Fashion is a temporary and infinite aesthetic current at the same time, which is set in front of our eyes every day. It is something that created and destroyed, and then regenerated itself, like a whirlwind. Style is another thing. Beyond the easy and abused quotes, we can define this latter element as a trait not only of appearing to others, but also towards and through ourselves. Therefore, an internal movement of our lives, which is not just about dressing, but rather and above all, covers for the individual an indispensable ingredient that makes it true, real. And it is from this last word that we can reconstruct the man’s collection for next summer signed Massimo Alba, presented at the last edition of Pitti in Florence.
“Everybody is identical in their secret unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else”. This passage of Infinite Jest written by David Foster Wallace, one of the most important works of the twentieth century, is at the heart of the creating process of Alba’s clothes. – Wallace is close to my heart because in his books – in his life – he asked all the right questions, and one in particular strikes me. What does it mean to live in our time? What’s the true meaning of loneliness in our media saturated world? How can we really welcome others in our lives? -. So declares the creator. Therefore also time is one of those factors essential to knowing oneself as individuals to create their own style. Of course, getting into a novel would be too easy, life out here is harsh, tough. But when it comes to a profession like that of Massimo Alba, the urgency of culture is crucial to realizing something concrete and, in his case, unique.
What strikes whenever he realizes a new collection is his extraordinary being while remaining versatile and wearable by anyone appreciating the quality and having, again, a (life) style speculating on what the designer since 2006, the year in which He founded his eponymous brand, is building. Among the many reasons there is one in particular that it is necessary to emphasize, that of constantly experimenting.
– I browsed an old English catalogue for this new collection: here’s the idea of creating a heavy gabardine, washed to break down the fabric somehow, give it a patina, a history – take a heavy, traditional fabric and give it a different shape, a different identity -. So Alba describes how the new men’s collection began. – The Panama raincoat we tried to overlay with a kind of plaster, matte, opaque: it looks beautiful,I have kept a sample that I look at, almost puzzled, grateful, when I’m in my studio. The jackets are devoid of any internal structure, I completely emptied them out – regular jackets whose inside structure was removed. Not “shirt-jackets”, they are “jackets-jackets”. The word “destructured” I do not like because “destructed” makes me think that there’s something missing; my jackets have a very definite structure- simply, it’s different from all the others -. This is how continues the designer who in the past was creative director of brands such as Malo and Agnona.
“It’s hard to see what you see every day”. This is another phrase in Wallace’s work that would be worth to underline, and probably Massimo Alba did. And it is perhaps from this movement that one could define the creative’s world: apparently his clothes are “common”, with no logos visible, they do not follow the trends. The point is he does not care. He is not worry about being among the many wagons of this unmanned train that is fashion. He wants to do, create, his daily life. For the people. That is why these creations are (a)generational, infinite.
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