MM Newsletter

09.10 / Second Module on Modern Mythology at UNITO
The Modern Mythology & Communication Design Lab is designed to train experts in communication practices and narrative strategies for the Cultural and Creative Industries. These will be the “voices” of change, able to translate emerging trends and data into innovative cultural communication – designed to resonate across generations, with a deeper awareness of the ongoing evolution shaping our world.

14.10 / STATUS QUⒺST at XR4ED DemoDay Bootcamp

After workshops in Rovereto and Turin – and valuable feedback gathered from both sighted and non-sighted users – we are now ready for the official presentation and launch of the prototype game STATUS QUⒺST.
More info coming soon on how to download and try it out!

21.10 / THE MYTH OF SUPERHEROES
The major exhibition on the Greco-Roman mythological roots of contemporary superheroes, curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, Federica Montani, and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti, opens at the Archäologisches Museum in Hamburg.
After its preview in San Diego (USA) and the main exhibition currently at Vapriikki Museokeskus in Tampere, Finland (open until January 18, 2026), this German edition offers a continuous dialogue between past and present, exploring the archetypes of superheroes rooted in ancient myths and legends.

2.11 / Discovering the Myths of… The Lifetimes Tour
A must-see FMC event at the crossroads of music and pop culture: American superstar Katy Perry arrives at the Unipol Arena in Bologna for the only Italian date of her world tour. With over 115 billion streams, 70 million albums, and 143 million singles sold worldwide, Katy Perry remains one of the most beloved artists of all time.

13.11 / Discovering the Myths of… The Mayhem Ball
The concert-event of the year: Lady Gaga returns to music after her film ventures, with a massive show balancing between decadent baroque and dark neo-gothic.
FMC will be in the Golden Circle at Lyon’s LDLC Arena (FR) for a live reportage.

19-21.11 / Reaching Cordoba, in Argentina at SiGradi 2025
Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences

SiGraDi 2025 explores responsive design—adaptive and flexible solutions in architecture and cultural projects capable of evolving with human and ecological needs.
Here we present our research See the Invisible: Using Generative AI to Represent Mythical Layers in Immersive Panoramas, while understanding more about “Eternal cities”.

24.11 / Off to New Zealand!
GDI 2025 Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments

GDI 2025 opens the stage to cutting-edge research and transformative practices shaping the future of the built environment, spanning sustainable construction, advanced structural systems, smart cities, and digital transformation.
With Fondazione M-Cube we will present the paper See the Invisible. How Generative AI Can Support Panorama Artists in Representing Spaces More Deeply, While Understanding “Eternal Cities”. We’ll also host a professional workshop on phygital panoramic environments and showcase the new demo of the exhibition See the Invisible.

by Emanuela Zilio

Today I take you to Berlin, into the beating heart of the Volksbühne. Here, far from the spotlight, 47 artisans work tirelessly to bring to life the sets and costumes that the audience admires on stage.

Photo: @Makar Artemev

On September 25, the theatre opened its new season with Peer Gynt. While most of the staff enjoyed the summer break, the workshops reopened early in mid-August: there was still much to be done to complete the Bühne and the Kostüme that had been in progress since spring.

Every stage design begins as a digital model, sketched on a computer in the workshop offices. Once it receives approval from the director’s team, the project becomes material: wood, metal, paint, and decorations take shape thanks to the skilled hands of the Werkstatt, led by Stefan Möllers. In the Pankow warehouses, the carpentry, metalwork, and decoration departments transform the vision into three-dimensional reality, while on the fourth floor of the Volksbühne, the master tailors turn the costume designers’ ideas into fabric.

Photo: @Makar Artemev

The costume workshops are divided into two: one for women’s costumes and the other for men’s. Here, work is always a race against time: unlike opera, where the schedule is set at the beginning of the season, theatre productions allow for constant changes up until the last moment. On average, there are six weeks to transform sketches into stage-ready garments. And yet, despite the rush, the atmosphere remains calm and collaborative. Last August, for example, the team was already working on the costumes for Goodbye, Berlin by Constanza Macras, scheduled to premiere in October.

Even with a rich historical wardrobe – overseen by Ulrike Köhler and her assistant Jasmina Knitter – 80% of the costumes are still created from scratch for each new production. “If the work were outsourced,” Köhler explains, “the proportions would probably be reversed: 80% purchased, 10% newly made, and 10% taken from reserves.”

And the work doesn’t stop with creation. There is the Ankleide, the department where, every evening, costumes are cleaned of sweat, blood (real and fake), vomit, excrement, foam, and all the other substances that the Volksbühne’s conceptual theatre requires. It may not be the most glamorous job, but it is indispensable for the show to go on. As Mina Fichte, Gewandmeisterin of the women’s wardrobe, reminds us: “Many people are involved. Many are essential to the system. And none can exist without the others.”

Discover the video talks by Fondazione M-Cube, starting with fashion and then gliding into many other worlds of Modern Mythology!

Coming this September: new episodes of Doppia Zip.

Double Zip

curated by Grita
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda

The Artisanal Know-How

Fashion designer and pattern maker Claudine Vincent tells us about the “invisible” professions behind every garment and accessory.
Why is technical work not valued as much as creative work?
Fashion is a collective craft in constant evolution, which is why our conversation naturally turned to sustainability and upcycling.

Follow us so you don’t miss the next episodes!

Discover the FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY
300 hours of advanced training for professional

Contact & Info

educational@fondazionemcube.it
Secretariat +39 392.6328942 // Mon to Fri – 14.00-16.00

The news of Giorgio Armani’s passing has marked the end of an era – not only for fashion, but for that shared cultural imagination in which his style became a universal language. Among the many images he leaves behind, one belongs more to cinema than to the catwalk: Richard Gere opening a wardrobe in American Gigolo (1980), carefully browsing through Armani jackets and shirts (American Gigolo – Matching Shirts & Ties). In this simple yet magnetic scene, a myth takes shape: the birth of the “Armani man,” an icon of effortless, sophisticated, and sensual elegance.

Armani’s arrival in Hollywood with American Gigolo, directed by Paul Schrader (trailer here: American Gigolo – Trailer), was not merely a lucky episode of product placement. It was the sign of a profound change in the visual language of both fashion and cinema. At the dawn of the 1980s, Western society was entering a decade defined by individualism, image worship, and new forms of consumerism. Fashion stood at the very center of this transformation: clothing became a declaration of identity, a symbol of belonging to a certain status and community, and a tool for social affirmation.

Armani’s style—defined by clean lines and neutral tones such as blue, sand, and gray—fit perfectly within this landscape. Elegant yet restrained, refined yet discreet, it stood in stark contrast to the chromatic excess and flamboyant tailoring of the 1970s. His encounter with cinema was a natural one: Hollywood needed new codes to portray contemporary masculinity, and Armani provided them with clarity. In American Gigolo, Richard Gere became the face that embodied this aesthetic: the suits, the lightness of the fabrics, the purity of the lines all helped define the character of Julian Kay. On screen, we do not see a street-level gigolo but a professional navigating the upper echelons of society. The audience understands this not so much through dialogue, but through the suit itself, an emblem of a decade that would elevate appearance and self-care to the level of a true religion.

It is no coincidence that those same years saw the rise of the first supermodels and an obsessive attention to the body and luxury brands. If Gere and Armani embodied the new face of masculinity, co-star Lauren Hutton represented its feminine counterpart. Already an established actress and model, a glamour icon of the time, her presence tied the film directly to the fashion world. She was dressed by Bottega Veneta—another pillar of Italian style, already synonymous with refinement and sophisticated craftsmanship. The clutch she carries throughout the film becomes an iconic accessory, perfectly expressing the idea of “quiet luxury”: no visible logos, no ostentation, only the unmistakable woven leather, which more than forty years later still dominates catwalks and celebrity wardrobes. Proof that fashion constantly reinvents itself.

Armani and Gere on one side, Bottega Veneta and Hutton on the other. Two poles, narrating male and female elegance yet united by the same vision of style. Together, they projected an image of aesthetic modernity that launched American cinema into dialogue with Italian fashion, an artistic collaboration that would shape the years to come.

Even today, in environments such as Wall Street, a sort of dress code still persists, built on the “must-have” status of certain iconic garments—markers of the highest economic achievement: an Armani suit and Gucci loafers remain essential.

