December 28, 2015 |
There was something different about MSGM this season. There was change. Not that change is a bad thing, but when a house develops a signature so strong and then departs from it, you sit up a little straighter. And what was the change? Print. Or lack of it, in this case. Print to MSGM is what breathing is to humans, or so we thought. And yet, it all still felt unmistakably MSGM. Think of this as Massimo Giorgetti pressing reset on the house that he built. Or an evolution of a vision. Either works.
NATALIE DEMBINSKA: “What are you up to at the moment?”
MASSIMO GIORGETTI: “After the men’s collection I have to start working on the women’s show… I’m very busy and I’m waiting for my holiday.”
ND: “What was your starting point with the AW15 collection? What was the inspiration?”
MG: “This collection is dedicated to a more grown-up woman. The colour is dominant and, for the first time in MSGM, it is all about colour blocks, and not just prints. The inspiration is sport chic, with a tone of familiar nostalgia. The prints are no longer digital, but they still live, thanks to applications and through the combination of different materials.”
ND: “You’re best known for your prints, so much so they’ve become a signature. Where does your love of print come from?”
MG: “I was born and grew up in Rimini by the sea, just like Federico Fellini, who was born and grew up there, too, so from when I was young to my adolescence I’ve been in contact with the sea, colours, umbrellas and stripes, all under the influence of fashion. Prints and colours are part of my life.”
ND: “Where does your love of colour come from? What’s your favourite colour?”
MG: “My favourite colour is yellow.”
ND: “You chose not to show prints this season – why?”
MG: “It is natural for a brand to grow and evolve. I wanted to give to MSGM a more sophisticated and clean look, without losing its smart, dynamic, colourful, ironic, irreverent DNA.”
ND: “Who is the MSGM woman? What does she do? Where does she go? What is the one thing she can’t live without?”
MG: “The MSGM girl is young and loves fashion with a capital F. She’s very fashionable without being a fashion victim. She’s extremely informed and in touch with everything. She’s a girl who is both courageous and irreverent, a bit like the MSGM collection. She goes dancing all night long, but she also goes to visit an exhibition the day after. She loves travelling, having fun, meeting new friends. She can’t live without her mobile!”
ND: “What’s your favourite piece in the collection and why?”
MG: “The long fluoro coats with contrasting pockets, because they represent the fall-winter 2015 collection as well as the MSGM DNA.”
ND: “What do you think about when you’re working?”
MG: “When I work I listen to music. Music has always influenced my design, starting from the inspiration of my brand name – the group MGMT. All my world is around me when I work, because my job is an extension of my life.”
ND: “Did you always want to be a designer? When did you know that designing clothes was what you wanted to do, because you started out working in accountancy, didn’t you?”
MG: “In the second year of accounting school, at the age of 16, I had already figured out it was the wrong school. The maths books and banking were really a nightmare. I always waited impatiently for Saturday to arrive so I could go to the newsstand and buy all the fashion publications – Vogue, L’Uomo Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle, etc. I wanted them all. And I read them all. Then, at the age of 17, I was asked to be the male model for fittings and, in a few months, I learned all the technical aspects of modelling, packaging, stitching, etc. Once I finished my exams, I started out as a salesman in a dear friend’s boutique. From sales in store I moved to sales in showrooms and, two years later, I was already facing the problems and responsibilities of a product-design department of a large company. There I had the good fortune to find the Paoloni group, which believed in me from the start, so much that, at 24 years old, I was already responsible for two clothing lines. At that moment I realised that maybe this was going to be my future and, in 2009, the adventure began.”
ND: “What’s your first memory of making something?”
MG: “Since I was four, I was obsessed by furniture and furnishing. At least once a month I shifted the arrangement of my bedroom. My passion for design and interior design was already clear.”
ND: “Did you always want your own label? Weren’t you scared about going it alone?”
MG: “I’ve always been fascinated by fashion, probably also because part of my family is connected to the fashion world, since my uncles had an embroidery studio and my aunt was a dressmaker. Anyway, I am very proud of my parents that don’t belong to this world. I grew up in a simple and genuine family that lives in the countryside near the sea. I consider this a great value. As I mentioned, MSGM was born in a natural way, also thanks to the help of the Paoloni group, so I was not scared, but excited to see my project growing.”
ND: “How important was it to you to build a ‘brand’?”
MG: “When I founded MSGM I wanted the brand to grow slowly but surely, having a cool, fresh and ironic look. Today MSGM is a brand known worldwide, but I think there is still much to do around MSGM… That makes me excited!”
ND: “What do you do when you’re not working? What do you do to relax?”
MG: “The morning starts with a nice breakfast, then I read fashion magazines, I go to the gym and I take my dog Pane to the park. When I have the opportunity I visit new exhibitions. I love spending Sundays watching TV series and seeing my friends.”
ND: “What motivates you?”
MG: “The fact of doing something for myself, working in a fantastic arena. I have always loved fashion world, and also the fact that, in some way, with MSGM I’m making people happy… happy about wearing cool things that represent their spirit and their style.”
ND: “How important is music to you?”
MG: “Music has been my passion since forever. I like to think that my collections are a material interpretation of the sound – music for your eyes!”
ND: “Can you define the MSGM aesthetic?”
MG: “MSGM is smart, dynamic, colourful, ironic, irreverent, brave!”
Text by Natalie Dembinska, taken from Issue 55 of 10 Magazine, on newsstands now…
Photograph by Jason Lloyd-Evans, taken backstage at MSGM AW15
