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Back in 2014, before he founded luxury streetwear brand Palm Angels, Francesco Ragazzi released a photography book of skaters in LA. Published by Rizzoli, the book highlighted skate communities across Venice and Manhattan beaches. Ten years on, the brand is moving forward by looking back. It’s eschewed a runway show this season to mount an exhibition entitled “Decoding Palm Culture”, celebrating the release of a new photography book by Ragazzi. The brand held a party for 2,000 people on Saturday night during Milan Fashion Week to celebrate the launch.
Ragazzi first visited LA in 2011, leading to the first photo book. “The moment I arrived, and I saw the light and the palm trees, I knew this was the city through which I wanted to tell my creative story…The book became a manifesto of the brand in terms of how we see the world through a perspective that observes the existing and makes it new,” Ragazzi told Vogue Business in 2022.
Ragazzi launched Palm Angels in 2015 with the backing of Italian streetwear conglomerate New Guards Group — which was, in turn, acquired by Farfetch in 2019 for $675 million. Known for its bold logo and graphics and edgy spirit, the brand continues to grow, Ragazzi says, expanding its retail footprint across the US, including new stores in New York (2023) and LA (2024). (New Guards doesn’t break out figures for individual brands.)
Palm Angels doesn’t show every season, and last staged a fashion show for AW23. This Milan Fashion Week, Ragazzi was keen to swerve traditional show format altogether to bring his community together in a different way. Just before the party, he walked Vogue Business through the exhibition to explain the approach.
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Vogue Business: The exhibition is beautiful. What’s the origin of the images?
The pictures in this book and in this exhibition are part of an archive that I took over the last 20 years across the US. Ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Palm Angels next year, we wanted to celebrate the photography that came before the brand and informed the brand.
Vogue Business: As Vogue Business has reported in the past, Palm Angels is often mistaken for an American brand. Is that still something you celebrate?
Absolutely. This soul is part of our brand identity, which we take care of. We’re not ashamed. We are happy to be across Italian and American culture.
Vogue Business: Of course, it’s all in the name. But why mount an exhibition focused on the Palm Tree specifically? What are you trying to convey to your community?
Talking about palm trees in Milan is not easy, so we made the space feel like you’re not in Milan [with minimal interiors, yellow lighting and wood floors]. It’s a symbol that is dear to me: I grew up between Milan and Palm Beach in Florida and it’s a symbol that represents freedom and escapism.
Before anything, I started out documenting palm trees and the way that they appear different in certain situations. It’s the one object that can change face all the time, depending on perspective. Depends on how you see it. I think we can show the essence of Palm Angels through this simple object, something that is natural, and it feels very organic and very us. It’s very personal to me, but I guess I am Palm Angels. This stuff really inspires the collections.
Vogue Business: How far do the images go back?
I m scared to say it, but some pictures could even be 20 years old.
Vogue Business: You previously showed in Paris for AW23. Why does an exhibition and party make sense for Palm Angels rather than a runway show for this season?
I feel this event can speak better to our consumers, more authentically, rather than a fashion show, which can sometimes be so chaotic. The anniversary is very important for me, so it’s very important to keep maintaining the brand through its core DNA. The brand is growing, but of course, right now, the market isn’t in a very easy position for most brands. And I think what we need now is clarity. We need to go to the essence of our brand and do things differently.
Vogue Business: Who is the Palm Angels consumer and how have they evolved?
My consumer is the kid of the world, travelling. I find it fascinating that it can be [worn] all over the place, from Asia to Europe to the US. We see Palm Angels in Bangkok or Germany; it’s a very international crowd.
Vogue Business: The streetwear market has changed a lot in recent years, and demand has shifted. How have you adapted to this?
It evolved. It’s really changing still. We were always in the middle of luxury and streetwear. So, I think we still play with those two terms. For us, the product is really important, but also [to adapt] the brand needs to align with the customer’s values. It’s about [shared] culture, which is why we’ve done the exhibition and the book.
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