We bid farewell to Giorgio Armani not only as a designer but as a visionary.
His work will forever remain a point of reference, and if, as he once said, “elegance is not about being noticed, but about being remembered,” we can certainly affirm that he achieved exactly that.

in collaboration with Scuola Internazionale Comics (Turin, Italy)

After an extraordinary year together with the students and teachers of the International School of Comics… we are thrilled to present our new series: MiniMyths! One short film every week, just for you… to discover together that Mythology is still alive today—and that every day, we’re building new pieces of it ourselves.

Picture Perfect Future

by Fiammetta Camattari

NEW FORMATS FOR YOU
Coming soon… the irreverent magazine “LETTERALMENTE” (curated by Annarita Clemente).
And more: a COSPLAY magazine with Angela De Marco, a FILM SERIES with Nicolas Casari, and a PODCAST with Giorgia Casari—sharing real-life stories, breaking down prejudices, and finding the courage to open up about all aspects of human experience.

RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Fondazione M-Cube’s research continues in collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology (USA), Auckland University of Technology (NZ), HTW-Berlin (DE), and the Universidade Aberta (Lisbon, Algarve – PT).
We are exploring how Modern Mythology permeates and impacts: urban spaces (“Myth Cities”—a first chapter was presented at KUI 2025 at the Kulturforum in Berlin).

…the food world (think of Coca-Cola or Nutella), the way we dress and design clothes (we still wear garments like jeans—born in the late 19th Century), and even how to imagine new forms of protection for artists’ Intellectual Property.
There’s still much to discover, understand, and share with all of you!

EU & INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS
Currently in submission: two new projects in response to the latest Horizon calls, developed in collaboration with 40 partners across Europe, the USA, and New Zealand.
Meanwhile, we’re also awaiting evaluations for proposals submitted in the field of music.

08.09 + 09.09 / The new workshops for blind users at MART in Rovereto and in Turin

We are ready for the new workshops at MART in Rovereto and at our Academy in Turin. On the occasion of the 45th Festival organized by Oriente Occidente, we will test the beta version of the game STATUS QUⒺST together with blind, visually impaired, and sighted participants, alongside our partner Inventivio.
The workshop will be open to the general public, offering the chance to try out the game mechanics and the tactile device Tactonom.
The workshop will then move to Turin, at the Centro Piero della Francesca, for an encounter with local communities, aimed at collecting further feedback and making the final refinements to the prototype.
The workshops are open to everyone — sighted, blind, and visually impaired participants — from ages 12 to 90.
Become a game tester… Join us!

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

15.09 / New courses at the University of Turin
Starting in September, Fondazione M-Cube will launch two new workshops within the Department of Humanities / Communication Studies at the University of Turin.
The workshops, focusing on Modern Mythology & Communication Design, aim to train professionals in communication and storytelling practices for the Cultural and Creative Industries. These professionals act as “voices” of change, translating emerging trends and data into innovative cultural communication designed to resonate across generations, with a greater awareness of the ongoing evolution of the key pillars shaping our world.

21.09 / Awards Ceremony at the International School of Comics
Fondazione M-Cube will present awards to the students who created the three best
animated shorts on Modern Mythology. The event will also mark the launch of our new series, bringing an original video to your social feeds every week — a journey that will accompany us in the months ahead.

25.09 + 26.09 / XXII Conference Culture and Computer Science – Remixing Analog and Digital (Berlin)

At the end of September, we will be in Berlin with the project Eternal Cities / See The Invisible. We will present our new scientific paper Cities as Emotional-Cognitive Constructs. Panoramic view to access Myth, Memory, and Meaning by Emanuela Zilio and Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto.
We will set up the demo exhibition Crafting Immersive Showcases – Hybrid Tools for Phygital Storytelling. MultipliCity and See The Invisible at the KulturForum. See you in Berlin!

21.10 / THE MYTH OF SUPERHEROES

The major exhibition on the Greco-Roman mythological roots of contemporary superheroes — curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, Federica Montani, and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti – doubles up with a special edition at the Archäologisches Museum in Hamburg.
After its preview in San Diego (USA), the main exhibition is currently on show at the Vapriikki Museum Centre in Tampere, Finland, where it will remain open until 18 January 2026. The special edition created for Germany offers a constant interplay between past and present, exploring the various archetypes of superheroes found in ancient myths and legends.

by Fabrizio Modina

Only industry historians have noticed that French fashion has been dead for at least a decade, as its corpse continues to be on display, festively embalmed with feathers and sequins. This happens when the entire system is in the hands of a single person, who, devouring fashion houses with a bulimic appetite, has decreed that fashion should no longer be about invention and evolution (and therefore also risk), but a fake logo industry, where everything must be worth less and cost more.
In the shadow of this Emperor, the sector in Italy is in a guarded prognosis, but is doing its best to resist.

Of the three historical Magi, one has abdicated, one died twenty years ago, and the last is too old to still be creatively relevant. In this bleak landscape, the work of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana seems like a breath of fresh air, speaking to us of beauty, culture, savoir-faire, and, above all, independence.

If it’s true that Giorgio Armani was the greatest contributor to the creation of the image and structure of Italian fashion, with Milan as the caput mundi starting in the 1980s, it’s undeniable the boost Dolce and Gabbana gave to this concept, shifting attention to the South and especially Sicily, which became their raison d’être.

The dream of a country where beautiful men and women live, where fruit has a more intense aroma and food is a cult, where the sun and sea are eternal, and history and faith are both art, is the result of the decades-long work of the two designers, who, through their collections and advertising campaigns, have helped convey a positive image of Italy around the world, boosting not only the fashion market but tourism itself. She, he, the sea, summer, Capri: we’re lying to ourselves if we think we’re immune to this spell.

This effort to enhance the local area has become particularly effective since Dolce and Gabbana decided to dive headfirst into the High Tailoring adventure, imposing a single rule: no shows in Paris. Thus, challenging the historic (and at times arrogant) authority of the centrality of Haute Couture, the two embarked on an Italian Grand Tour, bringing their women’s and men’s couture catwalks to Sicily, Sardinia, Venice, and Rome, stepping out of the Palais to brighten the piazzas, breaking away from seemingly unassailable conventions. This new modus operandi inevitably involved the entire bandwagon of international front-row stars, who were invited not only to attend the shows but to appreciate the local beauty, serving as a trigger for a new high-end tourism that had an immediate impact on the economies of the locations involved. Siracusa beats the Grand Palais 10 to 1.

The spirit that guided this coup d’état towards Haute Couture is clearly evident in the traveling exhibition “From the Heart to the Hands – Dolce & Gabbana,” which, starting in Milan, traveled to Paris, London, and Rome, with decidedly triumphant results in terms of ticket sales. The discouragement of a system of large fashion exhibitions staged primarily in Paris and London was finally overcome thanks to a significant investment strongly supported by the two designers, not only as a retrospective of their work, but, above all, as a devoted tribute to Italy’s DNA of beauty, culture, and savoir-faire.

It matters little that the dresses in the Alta Moda and Alta Sartoria collections are more akin to theatrical costume than to soirée: the glass of Venice and the ceramics of Caltagirone, the Doric columns of Agrigento and the velvets of La Scala, the gold of the Vatican and the dames of Florence, are placed on mannequins, becoming art that evokes art, in a millennia-long journey where the true protagonists are not Domenico and Stefano, but the people who wove, cut, sewed, embroidered, and painted, following their instructions. A human heritage at risk of extinction that must be protected and promoted as a top priority.

“For me, Italian style is defined by three things: a sense of tradition, respect for one’s roots, and a sartorial approach to fashion,” said Domenico Dolce in a recent interview, a perspective that, as the M-Cube Foundation and the Fashion Heritage Academy, we fully share. In the darkest moment in fashion history, where young talents are denied the opportunity to express themselves and empires are built by selling overpriced plastic bags, where newspapers tell us that “ugly” is chic and Balenciaga has become a streetwear brand, Domenico and Dolce do not give up and persevere in the pursuit of a beauty that, before its exterior, is built on historical culture and the expression of the Genius loci.

Discover the video talks by Fondazione M-Cube — starting from fashion, and then branching out into many other dimensions of the world of Modern Mythology!

Coming this September: new episodes of Doppia Zip.

Double Zip

curated by Grita
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda

With Algorithmic Aesthetics, Grita and Fabrizio Modina invite us to reflect on how social media enters the fashion scene, reshaping it and
introducing new players to the game.
What happens to identity and meaning in the frenzy of the algorithm?
And where do subcultures end up?

Follow us so you don’t miss the next episodes!

