Tag: throwbackthursday

Throwback Thursday: A Day At Armani / Silos And 40 Years of Emporio Armani

giorgio armani print dress
Armani / Silos – Giorgio Armani dress

Armani / Silos has always been one of my favorite places in Milan since the first time I had the chance to see it in 2017. Located in the heart of the Tortona district, where most of the Milan Design Week events take place every year, it is a huge building dedicated to the Giorgio Armani universe.

With a surface area of 4500 sqm and extending over four levels, the space opened in 2015 to celebrate 40 years of the Italian designer’s career. It is called “Silos” because the structure was originally a barn built in 1950 that was used to keep the grains.

During the renovation of the space Giorgio Armani, who personally supervised the project, chose to focus on minimalism, eliminating the superfluous and preferring regular geometrical forms that perfectly match the aesthetics of his brand.

Armani / Silos tells the story of more than 40 years of Armani’s career, showcasing about 400 clothes and 200 accessories from 1980 to this day. As he carefully selected items for display that best represented his world, the designer explained: “[…] Fashion, which seems to live in an eternal present, needs to reflect on itself and its roots precisely in order to project itself into the future, accompanying and often anticipating major social changes. Remembering how we have been helps us understand how we can be.”

Giorgio Armani.
Giorgio Armani creations – Armani / Silos
Armani Silos.
Armani through the years – Armani / Silos
Fifty Shades of Red - Armani.
Shades of red – Armani / Silos
READ MORE

Throwback Thursday: My Trip To Dublin For My High School Internship Abroad Program

St. Patrick's Day Parade part II.
Saint Patrick’s Day Parade dancers in orange – Courtesy of MF

In 2011 I had the amazing opportunity to take a two-week trip to Dublin as part of my language studies program. I had already been to Ireland when I was about thirteen years old for what was basically a summer educational course; I remember visiting Dublin’s Castle and Trinity College but 2011 was when I really had the chance to discover Dublin and its surroundings.

My classmates and I were studying at the Centre of English Studies; while I am bilingual in English and Italian, it was nonetheless a very interesting course because we were taking part in discussions about different topics and the classes were designed to make us think and express opinions on various matters. I have the best memories of those days in the city and it was like having a glimpse into adulthood, as for many of us it was the first time we were away from our families for what seemed an incredibly long time. We were accompanied by a couple of teachers from our school, but most of the time we were walking the city on our own (except during school hours) and had a lot of free time in the evenings.

When we first arrived I remember opening the wrong car door because I had completely forgotten that in Ireland and the UK they drive on the left, so it was quite hilarious! My roommate Carla and I had been assigned to a lovely family in the neighborhood of Artane, which is a very calm and residential area on the outskirts of the city; the neighborhood is served by various Dublin Bus routes, so it was easy for us to reach the city center, where the school is located.

River Liffey – Dublin, Ireland
Fitzsimons of Temple Bar
River Liffey, Dublin.
River Liffey at sunset – Taken with my old iPhone 3GS
O’ Connell Street

At first we were a bit intimidated by the city and decided we would never go out at night, but changed our minds on the second day because we managed to move around in groups. The lady at our house was very strict about curfew because I was still a minor, so the main rule was to get back by midnight, a rule we were breaking all the time because we always took the bus too late.

In my opinion, Dublin is one of the best European cities and there are so many places worth visiting; the city is home to many characteristic pubs even though they generally don’t allow minors to enter because of the drinking age law; the Temple Bar area is pretty amazing for taking pictures, as it is very Irish. Most of those pubs host soccer and rugby matches and Irish people like to get together to watch the games.

READ MORE

Throwback Thursday: My Experience At Milan Fashion Week Over The Years

Image Credits: Michael Gostner

As I mentioned in the article about my favorite looks from MFW Spring / Summer 2023, today’s Throwback Thursday is dedicated to my experience at Milan Fashion Week over the years.

My father has been working as a fashion agent and showroom manager since the early 1990s; his first showrooms were in Milano Fiera and the Tortona District. He then went on to work for the Italian brand Via delle Perle and opened a new showroom in Via Montenapoleone (Quadrilatero della Moda, which is basically the Fashion District).

I have always been fascinated by his work and I followed his path, as I am now a fashion consultant and marketing manager for our company (aside from doing some freelance photography work).

I was about thirteen years old when I started attending fashion week in Milan; it was during the September edition in 2008, when fashion week wasn’t even called so. Everyone referred to it as “Milano Vende Moda”, which means “Milan Sells Fashion” in Italian, and it took place in the Milano Fiera District (Via Gattamelata), where all the major fashion shows and events were organized; this went on until 2010, when fashion shows began to take place all around the city. Like today, fashion week was convened and sponsored by the National Chamber for Italian Fashion (Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana) and it attracted numerous people from the international fashion industry.

I grew up with fashion thanks to my father’s job and looking at my mother, who’s always had a French style, for fashion advice; anyway, when you’re a teenager you generally feel the need to discover your own fashion tastes, so for me it was all about experimenting. I won’t post pictures of my first fashion week outfit because it was taken at home before going out, so the light was all wrong (I was wearing low-waist pants, a bare midriff top and a big white D&G belt, an outfit that was highly influenced by early 2000s fashion), but I enjoy looking at that picture today and seeing how my style and sense of fashion has evolved over the years.

In September 2008 I had the chance to attend my first fashion shows with Samuelle Daves, a late friend of my father’s and one of his closest collaborators back in the day. Samuelle was also one of the editors at BOOK Moda Magazine and he was my first mentor; he was hard-working, sensitive and intelligent and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities he gave me when I was still very young. He used to introduce me to people as his “junior fashion editor” and even sent me to some shows he couldn’t attend because he was busy working at the magazine.

Love Sex Money by Lorella Signorino SS 2009
READ MORE

Throwback Thursday: My Experience At The Venice International Film Festival – 72nd & 74th Edition

72nd Venice International Film Festival

It’s that time of the year when the Venice International Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia) takes place.

Held annually in Venice, Italy, it is one of the biggest film festivals worldwide and one of the oldest, since it was founded in 1932.

I studied acting for a few years while working in the fashion industry and I later switched to photography because the whole machine surrounding the business was giving me anxiety and I felt I didn’t love what I was doing anymore; I was more interested in other forms of art, as I wanted to stick with fashion and pursue photography as a hobby and a freelance job.

During those years I had the chance to attend two of the Venice Film Festival editions, both in 2015 and 2017; the first time I was there with a friend who was showcasing an independent film in the Venice Days section (apart from the Official Selection, there are other award categories like Horizons, Lion of the Future and Glory to the Filmmaker Award). The Lido di Venezia (Venice Lido), where the festival takes place, is part of the Venetian lagoon, on the Adriatic sea, which is famous for its golden sand beaches. The highlight of the experience for me was watching the movies; I consider myself a cinephile so it was exciting to see movie previews, especially because some of the ones screened in Venice are usually among the highest-anticipated of the year.

READ MORE