Mood board: With his label, designer Massimo Giorgetti has created a look that perches on the forward slash between street/sportswear. Last season he cast a fresh line-up of undergraduates for a collegiate cool collection staged at the Università Statale – S/S 2019 takes on a more active mood. Entitled GAME, the show space was a sports court with piles of striped MSGM volleyballs in the middle of the catwalk. The invitation was a plastic sports water bottle with a printed silk scarf, knotted around the neck. The mood was again youthful and reflective as Giorgetti explored his formative experiences and memories of growing up in the sea-facing city of Rimini on the Adriatic coast. Known for its nightlife, the clothes had a beach bum meets club kid feel. The oomph of Italian New Wave, and coastal pursuits met with a more street-smart Milanese sensibility.
Best in show: ‘It’s all of the things I really love, just maybe with more courage,’ Giorgetti said backstage. Bringing the two cities of Rimini and Milan together, the clothes riffed on sportswear staples like Bermuda shorts, short sleeved boxy shirts, velvet beachwear and deck-chair stripe denim. Faded fluros, sun-bleached cottons and punchy prints of graphic palm trees and tie-dye knits gave the collection a bright laissez-faire. Silk shirts are printed with mock multivitamin graphics reminiscent of Damien Hirst’s ‘The Last Supper’ series from 1999; volley ball tops are emblazoned with the words ‘ENERGY’ and ‘CHARGE’. Neon nylon shirts are supercharged and resort ready.
Team work: Japan’s most loved volleyball players, Mila & Shiro from the 1984 Japanese manga series created by Jun Makimura and Shizuo Koizumi ‘Attacker You!’ are printed onto the front of t-shirts and hoodies. Giorgetti collaborated with American swimwear brand Sundek, showing pairs of swim shorts with primary punch. Archival images by the American photographer Roger Minick are here too; Minick is best known for his ongoing series ‘Sightseer’ which he started in 1979 by taking portraits of tourists in National Parks in the US. His picture of a couple wearing matching graphic floral shirts, taken at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon in 1980, is printed across a jersey sweatshirt and silk scarf, worn tied over the head.