Discover the FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY
300 hours of advanced training for professional

Contact & Info

educational@fondazionemcube.it
Secretariat +39 392.6328942 // Mon to Fri – 14.00-16.00

In the heart of this summer, we can’t help but mention one of the most paradoxical cruises in cinema… and no, it’s not Titanic!
This August our focus turns to Triangle of Sadness, the film directed by Robert Östlund, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2022.

It’s a journey that begins among fashion castings, stylish catwalks, Instagram-ready smiles, and lavish dinners, only to shift — starting from the luxurious lounge of a yacht – into a grotesque and nauseating drift. The shipwreck leads the protagonists to a deserted island where every social hierarchy is overturned, exposing the fragilities of today’s capitalist system and its contemporary myths.

The title itself is a declaration of intent. The “triangle of sadness” refers to the small frown line that forms between the eyebrows which, as cosmetic surgery reminds us, can easily be erased with a botox injection. Not by chance, the protagonist Carl, a young model, is advised to undergo this very “touch-up” during a casting by one of the agents. Appearance becomes the first battlefield: the wrinkle is a metaphor for a society that cannot tolerate the signs of time or vulnerability, preferring instead to replace them with a simulacrum of increasingly unnatural perfection.

Equally emblematic is the casting scene where Carl and the other models are asked to change their expression depending on the brand they’re representing.

Social judgment, in fact, manifests even in the absence of fabric, projecting itself onto the body like an invisible garment. In this sense, fashion becomes a language of the unspoken; even when absent, clothing continues to speak.

The lesson of Belle de Jour still resonates today. The protagonist’s restrained, minimal-chic style has influenced generations of designers and lives on in contemporary trends like the coveted “old money” aesthetic and a nostalgic vision of understated femininity.
But what makes this film truly timeless is not just its aesthetics. It is its power to expose – both literally and symbolically – the hypocrisy of the bourgeois world, and the role fashion plays in upholding or disrupting its masks.

Luis Buñuel and Yves Saint Laurent deliver a powerful reflection on who we are, what we desire, and how we’re allowed to appear. And Catherine Deneuve, icy and enigmatic, walks between these worlds with the elegance of someone wearing a secret…

NEW FORMATS FOR YOU
This summer, together with our collaborators, we are preparing a series of surprises for you…
With Angela De Marco, a brand-new MAGAZINE is on its way.
With Nicolas Casari, we are launching an all-new FILM SERIES.
And with Giorgia Casari, a brand-new PODCAST will open up a space to talk about real life, leave behind prejudices, and find the courage to engage with all the complexities of the human experience.

RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Fondazione M-Cube’s research activities continue to expand across multiple areas.
Scientific papers and the See the Invisible exhibition have been accepted for presentation at:

• SiGraDi 2025, la conferenza su “Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences”
  Cordoba (Argentina)
• GDI 2025 Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments
  Auckland, New Zealand

EU PROJECTS
Currently in the application phase, in collaboration with 40 partners across Europe, the USA, and New Zealand: three new projects in response to the latest Horizon calls.

08.09 / The new blind workshop at MART in Rovereto and Turin
We are ready for the new workshop at MART in Rovereto.
As part of the 45th Festival organized by Oriente Occidente, we will test the beta version of the game STATUS QUⒺST together with blind and visually impaired participants and our partner Inventivio.
The workshop will be open to the general public, who will have the opportunity to try out the game mechanics and the tactile device Tactonom.
The workshop will then move to Turin for a final session with local communities, gathering feedback and making final refinements to the prototype.

15.09 / New courses at the University of Turin
Starting in September, Fondazione M-Cube will launch two new workshops within the Department of Humanities / Communication Studies at the University of Turin. The workshops, focusing on Modern Mythology & Communication Design, aim to train professionals in communication and storytelling practices for the Cultural and Creative Industries.
These professionals act as “voices” of change, translating emerging trends and data into innovative cultural communication designed to resonate across generations, with a greater awareness of the ongoing evolution of the key pillars shaping our world.

25-26.09 / XXII. Conference Culture and Computer Science – Remixing analog and digital (Berlin)
At the end of September, we will be in Berlin with the project Eternal Cities / See The Invisible.
We will present our new scientific paper Cities as Emotional-Cognitive Constructs. Panoramic view to access Myth, Memory, and Meaning by Emanuela Zilio and Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto, and we will set up the demo exhibition Crafting Immersive Showcases – Hybrid Tools for Phygital Storytelling. MultipliCity and See The Invisible at the KulturForum.

The news went around the globe as if it were an alien invasion: Anna Wintour steps down. The über-powerful editor of Vogue America has announced she is leaving her position as editor-in-chief after a career that began in 1988, while still taking on an “overview” role for all Condé Nast titles, especially the international editions of Vogue. In other words, she has no intention of actually retiring.
May I add: what a pity!

If there’s one common denominator in the fashion world – and particularly in fashion journalism – it is the servility towards figures who have spent years building and cementing a centralized, egomaniacal position that doesn’t always correspond to genuine professional value, especially when judged over the long term.

You don’t need to be a fashion addict to know that The Devil Wears Prada – both book and film – is directly inspired by her, based on the account of one of her assistants who survived years of cruelty and abuse. On screen, Miranda Priestley, the demonic editor of Runway, amuses audiences with her Disney-stepmother wickedness. In real life, however, I challenge anyone to find anything positive in a boss who rules through a kingdom of fear.

I vividly recall one rare moment of collective clarity when she was booed in Milan a few years ago for imposing a change in the Fashion Week dates simply because they didn’t fit her personal schedule. Who do you think you are? as the Spice Girls would say.

So who is Anna Wintour? A genius in the history of fashion, or a master manipulator of the press devoted to her own cult of personality?

First of all, let’s clarify something: if we are to identify a truly pivotal figure in this field, in the same role, that person is certainly not Anna, but Diana Vreeland. She, first at Harper’s Bazaar and later at Vogue, shaped at least three decades of fashion aesthetics, launching the careers of couturiers, designers, photographers, and models like no one before—or since.

While these days of career retrospectives for “Queen Anna” see tabloids gushing over her stroke of genius in pairing a stunning neo-Byzantine Christian Lacroix jacket with ripped jeans—thus inventing modern styling—very few are asking what her actual contribution to fashion storytelling has been. Which designers has she truly nurtured and launched? Four names stand out: Marc Jacobs, Thom Browne, Proenza Schouler, and Miuccia Prada. 

As a teacher of fashion history, whenever I’m asked to talk about Marc Jacobs, I feel a genuine sense of embarrassment. Talk about what? Which innovation? Which historical moment? Nothing but good marketing dressed up as substance. Thom Browne? Let’s just point out that he’s the partner of Andrew Bolton, the icy curator of the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who just happens to be Wintour’s right hand in organizing the Met Gala. As for the utterly forgettable Proenza Schouler, I’ll skip right over them and move to Miuccia Prada. When it comes to overrated names, she deserves a chapter of her own. The Devil doesn’t wear Prada by chance—or by choice. Quite simply, Prada bought the Devil. How furious poor Gianfranco Ferré was when Anna Wintour compiled a list of the world’s best designers and—who would have guessed—Prada was the only Italian on a list dominated by Americans with a token few French. No Armani, no Versace, no Ferré, no Valentino. A list as childish as it was dramatic, revealing a closed and non-meritocratic system built on an “inner circle” of chosen ones for the sake of mutual flattery.

Turning the Met Gala into a spectacle that makes Barnum’s Circus look like a premiere at La Scala has not been enough to chip away at the leaden statue, complete with bob and sunglasses. Because Anna is Anna, and she’s still Anna. In an age when being cruel is “cool,” the Queen has reigned unchallenged, eliminating any possible rival. But what will happen if the crown now passes to someone with more talent and courtesy? Perhaps we’d discover that it’s the only trend that looks good on everyone—even when it’s out of fashion.

Discover the video talks by Fondazione M-Cube, starting from the world of fashion and then gliding into the vast universe of Modern Mythologies!

Double Zip

curated by Grita
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda

With Algorithmic Aesthetics, Grita and Fabrizio Modina invite us to reflect on how social media enters the fashion scene, reshaping it and introducing new players to the game.
What happens to identity and meaning in the frenzy of the algorithm? And where do subcultures end up?

Follow us so you don’t miss the next episodes!

Discover the FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY!

In the height of summer 2025, we revisit a timeless classic that left a profound mark on both cinema and fashion history: Belle de Jour (1967), the iconic collaboration between director Luis Buñuel, actress Catherine Deneuve, and designer Yves Saint Laurent.

