MILAN — Massimo Giorgetti continues to show his passion for the arts with a streak of initiatives that strengthen his involvement in Milan’s cultural scene.
With his MSGM brand, the designer has renewed his collaboration with Miart, the international modern and contemporary art fair opening at the Allianz MiCo venue here Friday and running through Sunday.
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For this edition, Giorgetti decided to celebrate visual poetry and the power of words with a tribute to American artist John Giorno via a special artwork dubbed “Big Ego,” placed at the entrance of the show.
John Giorno, “Big Ego,” 2016-2022, site-specific wall painting.
The installation ties in with the exhibition “John Giorno: A Labour of Love,” currently running at the Triennale Milano museum. Open until April 13, the show has also been sponsored by MSGM and explores Giorno’s creative collaborations and archives, spotlighting his influence on the international art scene.
Curated by Nicola Ricciardi and inspired by the “Among Friends” theme of the 29th edition of Miart, the exhibition retraces Giorno’s friendship with key figures in 20th century art, literature and music, including the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Allen Ginsberg, Keith Haring, Allan Kaprow, Jasper Johns, Patti Smith and Michael Stipe, among others.
To mark the occasion, MSGM released a limited-edition T-shirt featuring the statement “Per risplendere devi bruciare,” the Italian translation of Giorno’s 1994 book title “You Got to Burn to Shine.” Available at both the MSGM flagship store here and the Triennale shop, it pays tribute to Giorno’s legacy and his investigation through art of the tension between pain and beauty, sacrifice and creation.
Meanwhile at Miart, the awards and commissions implemented to support artistic research include the Massimo Giorgetti Prize. In its third edition, the 5,000-euro prize born out of the designer’s desire to support young artists will be awarded to an emerging talent on Sunday.
The designer will keep the conversation around arts going next week, too. During Milan Design Week, MSGM will stage “Less Noise,” a project cohosted with architectural research studio and platform KoozArch and developed in collaboration with Berlin-based indie bookstore “do you read me?!” and furniture company Giovannetti.
The initiative aims to transform the MSGM store into a space for cultural conversation through a program of three talks, which will flank the showcase of the MSGM x Giovannetti collaboration. This consists of a reinterpretation of the Anfibio sofa that was first designed by Alessandro Becchi in 1970.
The program to “Less Noise” at Milan Design Week.
To be held on Monday and Tuesday morning as well as April 10, the English-language talks will center on different topics, ranging from how publications seek to disrupt and challenge systemic or normative expectations to the role of graphic design and the importance of aesthetics in publishing, as well as the strategies to maintain independence within the industry.
A passionate collector, Giorgetti has been supporting different artistic disciplines for a long time, intertwining a variety of languages and involving talents in his fashion practice. The designer opened the Ordet experimental cultural hub in 2019, showcasing artists ranging from Iva Lulashi to Benni Bosetto. The latter also appeared in the MSGM pre-fall 2024 look book, which portrayed a new wave of Milan-based creatives.
Most recently, Giorgetti referenced the word-based work of textile artist Caterina Frongia as well as Alberonero — an Italian artist and sometime farmer named Luca Boffi who does performances tented in multiple layers of colored tulle — in his MSGM fall 2025 collection paraded at Milan Fashion Week in February.
MSGM, fall 2025
Launched in 2009, through the years MSGM has collaborated with artists such as Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari of Toilet Paper; Nico Vascellari; Massimo Vitali; Norbert Bisky; Todd Bienvenu, and Seth Armstrong, to name a few.
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