1986 coming-of-age film Pretty in Pink and Milanese contemporary art magazine Flash Art laid the foundation for Massimo Giorgetti’s latest collection
Bringing together a conceptual art magazine and the bubblegum clothing of 1980s rom-coms in one fashion collection might seem like a tenuous pursuit, yet MSGM creative director Massimo Giorgetti managed to do just that for his A/W19 show, staged in Milan last week. “From the beginning, I’ve thought about this collection like a movie,” he tells AnOther of his design approach. “I grew up in the 80s, when fashion in films was so powerful. I wanted everything to be very cinematic and full of character.”
Titled Spezzacuori, the Italian word for ‘heartbreaker’, Giorgetti simultaneously spoke in the language of love and the native language of the brand he founded in ten years ago. This season, the MSGM woman was imagined as a contemporary Molly Ringwald circa John Hughes’ 1986 coming-of-age film Pretty in Pink: oversized structured pussybows; prom dress silhouettes in moire taffeta; mohair sweater dresses, and slouchy, houndstooth suiting worthy of the Brat Pack. “I wanted everything to be very cinematic and full of character: night comes to day, passion and desire is worn on your sleeve, tailoring has power,” says the designer.
There were, of course, graphic and optical prints galore, in the form of sweetheart insignias and garish digital abstractions reminiscent of party balloons. However, it was through the typographic prints splashed across shirts and high-waisted jeans that Giorgetti brought in his wildcard: a special collaboration with Flash Art, a bi-monthly Milanese contemporary art magazine founded in 1967. Flash Art is famous for publishing Andy Warhol’s final interview before his death in 1987, and Jeff Koons’ 1988 colour lithographs, Art Magazine Ads – so in a way, it was a fitting tribute to MSGM’s penchant for Pop Art in more ways than one. The magazine is also synonymous with artist Maurizio Cattelan, who has appeared on its cover on more than 11 occasions – perhaps not so coincidentally, MSGM has previously teamed up with Cattelan’s own publication Toilet Paper, too.
Despite its potential to be overly cerebral, Giorgetti presented a fun collection of wearable pieces, that will no doubt follow in the footsteps of his previous work that has received both commercial and critical acclaim. As he concurs: “These are clothes to wear for pleasure, for living your life, and the movie life you dream of living.”
