Scene setting: The venue for Massimo Giorgetti’s A/W 20 presentation had a beaming red light sculpture in the middle of the polished concrete floor. Machines churned ribbons of smoke around the pools of light. The mood was dark and perverse. The collection was made in collaboration with iconic film director Dario Argento and, on Instagram, the brand had shared snippets of Italo horror from the 1970s. Naturally the runway was bathed in blood red. ‘I am obsessed with Dario,’ Giorgetti said. ‘The collection is inspired by his masterpieces and also his whole way of being.’ The back of jackets and the front of T-shirts told the same story: ‘Fairytales are full of terrifying things.’
Mood board: The invitation – a thick red card with lime green core and an illustration of the smashed doll face from Argento’s 1975 film Deep Red – came to life via a VR app. Hovering the camera over the card, a panicked slideshow of campy horror glamour flashed up on the screen. Giorgetti paid homage to his hero using his archive of poster prints on shirts and t-shirts. Tailoring was cut sharply with added buckle detailing. Black denim was dyed with red as if bloodstained – kitsch iconography of monsters and cats leapt out. The collection was entitled ‘Haunted’, but every look held optimistic energy.
Sound bite: ‘Dario once said “we are two. My dark side and I” and I totally believe this. We worked together on the prints, the lighting and I’m really proud because it’s like coming back to school – he is an idol from when I was a teenager,’ Giorgetti said. The collection used a colour palette lifted from Argento’s classics: Deep Red, The Cat o’ Nine Tails and Suspiria. ‘Dario loves colours, he loves beauty. He is quiet and calm. For this collection some looks are very chic, classic but I thought, it’s okay, it could be very MSGM. This is a new side of MSGM evolving after ten years. It is a new decade after all.’