This creative triangle transformed the female body into a symbolic territory, traversed by both desire and repression.
In Buñuel’s surrealist cinema, desire is always an enigma, and in Belle de Jour, that mystery is expressed precisely through clothing. The film is not just a tale of repressed fantasies—it is a sharp critique of bourgeois hypocrisy. Within this framework, fashion becomes once again a narrative device, and Yves Saint Laurent, who designed the protagonist’s costumes, serves as its silent architect.

The film tells the story of Séverine (played by Deneuve), a young bourgeois woman living with her doctor husband in a cocooned world of tea cups and silk robes. Yet beneath her composed surface lies an urge to rebel—to break the rules of a perfectly packaged life. And so, each afternoon, she secretly visits a brothel under the pseudonym Belle de Jour.
Her body moves between two parallel lives, with clothing acting as a bridge between them.

For the film, Yves Saint Laurent—Deneuve’s close friend and long-time collaborator—created a wardrobe of striking contrasts: rigid silhouettes such as the iconic beige dress and knee-length skirt suits, juxtaposed with more provocative pieces like the famous black vinyl trench coat. Every detail narrates both bourgeois perfection and the abyss lurking beneath it.

Fashion theorist Eugenia Paulicelli, in her book Moda e cinema in Italia (2020), speaks of a true synergy between fashion and cinema. In Belle de Jour, clothing is not just costume—it becomes “script stitched in fabric.” Saint Laurent doesn’t merely dress a body; he clothes Séverine’s “social persona.” And when she undresses—seemingly a gesture of liberation—it is anything but. Even her naked body is not truly free, but remains under surveillance, still inscribed within the bourgeois code she tries to escape.

Social judgment, in fact, manifests even in the absence of fabric, projecting itself onto the body like an invisible garment. In this sense, fashion becomes a language of the unspoken; even when absent, clothing continues to speak.

The lesson of Belle de Jour still resonates today. The protagonist’s restrained, minimal-chic style has influenced generations of designers and lives on in contemporary trends like the coveted “old money” aesthetic and a nostalgic vision of understated femininity.
But what makes this film truly timeless is not just its aesthetics. It is its power to expose—both literally and symbolically—the hypocrisy of the bourgeois world, and the role fashion plays in upholding or disrupting its masks.

Luis Buñuel and Yves Saint Laurent deliver a powerful reflection on who we are, what we desire, and how we’re allowed to appear. And Catherine Deneuve, icy and enigmatic, walks between these worlds with the elegance of someone wearing a secret…

NEW FORMATS FOR YOU
This summer, together with our collaborators, we are preparing a series of surprises for you…
With Angela De Marco, a brand-new MAGAZINE is on its way.
With Nicolas Casari, we are launching an all-new FILM SERIES.
And with Giorgia Casari, a brand-new PODCAST will open up a space to talk about real life, leave behind prejudices, and find the courage to engage with all the complexities of the human experience.

SUPERHEROES – FROM ANTIQUITY TO CONTEMPORARY
The exhibition curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, with Federica Montani and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti, continues with great success at the Vapriikki Museokeskus in Tampere, Finland.
A hyper-dynamic and super-pop journey through the history of heroes from the past to the present.
The exhibition explores the archetypes of superheroes as they appear in ancient myths and legends. Visitors can trace the evolution of the superhero both chronologically and thematically.

RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Fondazione M-Cube’s research continues on multiple fronts with scientific papers and the exhibition See the Invisible, which will be presented at:

• SiGraDi 2025, la conferenza su “Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences”
  Cordoba (Argentina)
• GDI 2025 Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments
  Auckland (New Zealand)

01-03.07 / Fashion Heritage Academy @ B2B Torino Fashion Match
With the talk “The Heritage of Tailoring: How to Preserve an Art”, during Turin Fashion Week, Fabrizio Modina, President of Fondazione M-Cube, will highlight the urgent need to safeguard the human and cultural heritage of Italian tailoring. In collaboration with Unioncamere Piemonte.

10.07 / Kylie Minogue – The Tension Tour
Live from Lyon, France, we’ll attend the concert of the Pop Princess — one of the most influential figures in music since the 1980s. The Australian star is a muse to fashion designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Dolce & Gabbana, and her shows are a dazzling mix of technology and theatricality.

For some time now, industry insiders have (finally) started to ask whether the key role in fashion design today still belongs to creatives—or whether it’s now the managers of commercial departments who reign supreme. The answer is more obvious than it might seem.

Generations Z and Alpha, please forgive me if the musical reference in this article’s title seems cryptic to you; you can probably ask a parent for clarification. I couldn’t think of a better way to express the mood of disillusionment surrounding the decline of fashion over the past twenty years.

The insight that brand CEOs had is actually quite simple: minimum effort, maximum (economic) return. So why invest capital in training expert tailors, patternmakers, and high-end ready-to-wear technicians to renew collections through creativity, genius, and quality—when, with far less effort, you can sell endless quantities of mass-produced handbags with profit margins that clothing could never offer?

Don’t get me wrong—I have the utmost respect for the skilled professionals in the leather goods industry—but I’m sure even they would agree that there are significant differences between their type of production and that of garment-making. One of the most striking is the intrinsic function of “wearability” in clothing—a process that requires days of teamwork, typically involving a designer, a patternmaker, a tailor, and a fit model.

Together, they assess—after countless fittings—whether a jacket, a pair of pants, a coat, or a dress fits well, allows for proper movement, performs well in the chosen fabric, and aligns with the production timelines and projected costs. It’s a process that allows no mistakes and demands both time and skill, which means: money.

Here too, we could open another discussion about the proliferation—especially among luxury brands—of products that require almost no research investment, like t-shirts and sweatshirts sold for absurd prices.

Now, even though producing a high-quality handbag takes time, it will never compare to the time and complexity required for garments—or even footwear. A bag must be durable, practical, aesthetically pleasing, and made of good materials. But that’s it—it doesn’t have to be “worn” in the same sense.
Maybe a few of you have noticed (very few), but for over a decade, brands have been removing their clothing collections from storefront displays, replacing them with dazzling handbag arrangements. In glossy magazine spreads and online campaigns, bags have taken center stage, while everything else has faded into the background.

Little by little, fashion has disappeared. The desire to invent and create has dulled. The urge to buy a beautiful outfit has faded. A terrible idea has taken hold among consumers (not just women): a pricey handbag is enough to look amazing—the rest is irrelevant.
And that’s how we destroyed prêt-à-porter. It’s no coincidence that in the past 20 years, the great minds of haute couture have all but vanished, replaced by empires of companies that built their core business around leather goods. Others, in order to survive, had to adapt—completely losing their tailoring identity.

Now, finally (and rather late), social media is buzzing with the revelation that those beloved luxury handbags are not worth their price.
I’ve been telling my students this for fifteen years—what a relief! I feel less alone now. Angry customers are discovering that their cherished treasures aren’t even made of leather, but of plastic. That they weren’t made in France or Italy. That the expensive dream they bought wasn’t real. Even if made with the finest leather in the world, a handbag should never cost more than a car. And now (almost) everyone has realized that the difference between an original and a fake is practically zero.
If it weren’t so funny, it would be almost shocking.

I remember one of the many spats between Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat, and Diego Della Valle, CEO of Hogan and Tod’s. Marchionne once pointed out that with the same amount Della Valle invested in R&D for a whole year, he could buy a bumper. Blunt—but accurate.
I was recently in Florence, the heart of Italy’s leathercraft tradition, and was happy to see so many small brands proudly holding on, focusing on true material quality and strict Made in Italy craftsmanship. No logos, just real strength and heritage.
Those are the brands we should look to when we want to buy a truly good bag—at a fair price.

Maybe, slowly, the tide is turning. Even in the U.S. and China—where the ultra-wealthy control the rise and fall of brand revenues—there are signs of more conscious consumer behavior.
The commodification of the “dream” is ending. It’s time for substance.
Top female finance managers, for example, are reportedly less inclined to spend tens of thousands of dollars on accessories. As financial advisors themselves, they feel they must lead by example when it comes to cutting unnecessary, extravagant expenses.
Who knows—maybe soon, even those who proudly brag on TikTok about buying a €70,000 handbag will no longer be seen as “super cool,”
but simply for what they really are: complete idiots.

The M-Cube Foundation launches two new video talk formats that start with fashion—and then glide into much more… exploring the realms of Modern Mythology!

