A real champion manages to anticipate the competition. It is someone who brings innovation, one who has extra gear, determination, and full control of the whole car – a vehicle driven by the mind, the imagination, and out-of-the-box thinking.
Every second-year student in Fashion Styling and Creative Direction at Istituto Marangoni Firenze ran their creative vehicle wild throughout the year, as they produced a special limited edition of a personal fashion magazine that recently went on display at the Fashion Rooms bookstore in Florence.
Amira Rossi and Viktoriia Stanieva – editorial staff members of I’M Firenze Digest and participants of the project – recount here the whole experience.
by Amira Rossi and Viktoriia Stanieva. Cover Image from Viktoriia Stanieva, Diversia magazine, 2022. Photography: Sara Mautone. Styling/Creative direction: Viktoriia Stanieva. Make up: Vittoria Sbodio. Model: Giovanni Ronzoni
Of course, a champion would be enough, but imagine a team of sixteen champions. Sixteen young women full of dreams and ambitions with something to show to the world.
Each of them is different and unique, with their own vision of fashion and style — all with the sole objective of creating their storytelling on printed sheets of paper.
Unique fashion magazines.
“This project asks you to embrace yourself and whoever is around you. To truly see and not just view. Nurture your roots in order to bloom,” acknowledges Olivia Bicudo, talking about her magazine project Sommen.
This celluloid dream was born in October. The challenge was to create an entire fashion magazine in a completely autonomous way.
The main challenge for the female students was to get out of their comfort zone and explore only men’s fashion, a world that seemed close to the fashion stylists yet needed to be explored from a new perspective. Then began the deep research for the brand identity, graphic and typography choices, creating original photoshoots and searching for their specific style.
For example, Flavia Prudente, who created Mr. Pink Pages magazine, explained her odd choice of format: “The big A3 format and the paper recall the size of a newspaper, while the bold colours and graphic choices make a modern and vivid statement”.
Heterogeneous collaborations between designers, photographers, art directors and artists are at the core of these projects. “There are personal interactions by those who contributed to the magazine, starting with the logo on the cover, created by a well-known artist in the Florentine street scene,” said Silvia Baldini about her logo choice for O-Neg magazine project, designed by artist Tommaso Dorowin.
It has not always been an easy path to drive on. Tears and laughter – that’s how I would summarise this journey. But, in the end, everyone was filled with immense satisfaction when each of us finally saw our ten months’ imagination on paper.
Sometimes, you need to understand that no one was born a champion, but anyone with tenacity and determination can be one. Even if we are young and perhaps even a little inexperienced, the key to success is not to give up and enjoy the journey.
“This has been such a wonderful experience for me as I always tried to out a bit of myself in every section of the magazine. Every single detail has a reason and a meaning that is close to my heart in some way,” says Paula Garcia Edo about her magazine project WOWMEN.
The launch event, held at the Fashion Room bookstore in Florence on July 5, 2022, gathered those involved to celebrate the realisation of these dreams, remember every effort and finally be proud of the splendid results.
It was an extraordinary moment that brought together not only many curious visitors, teachers and the people who participated in the creation of the magazine but also families and friends.
It was great to hear everyone’s beautiful comments. They were all impressed and in disbelief that second-year students had done such professional work. What remains? Total satisfaction for reaching the end of the road. Pure pride and an indelible trail of emotion. But above all, the awareness that nothing is impossible. It only takes the right vision. And a desire to re-energise to continue the last year of studies at the same pace.
Silvia Baldini, Francesca Caneva, Gaia Capociuchi, Paula Garcia Edo, Ebba Gustavsson Södergren, Valeria Nava, Carlotta Iannucci, Viola Petri, Olivia Pinto Bueno de Campos Bicudo, Flavia Prudente, Maria Luisa Punzo, Ludovica Romeo, Amira Rossi, Vittoria Sbodio, Viktoriia Stanieva, Anna Torneo are undergraduate students in Fashion Styling and Creative Direction at Istituto Marangoni Firenze.
