
Such a sequence made for a cool anomaly in the brand’s fall 2023 collection, which also marked the first time the designer had “no mood board, nor a story to tell,” Giorgetti admitted backstage.
Pure instinct and his eye for shapes and textures guided the creative process, which was a natural reaction to his desire for neatness and detox from the overflow of images, references and inputs around him.
The plain off-white location evoking this clean slate further amplified the surprising effect of the black designs as they came out on the expansive runway. Building on the more mature direction Giorgetti has been increasingly pointing to, this part of the lineup included tailored mohair jackets; plush faux furs; body-hugging dresses, and miniskirts covered in bows; little black dresses with corsetry details, and even an incursion into eveningwear with a one-shouldered silk slipdress featuring a plunging side slit and furry trims.
Yet, in Marie Kondo-ing his fashion this season, Giorgetti aptly found himself keeping what sparks joy in him, retracing many of said elements in his own archives. That’s when colors kicked in and plush textures multiplied in the lineup, with a triumph of faux furs, fluffy hats and shoes all rendered in vibrant hues and bouncing as the models strutted at the fast-paced beat of The Chemical Brothers’ hits.
Adding to the tactile quality of the collection, furry knits were offered in maxi volumes; leopard patterns were introduced as basics in coats and blazer jackets; abstract prints and striped shirts were styled with flocked denim separates, whose appearance was mimicked in a sequin-covered blue shirt and matching baggy pants.
A brocade fabric reprised from an MSGM collection of a decade ago still made for one of the highlights when cut in a miniskirt or short frock. “It’s a way to go back to those years, when we were freer. There was less merchandise and rules and our heads were less polluted, too,” said Giorgetti.
Although expressed boldly, here was a compelling exercise of simplification, both in terms of the number of pieces per look and their immediate readability. The collection also restated that as much as Giorgetti pivots toward a more refined aesthetic or strips down brainy references, there’s one core asset he luckily can’t silence: that youthful energy that’s the very essence of MSGM and that always cuts through the noise.