Red Velvet Talks

curated by Elena Maria Casella
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda
Not a lecture. Not a traditional interview. But a pop and visionary conversation with those who don’t just study or design fashion… they live it.

Doppia Zip

curated by Grita
filming and editing by Simona Rapisarda
We felt the need to create a broad and accessible space for dialogue about fashion. Grita, together with Fabrizio Modina, will try—through chats and a touch of oracle consultation—to unravel the threads of this complex world.

Discover the FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY!

Our journey through the contemporary cinematic imagination continues—where films are not just narratives to be watched, but living archives of style, research, and identity. In this third installment, we turn our attention to a timeless cult classic of American independent cinema: Buffalo ‘66 (1998), written, directed by, and starring Vincent Gallo—a controversial and iconic figure who, with this debut, carved out a new archetype for the modern “misfit.”

Set among deserted bowling alleys, diners, and faded motels, Buffalo ‘66 tells the tragicomic story of two solitary souls who brush up against each other—and eventually connect. The film offers a visual aesthetic that has influenced fashion deeply, making its mark on both runways and Instagram feeds.

The story follows Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo), a neurotic man just released from prison, caught between a past of mistakes and a present built on lies. To avoid disappointing his parents—who believe he’s become a successful man—he kidnaps tap dancer Layla (a magnetic Christina Ricci), forcing her to pretend to be his wife during a family visit. From that moment on, Buffalo ‘66 becomes an escape from reality: an urban road movie made of silences and lingering glances, set in a desaturated, frozen suburbia—a backdrop that serves a visual language powerful enough to transcend time.

Vincent Gallo personally curated the film’s costumes: Billy’s worn bomber jackets, shapeless sweatshirts, and faded jeans portray a wounded masculinity, one that expresses its marginality through anti-glamour pieces in shades of grey and black. The iconic coral-red boots, which pop throughout the film, seem to represent that internal scream, that open wound—a detail betraying his desire to break free from a cold and hostile world.

Layla, meanwhile, floats beside Billy in her babydoll dress, soft white cardigan, and glitter shoes—a true melancholic, disarmed coquette girl. It’s a style now gone viral on TikTok and deeply embedded in the visual world of artists like Lana Del Rey, evoking an ultra-feminine, dreamy, timeless essence.
One unforgettable moment comes in the photo booth scene, where Layla and Billy pose for a series of instant snapshots. It’s partly thanks to this scene that the current love for Polaroids and vintage aesthetics—celebrated by brands like Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu—finds an authentic origin.

And then there’s American football—Billy’s obsession and psychological wound. This sports universe permeates the entire film and echoes today in fashion’s reimagining of ’90s sportswear with new codes: oversized jackets, college logos, baggy tracksuits, football jerseys reinterpreted through a genderless lens. Brands like Martine Rose, Balenciaga, Acne Studios, and other emerging labels draw directly from this suburban, nostalgic aesthetic.

Today, Buffalo ‘66 reminds us that fashion doesn’t need catwalks—it’s built through details and in the lives of everyday people. This is a film that proves fashion speaks everywhere, even in the frozen streets of Buffalo. Buffalo ‘66 becomes an urban fairytale, where fashion dresses the vulnerability of two souls who meet by chance—and who, in that absurd encounter, may just find the strength to start again.
A timeless tenderness that still inspires—and resonates.

SEE THE INVISIBLE – Upcoming Events and the Exhibition Tour in Berlin, Argentina, and New Zealand
The first phase of the See the Invisible project concluded on June 5 in New York. Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto shares insights into her research and experimentation conducted at the New York Institute of Technology – between mythic cities, Modern Mythology, and a world once again searching for superheroes. She will also preview the next phase of the project, which will take place in Argentina and New Zealand.

GLEAM – New Workshop at the National Museum of Cinema with Inventivio
Development of the game STATUS QUⒺST!!! is moving forward!
The workshop, organized by Fondazione M-Cube in collaboration with the National Museum of Cinema, involved a group of testers including blind and visually impaired users.
The main goal of the workshop was to test the storyline of STATUS QUⒺST!!!, along with new game mechanics being integrated into the experience, and to gather feedback and ideas during the advanced alpha testing phase.
Additionally, the workshop gave participants the opportunity to explore Tactonom, a device presented by Inventivio that enables phygital educational interaction with the game.

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

SUPERHEROES – FROM ANTIQUITY TO CONTEMPORARY
The exhibition curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, with Federica Montani and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti, continues to draw large audiences at the Vapriikki Museokeskus in Tampere, Finland.
A hyper-dynamic and super-pop journey through the history of past and present heroes, the exhibition explores the archetypes of superheroes found in ancient myths and legends.
Visitors can follow the evolution of superheroes in both chronological and thematic narratives.

RESEARCH & INNOVATION
Fondazione M-Cube’s research activities continue to expand across multiple areas.
Scientific papers and the See the Invisible exhibition have been accepted for presentation at:

• XXII. Conference Culture and Computer Science – Remixing analog and digital in Berlin (Germany)
• SiGraDi 2025, the international conference on Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences in Córdoba (Argentina)
• GDI 2025 – Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments in Auckland (New Zealand)

07.06 / Dua Lipa at I-Days, Milano 
At the SNAI La Maura Hippodrome for the concert of the Pop diva, loved by the greatest fashion designers and undisputed protagonist of the post-pandemic music scene.

11–14.06 / NOVA ROCK (Pannonia Fields, Nickelsdorf – AT)
Four days surrounded by the myths of the music world — Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park, and
Electric Callboy — at one of Europe’s largest rock events. FMC joins the communities.

16.06 / FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY Open Day (Turin)
Starting at 5:30 PM at the Piero della Francesca Center, meet the coordinators and
instructors of the new Academy. FMC invites you to explore today’s and tomorrow’s fashion
professions.
Register to participate here

17.06 / GLEAM – Workshop #2 at the National Cinema Museum (Turin)
A co-design and testing day with blind and visually impaired users, in collaboration with the
National Cinema Museum, Tactile Vision, and UIC — exploring cinema through sound and
(video)games.
The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

01-03.07 / Fashion Heritage Academy @ B2B Torino Fashion Match
With the talk “The Heritage of Tailoring: How to Preserve an Art”, during Turin Fashion Week, Fabrizio Modina, President of Fondazione M-Cube, will highlight the urgent need to safeguard the human and cultural heritage of Italian tailoring. In collaboration with Unioncamere Piemonte.

10.07 / Kylie Minogue – The Tension Tour
Live from Lyon, France, we’ll attend the concert of the Pop Princess — one of the most influential figures in music since the 1980s. The Australian star is a muse to fashion designers like Jean Paul Gaultier and Dolce & Gabbana, and her shows are a dazzling mix of technology and theatricality.

In May, our fashion conversations often landed on the MET Gala in New York, on Anna Wintour and Vogue. We talked about Sabrina Carpenter in her Louis Vuitton look, and Rihanna, who announced her pregnancy on the carpet in a Marc Jacobs gown. We dreamed of Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Lucky Blue Smith, and Alton Mason.
We shared catwalks, covers, and… again and again… the longing many of us feel for a size 38–40 (IT) and a sculpted body.

Other conversations focused on the experiences lived at the MART in Rovereto with Oriente Occidente and at Sight City in Frankfurt, together with blind and visually impaired communities: we talked about Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, about Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman (1992) and Björk in Dancer in the Dark (2000), but also about Lucy Edwards, a blind British model and activist, the first to walk the runway at Copenhagen Fashion Week.
We asked those who are blind: How do you shop for clothes? How do you choose what to wear?

When we talk about fashion, our perspective is often one-directional in terms of space and time – but the world we live in is not.
Our era is made up of many different bodies, all seeking beauty – or rather, the ability to attract relationships, of any kind, with other living beings.

The MET Gala itself opens this space-time window, with the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style”—inspired by the concept of Black dandyism—exploring how style and clothing have contributed to shaping Black identity throughout the Atlantic diaspora, from the 18th century to today.

Bodies across different ethnicities vary enormously, just as the concept of beauty does: soft and abundant shapes, lean and towering figures, petite and delicate frames like porcelain dolls, natural or sculpted musculature on display, long necks and slender hands, hips and backsides seemingly born to dance, skins that cover the full spectrum of the rainbow, with gradients from milky white to a black that blends with the night.

While models like Adut Akech (South Sudan/Australia), Halima Aden (Somalia/USA), and Paloma Elsesser (USA) are bringing more diversity to the runways, and some ad campaigns now include people of all ages, shapes, and ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty), and more brands are expanding their size ranges to include plus, petite, and tall options, it remains a challenge to truly imagine all possible body shapes and the complexity of designing garments that can honor our diverse identities.

