Shawn Kolodny's spheres star on the set of the Missoni show

The trick to truly understanding a work of art lies in confronting it without filters. Standing right in front of it, eyes half-closed in a state of meditation, the observer can't realise the meaning of the project at which they're looking without first paying attention to the feeling that arises in their consciousness. It is this concept that inspires American artist Shawn Kolodny's Spheres of Influence, a search for the inner self through physical and mental reflection. Inside La Pelota space, Kolodny's silver Spheres are taking shape in preparation for this weekend's Missoni SS24 fashion show, some already hanging, others waiting to be inflated. This Milan Fashion Week Missoni will be presenting a new show at La Pelota space, an amphitheatre a few steps away from Milan's fashion quadrilateral characterised by a rigorous and minimalist architecture, bare of colour yet for this very reason spacious and luminous. In the blank space separating the two spheres placed at the centre of what will soon become a catwalk, Shawn Kolodny and Missoni creative director Filippo Grazioli tell us about the origins of their collaboration.

«For the concept of the new collection I thought of creating a new reality,» explains Grazioli, «that's why the question for this collection is Do you know how to enjoy reality? When I saw Shawn's work I thought it would be a great match, the space we are creating here is really a new reality, a new world.» The dimension proposed by the show's setting, as Kolodny reveals, is a play on reflections with the aim of «seeing the world through distorted images,» because what the metal and curved surfaces of the spheres reflect is us, portrayed in a different light. For Grazioli, who has been leading Missoni's artistic direction since March 2022, this philosophy is very reminiscent of the investigative approach of the maison's founder. «I was reading Caleidoscopio Missoni, where you can see all the artworks from Ottavio Missoni that are made with different fabrics patched together,  I really enjoyed his new way of seeing patterns,» explains the designer. In this sense, the collaboration with Kolodny was born to bring to light the maison founder's point of view, «the different vision that Missoni had of graphics, colours, patterns,» adds the designer, remarking the leading role that the Missoni DNA still plays in the brand's current artistic direction.

The aesthetic that Grazioli has designed for Missoni in the latest collections takes its cue directly from the maison's roots, as he took and transported them with ease into today's cultural landscape. The stylistic codes are diligently preserved thanks to an in-depth study of the brand's history, as demonstrated by the attention Grazioli pays to explaining his research. «My references are always linked to the archive and the history of Missoni,» explains the designer. «I don't have a precise decade to refer to, for me in Missoni's work there is always something nostalgic, it is really linked to the past, to the identity of the house. I like to think of a certain period, a certain moment, a certain cultural situation.» When we ask Grazioli why his first collections for Missoni evoked so intensely a 1970s sensuality, the designer tells us that what he wanted to capture about those years was freedom. «I think it's part of my background and fits very well with the atmosphere of Missoni. I like to explore the new in relation to the past.»

During the photoshoot of Filippo Grazioli and Shawn Kolodny, the team rotates around the artist's spheres, hoping not to get caught in the reflection of one of the installations. Watching everyone run from one part of the La Pelota space to the other, one thinks of the image of children and the game of chase, and also of the moment when, on Saturday afternoon, Grazioli's multicoloured clothes will be reflected in the shimmering silver of these immense circular forms, offering guests the mirror image of themselves, along with that of the looks, and although this evening only the tingling of our conversation can be heard in the room, on Saturday a true choral work of art will take place, made even bigger thanks to Kolodny's mirrors. «Clothes define people,» explains the artist, drawing a comparison between his works and fashion. «You take your inside and show it to the outside, whether flamboyant or conservative. My work does the same thing, it takes you and brings you back to yourself, with a little twist.» Much like the fashion of the 1970s, eternally recognised as the decade of sexual liberation, of protests and provocation as an act of revolt, the self-reflection that arises when confronted with Kolodny's spheres is disruptive yet aesthetically poetic. «It is provocative because of its size,» the artist explains. «Creating huge, monumental works is something I like. It is something that people come into contact with, can interact with, become part of. It does something for some people, it makes the connection a little more special.»