Il servizio era ispirato a Carla Accardi e alle sue opere. Questa foto in particolare, si riferiva ad un ritratto fotografico dell’artista, nel quale era stata immortalata – in bianco e nero – con una scia luminosa realizzata con una luce al neon. Lo scatto è di Michael Woolley, la giacca di Etro e la cravatta in maglia di Hermès. The fashion shooting was inspired by Carla Accardi and her works. This picture, referred to a portrait of the artist which was immortalized – black and white – with a trail of light made with a neon. This shot is by Michael Woolley, Etro jacket and knitted tie Hermès.

Between 1973 and 1974 Italy was facing a period of “austerity”. On sundays, in Milan the traffic used to be blocked, the municipality was pushing people to use public transports as an anti-crisis measure: I remember the forced holiday atmosphere and the scraffy way of dressing. Nowadays, there are many alternative solutions in menswear which at that time was almost a non-existing concept. I believe in maintaining a proper appearance as an atidote to this general depressing mood. If it’s true that creativity rises again strenghtened by crisis, then designers are being pushed to create some really epic collections. If at that time style wasn’t giving men much choice, today the situation is radically changed.; There were not many colours in menswear before, a part from the bottle-green and the classic reddish-brown of the polos by Lacoste and velvet trousers by Besozzi. Not even printed jackets and shirts were in use. I love the beauty of mixing and matching warm shades on printed fabrics, traditional designs can be extremely stylish and also add an elegant, unconvetional touch. Picture taken with Instagram, the original photo is by Davide Cernuschi, from an Harper’s Bazaar Uomo editorial, 1997.

Ph. Larry Scott, styling Alessandro Calascibetta, grooming Luca Lazzaro.

Ph. Manfredi Gioacchini, styling Alessandro Calascibetta.

The art of fashion photography has been under discussion ever since, especially when it has male sobjects. Making an exception for celebrities, which are a world apart, the debate is about if the best choice is to portray models or common people.The choice of the model is based on his body structure and ability of expression, in order to better embody the dress that has been chosen for them by the fashion editor. Sometimes, on the other way around,  the sobject chooses the dress for himself, just as if he was walking into a shop, in that case is more difficult to get a good shot. However, since the first issue of “L’uomo Vogue” (1968) has been published, through all the Io Donna for men editions till the very last Dolce&Gabbana fashion show (which are preferring young and less young non-professional models for this season instead of David Gandy) many people do appreciate a less refined  and more close to reality approach to fashion. Last but not least, even my readers are asking for “common people” to be portrayed in fashion editorials and they’ll be satisfied soon. The result is depending mainly on the potographer’s skills and also on the fashion director’s artistic sense. It is for posterity to judge. In the picture Ivan Gatti by Andrea Gandini for Io Donna 2010.