First becoming known in the fashion world as Moncler’s Artistic Director, Italian designer and photographer Francesco Ragazzi is a key figure at the crossroads between fashion and streetwear. A skateboarding obsessive who spent many years of his life on the USA’s west coast, Ragazzi has been giving back to this culture since 2015 through his label Palm Angels.
A favourite among rappers, Palm Angels is an expression of Ragazzi’s creativity and the freedom and tenacity of skaters. Now, the vision behind the brand is being translated into a new limited edition book-zine, published by Rizzoli for SS21 and launching today (5 February).
Featuring contributions from some of the most exciting image-makers today — such as photographers David Sims, Rosie Marks, Lea Colombo and Enzo Ragazzini, painters Friedrich Kunath and Thrush Holmes, graphic designer Javier Jaén and visual artist Javier Calleja — the print project brings together different mediums and creative generations to immortalise the Palm Angels spirit into a tangible, tactile object.
The SS21 collection itself — which also appears in a new campaign lensed by David Sims and styled by Karl Templer — nods to the culture and ethos of Jamaica. With a vibrant colour palette, graphic details and use of the Jamaican flag throughout, the Caribbean country is used as a central reference point. Elsewhere in the collection, Ragazzi playfully subverts army uniforms: making use of desert camo, cropping military jackets and turning plaid into gender-fluid skirts.