This challenge also applies to bodies that fall outside of standard sizing for other reasons: diet, illness, lifestyle rhythms, or personal fears all influence our bodies and our appearance. In a global society swinging between high rates of both anorexia and obesity, between bodies that have undergone surgery and transformation, the question remains: how can fashion help create a positive offering and message—one that could truly be a game changer?

And beyond sizes, in our everyday lives we encounter scars, tattoos, vitiligo—bodies that carry incredible stories. In Corpi dipinti,, Matt Lodder introduces us to humanity through 21 tattoos. “By observing the marks that humans have etched onto their skin,” he explains, “we can understand people, places, and historical moments. The body is a blank canvas we’ve learned to paint on, carve into, color—making it a bearer of messages and a witness to our earthly existence.
The urgency to communicate through signs is a fundamental human trait, and few art forms have the immediacy and intimacy of a tattoo.”

Necklines, cut-outs, sheer fabrics: it is through the bodies of Damiano David, Blanco, Mahmood, Lil Nas X, Harry Styles—but also through all of us, who carry indelible marks traced out of love, loyalty, rebellion, or simple fun—that today’s fashion designers must engage when creating a garment.

The challenge becomes even greater when the body doesn’t appear as we might expect. Bodies with disabilities have long elicited fear and horror, fueling phobias and prejudices, and still today evoke conflicting emotions, sometimes leaving us awkward in how we relate and connect with those perceived as “outside the norm” or “missing something.” In 2019, to celebrate Barbie’s 60th anniversary, Mattel dedicated a doll (in sporty, elegant, and casual versions) to Bebe Vio, Paralympic fencing champion, as part of the “Shero” project—a move to break barriers and stereotypes and to inspire future generations. Far from hiding her prosthetics, Bebe appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair alongside Federica Pellegrini, in a visionary shot by artist Maurizio Cattelan. She walked the runway at Milan Fashion Week wearing knee-high pink boots decorated with the face of Jigglypuff, a Pokémon character, and graced the Cannes Film Festival red carpet in dresses designed by Dior to highlight her prosthetics and celebrate authentic beauty and inclusivity.

The blind and visually impaired young people we meet at the MART in Rovereto and at Sight City in Frankfurt—through workshops organized by the M-Cube Foundation to develop inclusive products and services – are invited to explore a range of fabrics through touch and smell, and to listen to the stories behind them, like that of denim. They are also encouraged to design garments and define their features and details – elements that will help them recognize their own clothes in the wardrobe and fall in love with them, even if they cannot see them.

At the same time, we find ourselves in conversation in Berlin with one of the most vibrant and fascinating Queer communities, which opens up another important topic. We attend events where international body positive and body neutrality movements promote the acceptance of all body types without rigid aesthetic standards. Their idea of the “body as home” helps us better understand how the body is not just a physical shell, but the primary site of experience, identity, and relationships with the world. These are transformed bodies, bodies in flux, sometimes simply dressed or narrated differently.

Today’s designers are called to engage with cultural and social constructs more than with fixed biological realities—with a ritual that requires time and care, rather than just a routine. The way a queer person dresses, wears makeup, or styles their hair follows no fixed rules: it is a personal, political, and artistic expression manifested through a multitude of practices.

From this have emerged the logics and trends of drag culture—as parody, celebration, or exaggeration of gender—but also genderless/agender fashion, camp and theatricality à la Susan Sontag, and styles such as punk, rave, club kid, gothic, ‘90s, or Y2K.

And finally, we land in the Metaverses and video games, because the M-Cube Foundation is currently developing three of them. Here, fashion dresses immaterial, multiform bodies—constantly evolving and undergoing metamorphosis. Bradley Quinn, in his book Fashion in the Metaverse, helps us better understand the present moment—between augmented, virtual, and mixed reality, AI, and blockchain—where technological innovations are inspiring designers, brands, and consumers to think beyond conventional clothing in the physical world and to create new relationships with digital garments within 3D virtual spaces. In this realm, where new professions are taking shape, the fashion artist has a secured place.

We still have much to learn, and the landscape ahead is certainly challenging, but these are the many expressions of fashion that, together with the M-Cube Foundation, we aim to explore and bring to life through the Fashion Heritage Academy.

The M-Cube Foundation launches the Fashion Heritage Academy with three two-year professional training courses, each totaling 2,600 hours. Students will have the opportunity to become professionals in Haute Couture, costume designers for theatre, cinema, and the incredible and ever-growing cosplay market, as well as fashion artists specializing in creations for the Metaverse and video games.

The Fashion Heritage Academy operates through key national and international networks. By joining us, you’ll have the chance to experiment in innovation labs and take part in professional internships, thanks to our partnerships with companies that are actively seeking exactly the kind of new professional profiles we train at FHA.

You’ll have the chance to practice English in the fashion industry, gain a deeper understanding of what it means to design for real bodies, and explore new professional perspectives. You’ll learn to bridge cultures—between East and West, between generations, aesthetics, and what is often perceived as disability.

You’ll have the opportunity to practice English in the fashion industry, gain a deeper understanding of what it means to design for diverse bodies, and open up to new professional perspectives—crossing cultures (East and West), generations, aesthetics, and even what is commonly perceived as disability. It’s a journey through fashion that embraces inclusion, innovation, and cultural dialogue.

SAVE THE DATE

Join Us on June 16th at 5:30 PM in Turin – Discover the World of the Fashion Heritage Academy!
📍 Corso Svizzera 185bis, Turin (Italy)
You’re invited to our Open Day at the Fashion Heritage Academy
This will be a unique opportunity to dive into the world of Haute Couture, explore the art of cosplay, and discover the cutting-edge frontier of digital fashion.
Come and meet our instructors, learn more about the exciting courses we offer.

🎟️ Sign up now and get ready to step into the future of fashion!

Our journey through the screens continues! In this second installment, we shine the spotlight on one of the most talked-about releases of the moment, a film that has garnered widespread acclaim, confirming one of the most interesting directors of our time. We’re talking about Queer (2025) by Luca Guadagnino, which premiered in Italian theaters on April 17 and is based on the novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs. With this latest masterpiece, Guadagnino reaffirms the subversive power of his cinema, capable of challenging conventions and dismantling dominant narratives by using beauty as a battleground between repression and liberation.

At first glance, a story of unrequited love between two lonely souls, Queer is actually much more. As Guadagnino himself states, it is “the story of an impossibility within possibility,” of a deep longing for connection and tenderness, and the repression of that very desire out of fear of recognizing oneself in something unknown and therefore frightening.
With Queer, we are thrown into a rundown Mexico City, a murky territory where clothing becomes the battleground for unstable identities and unconfessable desires. Queer invites us to reflect on how, once again, cinema uses fashion not merely as decoration to evoke an imagery but as a true language to tell stories of inner decay, ambiguity, and the unsaid.

On this occasion, Luca Guadagnino creates a work that both seduces and unsettles, and not only because of the power of the story. The film weaves period aesthetics with a touch of surrealism, shaping a vision halfway between dream and reality, tradition and modernity. Set in the 1950s, it takes place during the height of the American boom, which gave rise to a modern and mass-produced men’s wardrobe rooted in European tailoring traditions. Bringing this vision to life in the costumes is Jonathan Anderson (British designer, founder of the brand JW Anderson, former creative director of Loewe, and current creative director of Dior Homme), who had previously collaborated with the director on Challengers (2024).
While in Challengers the designer aimed to recreate the tennis imagery where brand display is fundamental, in Queer Anderson takes on the challenge of reconstructing an authentic wardrobe from those years, where every fold, fabric, and color becomes part of a larger narrative, where the surface reflects the hidden turmoil.

Symbolic indeed is Lee’s cream-colored linen suit (played by Daniel Craig), which gradually becomes wrinkled and stained, visually narrating the character’s descent into the abyss of drug addiction. Similarly, the shirt—pure white like cocaine—becomes dirtied and darkened throughout the film as the protagonist falls deeper into heroin. Meanwhile, the beloved and elusive Eugene (played by Drew Starkey) floats lightly in airy shirts, fine knitwear, and wide trousers that keep him always just out of reach, a symbol of unattainable desire.
“I wanna talk to you without speaking,” says Lee. We don’t know if he succeeds, but in Queer, the image certainly speaks louder than anything else, thanks also to the hand of cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom.

