Rotonda della Besana

My last event of Milan Fashion Week in September was also my favorite one!

On September 21^st Marni started the celebrations of its 20th anniversary with the opening of the Marni Flower Market at the Rotonda della Besana. Perfect location for a lovely, adorable event!

It was a real Flower Market with beautiful flowers wrapped in Marni prints papers, seeds sold in beautiful printed packages (the same seeds were given as a press invitation to the event!), flower bags and gardening tools- all especially designed for the event by Marni.

During the entire afternoon, the public could shop and take flowers and the unique memories from this one-off event home. There were many workshops for children held in the park outside the Besana where you could find beautiful flower compositions with handmade creations representing birds were exposed throughout.

But Marni Flower Market it’s not just a happy and colored event: it comes from an active collaboration of the brand with the MUBA – Museo dei Bambini Milan, whose headquarters are located inside the Rotonda della Besana. Moreover, this project comes from an important charity initiative held by Marni.

A part of the proceeds from the sales of all the limited edition products are indeed donated to the Vimala Association which guarantees seriously disabled Tibetan children living in India for medical care and physiotherapy, as well as food and the maintenance of their school-house.

A beautiful event in a wonderful location for an important cause: could Marni do better than that? Nah…

For the occasion I wore a pineapple printed shirt from Lazzari, Zara skort, ’80s vintage envelope Yellow clutch and Miu Miu Golden gladiator sandals from many seasons ago!

I understand that I am very excited about something I’m going to write about when I don’t know how to start my post… like now!

When I read that the most interesting and exciting photography expo was coming to Milan, after traveling with huge success around the world (New York, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin and London) I immediately called my friend to go see it with her because she’s the only one I knew who shared my excitement about it! I am talking about the famous “The Little Black Jacket,” an itinerant expo of pictures taken by Karl Lagerfeld in Cannes, Paris and New York under the stylistic direction of Carine Roitfeld (also pictured in the first image that opens the expo). These pictures are now not only one of the most acclaimed fashion expos of the last year, but they’re also a beautiful book.

The focus of the expo is very simple: it’s centered around one of the most iconic pieces created by Coco Chanel. No, not the Little Black Dress. And not my adored quilted 2.55… It’s The Little Black Jacket. Like the LDB, it’s worn by many celebrities from movies to fashion, but unlike the LBD… (well, with the exception of Marc Jacobs) it’s also a staple of men and women and it crosses different cultures and backgrounds, everyone bringing their own personality and style to this amazing piece. I have been told by some visitors, who didn’t know about it, that they didn’t realize they were all wearing the same jacket (only Keira Knightley and Kirsten Owen are wearing the white version). Which means that, despite the boring concept, the result is quite amazing! And believe me, it is!

The expo is now in Dubai for its last date, but if you missed it- I’m sharing here some of my favorite pictures.

Let me say a few words about the location: the expo was held at the Rotonda della Besana, one of the historical places in Milan but maybe one of the less known and this is a real shame. It is a wonderful park surrounded by arcades where we enjoyed a nice walk after the expo. There’s what used to be a church in the middle, which is now used for expos or cultural events. I also enjoyed the inside lighting and space which, I think, gave more importance to the exposed images because of how the light was directed.

Another little idea that I liked: not only was the expo free, but there were also free posters of some of the pictures from the expo for all the visitors… classy! Oh, I forgot… during the days of the expo, a selection of the S/S 2013 Chanel collection’s jackets were exhibited in the Milanese boutique in via S. Andrea… classier!