Frida GianniniMatt Borkowski/BFA.com
The music blaring at Rizzoli’s NoMad flagship on Tuesday night was a retro set of ’70s glam rock courtesy of DJ Stretch Armstrong, with designer and host Frida Giannini holding court in a Woodstock concert T-shirt.
The throwback vibes were a fitting backdrop to celebrate Giannini’s new coffee table tome: A Journey Into the Style and Music of My Icons Since 1969, which chronicles the stages, concerts, and moments of music history and its intersection with fashion. It’s one of the few visible projects she’s launched since leaving her post as Gucci’s creative director in 2015 (she’s been spending most of her time consulting with brands behind the scenes).
Following the cocktail portion, Giannini took part in a Q&A with journalist Alex Badia, which started with a few words in memory of Davide Renne, the newly installed Moschino creative director who recently passed away. “He was the best collaborator I’ve ever had,” she said. “I worked with him for over 20 years. I want to dedicate this evening to him.”
She talked about how she inherited her love of music through her uncle, Daniele Vellani, a DJ and vinyl collector. (She estimates she owns about over 8,000 vinyl records.) “Music was my first passion ever,” she says. “It brought me to fashion. I discovered that these two worlds always borrow ideas and inspirations from each other.”
The book starts in the year 1969—the time of Woodstock, David Bowie’s Space Oddity and the first man on the moon—before spotlighting the stage clothes, hairstyles, fashions, costumes, and changing society of the past 50 years.
Afterward, guests lined up to get their copy signed by Giannini, who flies back home to Italy this week. Among those who joined the celebration were Stefano Tonchi, Bruce Pask, Alejandra Alonso Rojas, Cory Michael Smith, Rachna Shah, Elizabeth Sulcer, and more.