Already known for having handled the cinematography of much of Guadagnino’s filmography, Mukdeeprom is an artist capable of turning every shot into a painting that breathes on its own. Every scene becomes a pictorial fragment suspended between the real and the dreamlike: the sweat on the skin, the wrinkled fabrics, the shadows that consume faces. Everything speaks, everything builds a sensory imaginary that drags us into the abyss alongside the protagonists.
The film reminds us that the real scandal is not the naked body, but the soul that lets itself be glimpsed. It is there, in that exposed vulnerability, that Queer finds its disruptive strength. And it does so with an aesthetic that seduces and destabilizes at the same time, capable of attracting the gaze only to then tear it away, leaving us disoriented and, perhaps, a little changed. At the end of the viewing, there remains the sensation of having crossed a feverish dream where nothing is as it seems and everything tells a deeper truth.

SUPERHEROES – FROM ANTIQUITY TO CONTEMPORARY
Inaugurated on May 29th at the Vapriikki Museokeskus Centre in Tampere, Finland, the new exhibition curated by Fabrizio Modina for Fondazione M-Cube, Federica Montani, and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti. It is a hyperdynamic and super-pop journey through the history of heroes from the past and present. The exhibition explores the types of superhero models found in ancient myths and legends. Visitors can follow the evolution of superheroes both chronologically and thematically.

GLEAM, workshops in blind-mode in Rovereto and Frankfurt
The development of the GLEAM project continues — Game to Learn and Enable Accessibility through Modern Mythology (XR4ED platform) — through co-design and testing workshops with schools and a target group of blind and visually impaired users. The activity in Rovereto on May 6th involved more than 30 people in an experience where even sighted participants put themselves in the shoes of those who cannot use sight to access the tactile visit of a selection of artworks presented by MART, as well as the fabrics and the app in development introduced byFondazione M-Cube and NEEEU GmbH. Participation at Sight City, the world’s largest fair for the blind, held in Frankfurt, also allowed for testing game mechanics with new test groups and engaging with developers and innovators on content, tools, and strategies for inclusion… including in the field of gaming, both physical and virtual.

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

SEE THE INVISIBLE, first round results and next steps
In conclusion, the first phase of the See the Invisible project, created by Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto with Fondazione M-Cube and in collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology. In our world and throughout history, some cities have acquired a powerful mythological charm that has transformed them into “eternal cities,” icons of the past, pride of the present, and simulacra of themselves in the future. The “mythic” cities—and their competitive advantage—can be better understood by wearing a new pair of glasses, capable of revealing the “magic” of the things, events, and stories linked to those places; intangible elements that transcend the limits of time. Between November 2024 and May 2025, New York was the first target city, serving as the base for developing the scientific-artistic investigation format and the AI model. Within the Big Apple—now itself an icon—the project made it possible to represent 12 locations and 4 symbolic elements considered iconic, along with about 30 elements from Modern Mythology (cinema, comics, video games, fashion, sports) that made those places extraordinarily powerful and attractive, to implement and test a phygital model to be applied in the next steps to other “mythic cities.”

RESEARCH
Fondazione M-Cube’s research continues on multiple fronts. Two scientific contributions related to the See the Invisible project have been approved and will be presented between November and December at SiGraDi 2025, the conference on “Meta-Responsive Approaches in Architecture, Art, Design, and Sciences,” in Córdoba (Argentina), and at the GDI 2025 Green + Digital + Intelligent Built Environments event in Auckland (New Zealand). A new short paper and the prototype exhibition “Cities as Emotional-Cognitive Constructs: Panoramic View to Access Myth, Memory, and Meaning” have been submitted for participation in the XXII. Conference Culture and Computer Science – Remixing analog and digital, scheduled for September in Berlin.

05.05 / GLEAM – Workshop #2 at MART (Rovereto)
A full day of co-design and testing open to students, together with a group of blind and visually impaired users, in collaboration with MART, Oriente Occidente, and Cooperativa Abilnova. A hands-on experience blending tactile art exploration and (video)games.
https://www.mart.tn.it

21–23.05 / GLEAM – Workshop #2 at SightCity Frankfurt (DE)
Three days of alpha testing for the new (video)game, open to the public, in collaboration with NEEEU GmbH and featuring blind and visually impaired users.
https://sightcity.net/en/home

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

24.05 / Modern Mythology Course at HTW-Berlin (DE)
FMC launches the second edition of the Modern Mythology course in Berlin, with a focus on museums as new incubators for business models and emerging internationally relevant professions.

29.05 / From Antiquity to Contemporary in Tampere (FI)
Following the success of THE MYTH OF SUPERHEROES exhibition at the Comicon Museum in San Diego, FMC opens a new chapter at the Vapriikki Museum.
https://www.vapriikki.fi/en/exhibition/superheroes-from-antiquity-to-contemporary/

31.05 / YUNKA Festival (Monterenzio – BO)
FMC presents its research on biomaterials and the deep connection with nature. Plants, animals, and bacteria — these are the true superheroes regulating our lives.
https://yunkafestival.it

07.06 / Dua Lipa at I-Days, Milano 
At the SNAI La Maura Hippodrome for the concert of the Pop diva, loved by the greatest fashion designers and undisputed protagonist of the post-pandemic music scene.
https://www.idays.it/artista/65/dua-lipa

11–14.06 / NOVA ROCK (Pannonia Fields, Nickelsdorf – AT)
Four days surrounded by the myths of the music world — Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park, and
Electric Callboy — at one of Europe’s largest rock events. FMC joins the communities.
https://www.novarock.at/en

16.06 / FASHION HERITAGE ACADEMY Open Day (Turin)
Starting at 5:30 PM at the Piero della Francesca Center, meet the coordinators and
instructors of the new Academy. FMC invites you to explore today’s and tomorrow’s fashion
professions.
Register to participate here

17.06 / GLEAM – Workshop #2 at the National Cinema Museum (Turin)
A co-design and testing day with blind and visually impaired users, in collaboration with the
National Cinema Museum, Tactile Vision, and UIC — exploring cinema through sound and
(video)games.
https://www.museocinema.it/

With the advent of ready-to-wear, around the 1960s, the tailoring workers of Turin and Piedmont in general began a conversion on an industrial level, moving from made-to-measure to mass production. In this particularly happy scenario for the sector, Piedmont at that time confirmed its excellence in textiles with an extensive map that touched on the Biella wool mills, the Chieri cotton mills (from where a particular raw fabric exported to the United States under the name of ‘jeans’) and the Alba area, with the birth of the Miroglio company. The creation of Facis, a company dedicated to mass-produced men’s clothing, later expanded into the colossal Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT), brought Piedmont to the top of Italian fashion manufacturing.

During GFT’s heyday in the 1980s and 1990s, the company produced some of the most important brands in the Italian and French fashion design scene, including Giorgio Armani, Valentino, Emanuel Ungaro and Claude Montana. The bankruptcy of GFT in the late 1990s, however, decreed the collapse of the entire Piedmontese production sector, which counted hundreds of the Group’s satellite tailoring workers scattered throughout the territory.

Despite the gradual decline of the sector, the high-end manufacturing DNA of Turin and Piedmont has survived over time and much of the know-how has not been totally lost.
Confirmation of this are the production hubs of the Kering Group (Gucci, Saint-Laurent, McQueen) and the Valentino and Versace brands, which have recently settled in the region and are continuing to expand. All these companies are looking for an intangible heritage that, far from design – now totally settled in Milan – is identified in the figures of dressmakers, pattern makers and other textile workers from high training schools.
The possibility opened up by the Fashion Heritage Academy to also explore fashion in the digital and technological world, lays the foundations for an interesting collaboration with the Turin Competence Centre and the FABLAB network.

Expected impact, the profiles we form

The M-Cube Foundation aims to respond to the demands of an increasingly global market, but at the same time increasingly impoverished in terms of human skills and expertise. In an era in which AI and robotics are conquering important spaces not only in production but also in creative processes, it becomes essential to train minds and hands so that the art and inspiration of which we are capable is not lost.

The Fashion Heritage Academy will make it possible to establish important partnerships with companies already operating in the fashion industry, but also to dialogue with international brands and, above all, to rethink the ‘craft of fashion’, looking at it from new perspectives, discovering new materials, logics and approaches. The teaching of English language and ‘body knowledge’ aims to open new professional bridges, capable of crossing cultures (East and West), ages, aesthetics or what is perceived as disability.

