Magliano: Dressing the Outsider with Tender Defiance

21/02/2023

Writer: Ben Vickers

In the heart of Bologna—not Milan, not Paris—rises a voice in menswear that is quiet, queer, and powerful. Luca Magliano, founder of the eponymous label Magliano, has carved a distinct space in contemporary fashion by embracing what is often overlooked: the provincial, the poetic, the imperfect.

Since launching his label in 2016, Magliano has cultivated an aesthetic he calls “magical realism for clothing.” Rooted in Italy’s working-class silhouettes—oversized suits, heavy coats, wool knits—his designs twist familiar forms with ironic elegance. Trousers droop slightly, jackets are gently distorted, and knitwear seems to carry the wear of memory. This is not fashion obsessed with polish; it’s fashion in love with emotion.

Magliano’s collections don’t just challenge traditional tailoring—they reimagine masculinity itself. His shows are populated by non-models, queer bodies, actors, artists. There is tenderness here: queerness not as spectacle, but as language. In a world of glossy perfection, Magliano’s clothes stand as garments of refusal—refusal to conform, to accelerate, to forget.

At the heart of his vision is a commitment to Italian craft and community. All production remains based in Bologna, working closely with local artisans. Sustainability is not branded but embedded—Magliano frequently uses deadstock fabrics and upcycled garments, giving new life to the forgotten. His work critiques consumption with care, not cynicism.

The collections themselves feel like stories: Fall/Winter shows with coats as shields, belts that drag like punctuation, jewelry made of found objects. The clothes whisper of time, wear, and narrative. For Spring/Summer, we may see neon rats, embroidered flowers, or slogans scrawled like street poetry. Always, there is humor—a melancholy sort of joy.

Magliano is not just a label; it is a proposition. What if clothing didn’t perform identity, but protected it? What if fashion was not about power, but softness? In answering these questions, Luca Magliano is quietly reshaping what Italian fashion can be: not heritage as rigidity, but heritage as resistance.

His is a fashion of outsiders—for those who don’t quite fit in and no longer want to. And in dressing them, he makes them feel not just seen, but beautiful.