MSGM | Massimo Giorgetti

Massimo Giorgetti is quite determined into turning any dream he has into reality. The founder and creative director of Milan-based, 8-year old, contemporary label MSGM challenges his male and female customers by offering bold, Technicolor ideas. He reflects wonderful sensibility for the zeitgeist by keeping things simple while citing music as his main influence. We like that!
He spent two years at Pucci, replacing Peter Dundas until last year when he decided for an exit to focus on his brand. He pioneers in staging shows with extremely interesting cast (eg.UNI students) wearing super cool clothes that are less about the industrial feel but more about street style obsessions. The good boy of Italian fashion is here to stay!

FilepMotwary: It is always interesting to hear a designer describe the man and the woman he/she designs for. Who are the MSGM male and female heroes, what are they about?

MassimoGiorgetti: My heroes of reference are simply the kids of today, aware of the challenges that life will reserve, mature enough to understand the mistakes made by the generations that preceded them. They have a clear vision of what the future should be; yet these guys also want to have fun. They might appear sometimes, as light but they are definitely not superficial. I can pursue their ideals and values in a calm but effective way.

FM:Massimo, in today’s society everything is exhilarated, I wonder how difficult it is to create collections that speak to both the current trend and the individuality of the brand?

MG: I think it’s often much harder to allow a brand to be individual and consistent rather than just a trend. I reflected not so long ago that MSGM is now able to walk alone and that even with few ingredients used, these are enough to make it trendy every season.

FM: What is the role of the body in your design process, what are the morals you follow for each of the sexes? It appears that they borrow pieces from each other…

MG: I have no moral or pre-established rules; I get inspired by the moment, by the season, by what struck me. In the beginning when I first created my collections I imagined the MSGM woman friend of the MSGM man. Now I went further and imagine the MSGM woman, the girlfriend, or partner of the MSGM man as a couple that almost lends to each other and exchanges clothes.

FM: Colour is such an emotional encounter and you use it plenty in your collections, can you kindly elaborate on this?

MG: The colours remain and are a very important aspect of my creative process. I consider myself a tangentially optimistic person thinking of color as positivity, not only impresses our visual sense but is able to act on every aspect of our being.

 
FM: What about emotion in general, can we manoeuvre emotion through fashion? In what ways can you keep a dialogue with the audience that follows you?

MG: I do not know if I can infuse emotions with my clothes, but coming back to talking about colors is a scientifically proven fact that chromo-therapy has the ability to improve our mood and, I hope, change our character. My shows are the expression of the period I live and I believe that now many of my clients have grown up with me in parallel, it is not a dialogue, but rather a journey we made together.

FM: It also seems like the younger generation has a new sensibility of not being afraid of who they are by showing it. Are you interested in youth?

MG: Kafka said: ‘Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who is able to maintain the ability to see beauty will never become old’.

FM: And what would be your definition of modern?

MG: I do not know if I’m modern, but I definitely like to live as current person.

FM: I wonder about your design process at MSGM, are you more intuitive or more analytical?

MG: I’m intuitive, but I always like to analyze my intuitions.

FM: What is the biggest challenge your brand is facing right now?

MG: Lets say the biggest risk you ever took? The challenges of my brand are always the same, every year, every season, but I believe that now MSGM should simply grow and be known more and more. Surely the most risk I took was to start MSGM. When I started I was much more naive and I never imagined that I would get this far.…

FM: and if you compare yourself now with how you started in the late 00’s, what are the things that have changed evolved and progressed in your approach and as result of what experiences?

MG: The boy who started in those years grew up and became a man, initially everything I did was very instinctive, I was sure of myself and hardly changed my mind, today my mind is more analytical, I dwell on my decisions and would change my mind often, this is good for questioning and synonymous with maturity and awareness. In practice, the big changes around me were also practical, think of how this started alone in a small office, the first time with only two employees, today only the company’s headquarters here in Milan employ a team of more than twenty people.

FM: In the 1980’s Italian fashion received, somehow, the approval of the French fashion scene by welcoming Gianfranco Ferre to a French House, Christian Dior. Could you describe the Italian fashion scene, as it is today and where it stands in the global fashion sphere, being a successful designer yourself? Why don’t you move to Paris for example?

MG: The financial crisis of 2008 hit this country very hard above all the “Made in Italy” branding that was based on small manufacturing companies that were scattered throughout the peninsula. The Italian brands have understood that to be strong they have to make a new system, by collaborating together, a bit like what happened in the 80s. Italian fashion is experiencing a new spring and I cannot but be proud of being part of it. I love Paris very much, but I don’t see or find reasons why I should move to the French capital. I am happy being Italian and producing my collections here in my home country.

FM: Would you be interested in taking over a big house again, like you did with Pucci?

MG: Not now.

FM: I wonder what can one learn from working for a big house as such?

MG: The experience in a great fashion house like Pucci forms you as a manager, I learned the importance of a company staff, the value and weight of the talents who choose themselves to be close collaborators and above all to manage, as a conductor does; most importantly, the value of working with a great team.

FM: Is it difficult to maintain morals that are opposite from fast fashion? What separates good fashion from bad fashion these days?

MG: I offer a completely different product than the one that offers fast fashion, so our dynamics are completely different from theirs. Nowadays the difference between good fashion and bad fashion is seen in the consistency of a message and in the quality of the product.

FM: What was fashion suffering from in the last ten years you think and why? Is it necessary for one to be optimistic?

MG: I believe that the suffering of fashion in these recent years has been caused by a sudden and unexpected digital revolution and many brands have not managed to keep up with the times. Social networks and e-commerce have completely changed the way we communicate and sell, we simply had to find the time to understand and apply this revolution in our favor. As a good Italian I think it is always necessary and vital to be optimistic.

 

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SHORT BIO

Born in Rimini, Italy Massimo Giorgetti initially trained as an accountant before taking a job in retail and later consultancy for a boutique in Riccione. In 2009 Giorgetti founded the fashion brand MSGM in Milan after securing a partnership with the Paoloni Group. In 2010 MSGM won Giorgetti the Vogue Italia AltaRoma ‘Who Is On Next?’ prize for young fashion talent. In 2015 Giorgetti took over as the creative director for Emilio Pucci; in April 2017 Giorgetti announced he would be stepping down from the position in order to focus on MSGM.