According to MSGM designer Massimo Giorgetti, his women s Pre-Fall collection and men s Fall collection were "born together." The keyword for men s was "truth." For women? "Beauty." Classic counterparts. Just ask Keats, who back in 1819 was opining that beauty is truth, truth beauty, and that s all ye need to know.
Of course, Giorgetti is more a romantic than a Romantic, far fizzier and less glum than his 19th-century predecessor. "Beauty" for his women was epitomized by watery makeup prints on duchesse satin: kissing lips, spidery eyelashes. "I imagined a girl in the toilet who was looking at herself, doing her makeup," he said.
But there was a step in a more sober direction: black. "It s the first time I m doing black," Giorgetti said. "MSGM is color, it s print, it s happy. In my mind, black was sad. But now I like it." When it appeared, it wasn t in dour tonal looks but mixed with brights or budding rosettes. "My black is never all black," he added.
So despite the more grown-up jolt of black-and-white tweed, black tailoring, and even a look that paired black jeans and a black sweatshirt, crinoline-lined skirts, minidresses, and gold vinyl varsity jackets kept the collection sugary enough to suit Giorgetti s clients tastes. Yes, some pieces had phrases from Sylvia Plath printed on them. "I have to be honest, I don t like Sylvia Plath because she is depressing," Giorgetti admitted. "But her phrases are wonderful."
