Act 2
The evolution of the laundry (and Tonello).
A story like a film.
We continue to tell mainly about the context. Our story, the story of our technologies, of the languages that interpret and draw on cloth of garments, and of denim in particular, indelibly intertwined with that of our society, of our time.
History of changes and emotions, and, from our point of view, of research, inventions, continuous experimentation. History of a world that runs, defines new contours, breaks down boundaries and walls that seemed eternal. Everything is set in motion again, and in question, feverishly searching for new spaces of freedom.
History accelerates and so do we. With an enthusiasm devoid of certainty, but full of the zest to live and discover new possible worlds.
Because fashion and denim do not live in a pneumatic vacuum: they are styles, visions, interpretations of the world and life that they absorb and exude.
Enjoy reading.
The '90s begin earlier
Yes, there are two prologues. And both are necessary.
Because, before the before, what was there?
There comes that moment when you have the extraordinary sensation, premonition, that everything is about to change, that history is at the point of restarting, of moving forward again, of accelerating time and turning life upside down.
And then you have to get a running start, backing up in order to sprint forward and climb the long, tiring, but exciting ascent. And the story is like Pantani’s¹, who sprinted up mountain switchbacks, outdistancing everyone with the light irresistible force of a breath. Or of a dream.
Now take a deep breath and go back to the beginning of June, 1989. To the beginning of the future.
The great 'centrifuge' of history, styles, and languages
There is a thread that ties together the main events that make up the history of the Nineties: the loss of certainty and stable points of reference.
The end of the Cold War, the disintegration of the political blocs and the state systems that had been decided upon in the postwar era lead to a gradual collapse of traditional parties – which, deprived of “vision”, also lose their “mission” – and the fading of the ideologies that have tried, up until yesterday, to guide history.
Narrative freedom, then. And freedom of thought. Freedom from disorientation. But freedom nonetheless.
A “topical” decade, a giant POP blender of tastes, styles, sounds, clothing, games, disguises, and habits. And so, more or less ephemeral phenomena, fashions and counter-fashions, agonisms and antagonisms succeed one another and intertwine.
In short, chaos, casual and irreverent, frenetic and informal, devoid of rules, laws and ties. Anything can happen, everything is possible and reversible.
And you, you decide that in this chaos you fit right in.
