Massimo Mezzavilla tells us the behind the scenes of his career

When architecture, fashion and art become one: Massimo Mezzavilla and the secrets of his talent

He seems to have come out of one of the glossy magazines he works for, Massimo Mezzavilla, an architect's mind combined with a lucid and personal vision of the fashion system, is a fast-paced art director who has already collected important experiences with the big names in fashion, working on campaigns, editorials, but also films, books and exhibitions. He was lucky enough to travel the world with Mario Testino, one of the most influential figures in contemporary photography, and to learn the secrets of the trade from a great art director like Susanna Cucco.

How did you get from architecture to fashion?
I graduated in 2008 in interior architecture because I have always been interested in product design, I love the works of Castiglioni, Gio Ponti, Italian design in general. During the first year of university, a girl asked me if I wanted to work as a model and so I started a collaboration with Fendi. I did sales campaigns, but also fittings for fashion shows. I grew a lot having the opportunity to learn and cultivate an interest in fashion, before then I had no point of contact with that world.

Did this interest lead you to work in Milan?
During my years at Fendi I met many people, including Luca Guadagnino, with whom I made several short films: he was the one who opened my eyes to the communicative power of fashion, how it could reach everyone. At Fendi I also met Sergio Zambon who designed the men's collection, and after graduating I went to work for him who was launching his brand. Through Sergio I met Susanna Cucco and that's why I went to Milan. It was thanks to these exceptional encounters that I had the opportunity to develop an interest in fashion and I transferred my interest from what was in front of the camera to what was happening behind it.

Milan has brought you work experiences that have shaped you, how did your relationship with Studio Cucco develop?
I worked for 3 years with Susanna Cucco and I learned everything from her, she was a bit of a mentor to me. At the beginning I didn't know how to use the software and when I left I was a trained professional, after three years I had an idea, a vision and I went to work in London with Mario Testino, where I stayed for 6 years. We did really incredible work, traveled, "saw the world from first class", as Mario always says.

What did Mario Testino teach you? What has impressed you the most from the years of working together?
First of all, I learned on every level, from how to think about a project without giving limits to your vision to how to behave on set, how to talk to a client.

"He taught me that 'the first time is never good', you always have to try, try, challenge yourself, get out of your comfort zone, push your ideas as far as possible."
Max Mezzavilla

I imagine you have had some amazing experiences. The most incredible experience of those years?
Certainly one of the most important moments was when the book we did together 'Sir' Mario Testino came out: an incredible book in a limited edition. It was a very emotional moment for me, of which it remains such an important document. The trips together were unique experiences: I remember the first one in Japan, a completely different world, made of continuous stimuli.

After several years and many experiences you are now an art director, what does this word mean?

"Art director is a difficult definition to define because it has a different meaning depending on the field."
Max Mezzavilla

In my case, I am a fashion art director, in the sense that I have grown professionally by finding ideas and proposing ideas to clients, photographers, directors to make projects, whether photographic, video or magazine, but also graphic and more.

Is there a means of expression that you feel is more yours?
Working in a team is definitely what excites me the most, in close contact with a photographer, a director. I learned to make graphics, books, magazines, but I was not born as a graphic designer. I have no academic training.

Instead, how much has your background as an architect helped you in your work? The idea of ​​the project is fundamental because the design approach is to solve a series of problems step by step, which can be applied to a spatial project, a 3D, an interior as well as to the design of a page, a magazine or the shooting of a photo.
It's an approach, it's a way of ' breaking things down ' having a mental ' check list '.

Another important thing Mario taught me: “think out of boxes” .
Max Mezzavilla

What do you love most about your work? What do you feel most yours in the creative moment? What interests me is the opportunity to create meaning behind a visual language, or rather create images and video content that have a meaning, or give it to them. Not to create images that are an end in themselves, but that have a depth, a humanity and that can speak to someone.

In practical work, for example in the relationship with the photographer, how do you translate your idea through the vision of an artist?
Just start from the assumption that I as an art director can have a vision, which is then shared with an artist and consequently it will never come out what I expected and it is precisely in that moment the alchemy: the idea of ​​passing the baton to someone who knows how to translate it. There are photographers who have less personality or interest in taking on the commitment of transforming it into something else, and who are therefore good at ferrying the idea and making it real, but there are others who manage to make it their own.

When you do research, what artistic world do you refer to?
Cinema is definitely very important, because today we are asked to produce a lot of video content. Looking for references in the world of images doesn't make much sense then.

"Video content requires knowledge of video language, of its rhythm, cinema is becoming more and more important to me."
Max Mezzavilla

The first director that comes to mind is Michelangelo Antonioni, but also the lightness of some of Dino Risi's works, the intelligence or even cruelty of Mario Monicelli, as in “ The Girl with the Gun ”. Antonioni's “ L'Avventura ”, “ La Notte ” and “ L'Eclisse ” are certainly among my strongest references. 

You recently returned to Rome, what is your relationship with this city?
It's interesting because it offers endless inspirations, it's a city that makes you feel good but doesn't make you grow. I understand its charm but I don't suffer from it. I'm usually fascinated by things I don't know. The things I'm passionate about I devour until I find interest in something else. At the moment I find a lot of inspiration in the world of China: Shanghai, Hong Kong, are places I'd like to explore.

If you had to define your talent?

"My strong point is curiosity."
Max Mezzavilla

I like being in a place where I know I have to understand a lot, to be in a position where I know I have to learn and find a meaning to things, my own interpretation, a lens through which to read reality in a personal way.

Your relationship with fashion?
It's an industry that offers endless inspiration and endless opportunities for collaboration. It's a universe that has changed radically in ten years, and it's always expanding. Even the way I work has changed radically, which is very interesting for me, because it really represents one of the most dynamic industries in which it is possible to work.

How much is the digital revolution really changing the fashion system?

"The role of the art director within the industry has changed radically."
Max Mezzavilla

I started working mainly on photographic advertising campaigns, with huge budgets for 6-8 photographs, now the same shots are metabolized on Instagram with two scrolls. Social media have changed the impact of advertising campaigns in value, meaning, depth, and not necessarily for the worse, we have simply moved forward. The quality of content, having to do much more of it is not necessarily the same, but the idea of ​​quality and quantity has come closer, now it is a more balanced discussion. Technological advances, social media have certainly had an unthinkable impact on the fashion industry and the discourse of pleasing everyone without distinction is showing its own critical issues.

What is your point of view on this issue?
I really respect the choice of some brands not to necessarily say something every day, I think it's important to take a break and have the courage to think more than what is said every day. It's also a question of identity.

I too am trying to understand my relationship with social media, I take breaks every now and then. Fashion is also made of cycles and recurrences, I wouldn't be surprised if in a few seasons a brand were to appear that doesn't do any communication and makes hermeticism its own stylistic and cultural signature, it would also be quite interesting. They are essentially new tools and many have made them a very interesting communication key, others haven't, they propose material that tires. But it is a discussion that also concerns us as users, it is important to put ourselves at the center of the discussion, our ability to feel and experience things, to find balance in everything. 

Your plans for the future?

"I'll travel again, I'm looking for new challenges."
Max Mezzavilla

"The Talent of Mr." is a project by Paolo Pecora Milano that investigates, through a series of interviews, Italian talent at 360°.

We have selected different stories that represent the excellence of Italian craftsmanship: from communication to creativity, to architecture, to cinema and the world of food. To tell a lifestyle that is unique in the world. The project in collaboration with the curator and journalist Alessio de'Navasques, was born with the idea of ​​focusing on that ineffable element of Italian talent, difficult to define and describe, an expression of a DNA and a cultural background that is lost in time.