The Fashion Heritage Academy will allow internships at companies, thanks to partnerships signed with the aim of supporting the response to real market needs and the training of coherent professional profiles. At the same time, the relationship with companies will allow the knowledge and innovation developed at an experimental level in the Fashion Heritage Academy – a real sandbox – to be transferred to them together with students and professionals.

The view of the future is made particularly solid through the course in Digital Fashion: with only a few high-level units already active on this subject in the world, the Academy will bring international skills and expertise to Turin, and with them fundamental input to stimulate innovation and leadership in the Piedmont region as well. Fashion linked to technology and the digital worlds, opens up a further front of collaboration with companies operating today in the world of platforms, video games, online fashion shows and metaverse, often in search of skills still to be built.
Finally, the Fashion Heritage Academy will offer professionals in the sector who have already been trained, the possibility of access to specialised modules, functional to enhance their skills or to think about redefining their operations in the new chains of this sector.

Today sees the start of the new Cinema/TV section: a look at the world of fashion through the screens. In this new monthly appointment we will explore together the intersection between fashion and media, analysing films and TV series that have marked (and continue to mark) the way we see the world. We will see how moving images narrate and construct our visual culture, leaving a mark on our collective imagination. We begin this journey with a timeless classic that redefined elegance and turned Paris into a catwalk: Funny Face (1957) by Stanley Donen.

In the age of Instagram and TikTok, where trends are born and die in the space of a post, some styles stand the test of time. Think of the all-black look, the oversized coat or the timeless appeal of chic Paris – all of which the film Funny Face helped to make iconic. But why does a film from over 60 years ago continue to inspire stylists, photographers and influencers? The answer lies in the perfect combination of cinema, fashion and art.

Funny Face is much more than a musical comedy: it is a manifesto of timeless elegance. The film marks one of the most famous collaborations between cinema and haute couture, thanks to the meeting between Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy. The French designer, who had already created the actress’s refined style in Sabrina (1954), on this occasion signed some of the most iconic looks, from the cocktail dress to the sumptuous red gown sported at the Louvre.

But the magic of the film does not stop with Givenchy’s clothes and the costumes of the great Edith Head: Funny Face is a tribute to the legendary photographer Richard Avedon, the creator of the quantum leap in fashion photography that went from static to dynamic storytelling, taking models out of studios and setting the shots in urban contexts. A similar approach is evident in the film: fashion is not only exhibited, but ‘’lives’’ in the most emblematic places in Paris. It is no coincidence that it is Richard Avedon himself who curates the film’s promotional images, consolidating the link between cinema, fashion and photography. 

In Funny Face, fashion becomes an integral part of the narrative. The entire plot revolves around the fashion industry and Paris becomes the ideal backdrop for an inner transformation and more. The protagonist, Jo Stockton (played by Audrey Hepburn), initially appears with a simple look – cigarette trousers, black turtleneck and ballet shoes – but is soon sucked into the glamour of haute couture. Fashion becomes the language through which Jo expresses a new awareness of herself and the world she is living in. Every scene is designed to enhance the communicative power of clothes. From hyper-stylized photographic sets to improvised fashion shows in key locations in Paris. The film celebrates fashion as art, dream and status symbol.

From a technical point of view, Stanley Donen exploits Technicolor to enhance fabrics, colours and volumes, turning Funny Face into a real fashion magazine in motion. Emblematic is the famous ‘’Think Pink’’ sequence which celebrates colour as a symbol of energy, modernity and seduction. The sequence also brings with it a deeper reflection on the fashion world and the problem of trend creation and diffusion: the scene sees the fashion magazine editor (played by Kay Thompson) complaining about the low quality of the next issue.

It is she who is the creator and promoter of a new style and who determines how the American woman (the modern woman) should dress in order to be considered stylish, fashionable and up-to-date. The creation of a trend implies a power of persuasion that goes beyond clothing: it is a true construction of an identity. 

In this perspective, the magazine is the medium through which the trend (the colour pink in this case) is imposed by an elite and subsequently adopted and reproduced by the masses. Fashion, therefore, is no longer just an act of individual expression, but becomes a process of social production, a power game in which artistic direction and cultural influence define what is ‘’modern’’, ‘‘cool’’ and ‘’trendy’’.  In an era where trends are born and die out quickly on social media, where the content that appears to us on Instagram and TikTok dictates trends and consumes them in record time, Funny Face invites us to reflect on how, although trends may change and media evolve, the mechanism of fashion production and distribution as a language remains surprisingly similar. 

The film continues to remind us that behind every trend there is a vision, an idea and an act of creation that can cross decades and stand the test of time, and this is also thanks to the help of cinema, a special space where fashion can establish itself as art, culture and language capable of settling desires and visions. And precisely because it works with the moving image, cinema is able to give fashion not only a form, but also a soul, something that runaway trends, however viral, can hardly build.

GLEAM
Funded as one of the top 20 projects by the Horizon Europe program within the development of the XR4ED platform, GLEAM – Game to Learn and Enable Accessibility through Modern Mythology is currently in development.
Led by the Berlin-based tech company NEEEU GmbH, with Fondazione M-Cube as a key partner, the project involves MART (Rovereto) and the National Cinema Museum (Turin) as the Italian venues for co-design workshops with blind and visually impaired individuals.
GLEAM’s primary goal is to develop an inclusive (video)game connected to the worlds of Modern Mythology, museums, and education, bringing together visually impaired and sighted individuals in a shared challenge. The aim is to create a bridge between these two spheres, integrating technologies such as spatial audio, audio augmentation, and tactile feedback.

The GLEAM project has indirectly received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation action programme, via the XR4ED – Open Call issued and executed under the XR4ED project (Grant Agreement no. 101093159).

SEE THE INVISIBLE
See the Invisible focuses on the interaction between reality and myth in cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, New York, and Venice — whose allure and iconic status transcend time, making them “Eternal Cities.”
The research, led by Chiara Masiero Sgrinzatto within the NGI Transatlantic Enrichers program for Fondazione M-Cube and in collaboration with the New York Institute of Technology, will lead to the development of a prototype based on New York City.
The project combines hand-drawn 360° panoramas and immersive generative AI algorithms to explore the interaction between humans and machines and to address, understand, and represent complex subjects in space and their evolution over time.

THE MYTH OF SUPERHEROES

The exhibition “The Myth of Superheroes”, curated by Fabrizio Modina for M-Cube Foundation, Federica Montani and Eugenio Martera for Contemporanea Progetti, tells the story of superhuman characters: how their emergence was influenced by the tales, poems and aesthetics of ancient cultures, which, combined with modern stories, gave rise to the superheroes we know today. The Superman comic book, first published in 1938, was the initial impetus for the rise of these new heroes. Over the past hundred years, comic artists and writers have created ever more incredible worlds, starting from a medium originally conceived for children’s entertainment, then evolving into an original means of expression and a contemporary art form.
Starting in September 2024 at the Comic-Con Museum  in San Diego (U.S.A.), “The Myth of Superheroes” moves in May to the Vapriikki Museokeskus in Tampere, Finland, and then continues its journey around the world in other museums to be defined.

SUPERHEROES

The exhibition simply titled “Superheroes”, curated by Alain Bieber at the NRW Forum in Düsseldorf (Germany), has a more pop and playful approach than “The Myth of Superheroes”, with loans from Fabrizio Modina’s collection. The supersaturated Technicolor installations give the exhibition a precise aesthetic imprint borrowed from the graphic language of comics and the narrative of the journey is based above all on the impact of the superhero figure in the present time. From the sharing of universal values ​​to LGBTQ+ ones, modern demigods (and their nemeses) become the mirror in which the great social themes are reflected, made accessible thanks to the simplification of interaction with the reader. The exhibition, which has been met with enormous public success, so much so that it was extended in the first months of its opening, will end in May, and then move to other German museums.

NEW PROJECTS
Four new project proposals have been submitted by FMC in response to the Horizon and Creative Europe program calls:

<EI>Museums<AI>
Understanding Emotions in Phygital Environments. Setting up through Emotional Intelligence & Artificial Intelligence. Implementing New Tools for the Museum Sector
Lead: Politecnico di Milano

<EI>Art<AI>
Understanding Emotions in Phygital Environments. Performing by Emotional Intelligence & Artificial Intelligence. Implementing Tools for the Audiovisual Sectors
Lead: Politecnico di Milano

EUROPEAN ARTIST BANK
Lead: SINUS (DE)

ENCOMPASS
Expanding Networks across Cities and Organisations around Music to Promote Alternative Sustainable Systems
Lead: Turismo Vivencial (ES)