MILAN — “It’s a ravishing feeling to be seen.”

The straightforward yet emotional speech given after receiving the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize on the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers last week captured the entire essence of Magliano’s founder Luca Magliano — and a bit bit more.

It also encompassed the hopes and ambitions of a big portion of Italian emerging designers, too. In another way from the American Dream, the Italian one isn’t based solely on equality of opportunity, but often requires external validation to succeed or just be considered and appreciated on national soil.

No wonder Magliano pointed to being seen because the major takeaway of his LVMH Prize experience, describing it as “essentially the most significant achievement one could hope for an creator.”

“For me [this acknowledgement] means a giant pat on the back but in addition the general public and official promise never to betray myself. I’m convinced the prize will not be a magic potion so I’m not hoping for anything miraculous to occur: I just hope it translates into more strength,” he told WWD ahead of his label’s spring 2024 runway show here Sunday.

The brand has been gaining increasing heat on the Milan scene in the previous few seasons. Those that felt drawn to it because the starting or before it landed in front of the jury comprising the likes of Jonathan Anderson, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquière and more didn’t miss the prospect to voice their support for Magliano in the ultimate stages of the competition nor to underscore with pride their loyalty after he scooped up the prize.

A fashion design graduate of Bologna’s Libera Università delle Arti, Magliano cut his teeth on Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s team in Milan prior to moving back to Bologna in 2013 to work with designer Manuela Arcari on the Ter et Bantine fashion line. In 2015, he decided to go solo and launched the I Was Naked independent women’s brand, which has since been discontinued. The next 12 months, Arcari, who can be the president of Arcari e Co., offered him the prospect to provide his own line under license and the Magliano brand was born.

The winner of the ninth edition of Vogue Italia’s talent contest Who Is on Next? Uomo, he unveiled its fall 2018 collection with a runway show at Florence’s Dogana venue during Pitti Uomo after which joined the official Milan Men’s Fashion Week calendar.

His style and approach to fashion has evolved ever since. What began as daring collections full of references to the ‘80s, different subcultures, “small-town boys” from his hometown of Bologna and occasional tongue-in-cheek and irreverent prints matured into soulful, vintage-looking menswear imbued with charming tailoring and a way of color. 

The autumn 2023 collection paraded in Milan in January struck a very emotional chord with its rustic, live-in familiarity and garments exalting humble fashion archetypes, akin to the employee jacket, army-surplus coats and safety footwear. The press notes confirmed the hero of Magliano to be the employee and the gathering to be “a tribute to what’s most chic: the fatigue, ‘il travaglio,’ as they are saying in dialect.”

Shining a light-weight on this different dimension of the country, removed from the glamorized versions or the same old “La Dolce Vita” postcard-like image is what further contributed to the gathering’s appeal and the increasing interest within the brand. Somewhat than pointing to aspirational clothes and lifestyles, the designer showed the wonder in realism, in an exercise that form of winked to the quintessentially Italian neorealism film movement. 

“At first the design was very loud: we had the necessity to make ourselves heard. Then we step by step lowered our voice, but trying never to compromise the intensity. Now we’ve reached a form of chaotic minimalism that I actually like,” said Magliano, who added he’s inspired by “many things, especially in the event that they are banal and fragile but suggest an excellent sense of mystery.”

Asked in regards to the pivotal moment on this creative process and of his profession normally, Magliano pointed to the 2 collections developed in the course of the pandemic. “That traumatic moment for us couldn’t fail to translate right into a turning point,” he recalled.

Along with the LVMH Prize contest that brought international visibility, there was one other milestone within the brand’s history. At the top of last 12 months, the corporate sold a minority stake to fashion business accelerator Underscore District to support the subsequent stage of its growth, as reported.

Consequently of the deal, in the primary half of 2023 “we opened the net store and revamped [the website], which we wish to turn out to be an asset of our business strategy,” said Magliano. The brand is positioned within the inexpensive luxury segment and, along with the brand new e-commerce, is carried by around 60 retailers globally.

With an expanded team, Magliano plans to rent people for his studio in Bologna and enterprise more into womenswear. 

The Karl Lagerfeld Prize’s grant of 200,000 euros and a one-year mentorship program from the LVMH Group will turn out to be useful in the method, which may even include an even bigger concentrate on accessories since these “help give much more complexity to our project.” 

Within the meantime, Magliano is gearing as much as unveil his spring 2024 collection during Milan Men’s Fashion Week. While mum about the small print, he said the evocative — and cryptic — temporary for the season was “answered prayers.”

A key a part of the gathering will feature seven T-shirts, “which we call ‘prayers/thanksgiving’, dedicated to easy things which can be vital to us.”

Although themes will probably be interpreted in an ironic way, Magliano wanted this stuff to not appear to be merch, opting to craft them in silk jersey. “Their purpose is to say something vital in a straightforward way,” he concluded.