Massimo Giorgetti took over Fondazione ICA for his fall outing, turning the space into a kind of art-meets-fashion playground. The backdrop came courtesy of Brazilian artist Marina Rheingantz, whose abstract, memory-soaked paintings—think a more emotional little cousin of Jackson Pollock—clearly hit Giorgetti right in the mood board.
His ties to the art world are long-standing, and you can tell. Giorgetti has an unpretentious knack for weaving references into his work without ever sounding like he’s quoting from the art-gallery-wall text. Nothing feels didactic; it’s art appreciation with respect. The plot thickened during a Venice weekend, where an exhibition devoted to Leonor Fini at Tommaso Calabro Gallery was obsessively all about cats. Naturally, Giorgetti ran with it.
Enter MSGM’s feline era: A Bengal prowled across an eco-fur maxi-coat, and a duchesse satin shirt featured a black and white kitty that landed rather spooky. Cats may be the label’s unofficial mascots, yet they share the designer’s affections with equanimity alongside his two adorable terriers, Pane and Coda.
The collection played out like a game of memory, though Giorgetti would gently swat your hand away from calling it revisited archive. His preferred framing was “new memories” and “revisited memories,” which actually sounds lighter, fresher, and decidedly less mothball adjacent. Running through it all was a flirtation between masculine and feminine codes, a familiar circle game at MSGM. Even the soundtrack leaned in: A recorded interview with Fini floated from speakers, in which she observed that everyone should be a little androgynous and that true style lives somewhere in the overlap.
On the runway, that philosophy translated into rhythmic contrasts. A polished cocktail look would glide by, only to be immediately undercut by a washed-denim combo. A pragmatic XXL parka lined with eco-fur softened things up when followed by a whisper-thin tank dotted with a tiny rose and a flouncy duchesse satin skirt. These weren’t clashes so much as playful plot twists. Giorgetti isn’t interested in resolving opposites; he’d much rather watch them flirt.
He also dipped back into the MSGM color vault, pulling out the brand’s greatest hits—lime green, high-voltage orange, and punchy fuchsia—then smartly cooling the whole situation with grays, blacks, and sensible neutrals. The balancing act was deft: expressive enough to read as artistic, but never veering into try-hard territory.
MSGM’s muse practically introduced herself—think the art-world regular you clock at the Frieze Art Fair or Art Basel, the woman who gets dressed with zero fear and possibly one eye closed. “She’ll happily clash a color or two,” Giorgetti remarked. “Maybe she makes style mistakes, her accessorizing is bonkers, yet she still walks into the room radiating that rare mix of independence and wit.” After all, perfection is forgettable, but a great mistake? That’s what makes you memorable.
