In the Fashion Cultures seminar, professor Justin Morin invited Giorgio Martinoli to talk about his experiences within the fashion industry. Giorgio Martinoli graduated from the European Institute of Design in Milan. After graduation, he worked for varying Milan graphic studios which included clients such as Moschino and Aspesi. In 2001, Martinoli moved to Paris, where he began work as a creative director and art director. He used to work for 《L’Officiel de la Mode》and now works for Air France《Madame》. Martinoli has also designed books about photography and architecture.
During his guest lecture, Martinoli focused on his experiences within the fashion magazine, 《Madame》, as well as his creative artworks. 《Madame》 is a lifestyle and fashion magazine, which is released eight times pers year, published by Conde Nast France and distributed freely on Air France flights.
Martinoli was direct and casual during his talk with the class. He was willing to share pieces of his work and work experiences that he found valuable for the class to see and hear. Being an art director at《Madame》 magazine has been one of his favorite working experiences thus far. Martinoli explained, 《Madame》 is a mainstream magazine therefore, the magazine has enabled him to develop his talents and diversify his skills. The style of the magazine is more about “creativity and diversity,” freeing him to develop his artistic abilities.
As an art director, the most significant thing for Martinoli is seeking inspiration – to which he sources ‘everything’. Martinoli stressed the importance of creativity and why he prefers Pinterest to Tumblr as Pinterest is more efficient to search with keywords. Other areas Martinoli says he finds inspiration from includes, the internet, people, travel and from life itself. According to his artworks for fashion magazines, he made significant contributions from creating to developing all kinds of themes for magazine spreads. An example Martinoli showed was his process of creating a “fairy tale” theme for a client: from mood boards to photoshop, to the end results. Another strong point of Martinoli is curating still life images of objects to advertise different fashion products, such as bags and jewelry.
“Networking is very important for my work,” Martinoli said. It is necessary for him to maintain good relationships with others. “Sometimes I invite photographers to work with me. Also, I need to maintain a good relationship with the model agencies to communicate what kind of model I want for the magazine.”
“If you don’t try, nothing will exist,” he noted in the end, “don’t be afraid of failure or hesitation; existing is much more important.”
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Giorgio Martinoli visited Parsons Paris on 14 February 2017 for Fashion Cultures Seminar.
Written by Yiting (Kirsten) Wang, MA Fashion Students, Class 2016-2018.
Edited by Sarah Safar, MA Fashion Students, Class 2016-2018.
Image by Sarah Safar, MA Fashion Students, Class 2016-2018.
