The industrious silence of innovation — MDF Italia's deep and delicate renewal

Time, in any story, plays a fundamental meaning. At what point does Sébastien Notre live in the present? A year ago, the French painter came to this place in Milan, where we are hosting, to build his own living and painting environnement. Typical or atypical, the beauty of his involved space is undeniable - the spirit has spread far beyond living. If some days are unfairly difficult, sometimes he perceives it as a freedom to relatively well start a creativity. Let’s listen to this classic conversation, this coffee-sharing, this moment of confidence with Sebastien Notre in his own studio space.

I meet Marco Cassina in the company’s showroom, which has very little of the typical showroom and much of a metaphysical architecture―thanks to the brand renewal designed by Studio Pitsou Kedem Architects. The renewal of a brand is a slow, almost karst work, which in order to be complete and durable, has to move on several fronts: from product to communication, from images to architecture. MDF is investing on various fronts in a deep and delicate way, without breaking that industrious silence that surrounds it.

Maria Teresa Salvati, personal branding consultant and curator of our "My Spot of Beauty" column, meets Marika Zaramella, beauty creative director and make-up artist, better known as Leitalienne. Together they demonstrated how what we may recognize as weakness can instead become our most powerful strength. Fearless self-expression can, in fact, turn into the best form of empowerment.

Garbage Core is a Milan-based brand that works on the concept of upcycled fashion, producing fashion collections from second-hand garments and dead stock materials.

Older is a Danish/Italian design company with a multidisciplinary practice, founded by Letizia Caramia and Morten Thuesen. It is specialized in sustainable uniforms that expand the architectural spaces in which they are worn, and radical furniture designs that investigate contemporary culture.

Listen to the fifth episode of our podcasts series with Situér Milano, a design duo, interviewed by the talented freelance journalist Marta Galli. Sometimes it's the simple ideas that change the course of things. And it was the simple idea to bend metal instead of welding it that changed the lives of Federica Paoli and Biagio Castellani, the thirty-year-old founders of situér Milano. The brand, which is less than two years old, already had deep roots in the metalworking world however, inherited from Biagio and the family company that produces industrial shelving in Tuscany. You can read the interview with this designer duo also on C41 Issue 10. Soundtrack: Ayce Bio & Prev – Dormi Bene La Notte? (Funclab Records)

C41, through the curatorship of Naomi Accardi, the shots of Leone Balduzzi and the video of Luca A. Caizzi, narrates the extraordinary story of Mr. Jo and her “Bimbe Nel Pallone”. This project launches and baptizes the print ISSUE 10 of C41 Magazine, a meaningful step towards the maturity of the magazine based in Milan and Amsterdam, which has always sustained the enhancement of minorities and true stories. In a neighborhood classified as “dangerous”, Joanna Borella (Mr. Jo) offers girls of all ages the opportunity to play football while having fun and arising her awareness on the concept of equality. “Joanna Borella started throwing the ball at the same time she learned to stand and walk upon her arrival in Italy in the late 1960s. After spending the first year of her life in an orphanage in Bombay, Mister Jo – calling her in the same way she is known in the multicultural neighborhood of NOLO, north of the city of Milan where she lives and works – was welcomed into her new family by two older brothers who introduced her to the beautiful game of football. Football has become part of her daily life and within fifty years she has managed to become a household name in the local women’s football community thanks to her dedication in breaking down the prejudices that spoil the very essence of the game.”

In Italy the Anglo-Saxon term "magazine" is increasingly preferred to "rivista". Magazine recalls the Italian "magazzino" (warehouse) and in fact the etymology confirms the common origin from the Arabic makhazin which means "to conserve, to store". The magazine would therefore be understood as a collection of stories and images, selected and ordered to be first published and then kept by readers. Starting from these premises, the cycle of talks Magazine, dall’Italiano Magazzino wants to generate and store narratives, voices, perspectives, to try to express the charm and complexity of the magazine. In the first talk the guests have discussed about the role of digital and the implications of social platforms, in the second appointment the invited art directors talked about the importance of editorial design and the changes in the publishing industry. The evolution of writing and the predominance of visual culture in the contemporaneity will be the themes of the September talks. The talks are hosted by Reading Room, the Milanese space dedicated to independent periodical publishing, in collaboration with Combo Milano and in media partnership with C41 magazine.

In Italy the Anglo-Saxon term "magazine" is increasingly preferred to "rivista". Magazine recalls the Italian "magazzino" (warehouse) and in fact the etymology confirms the common origin from the Arabic makhazin which means "to conserve, to store". The magazine would therefore be understood as a collection of stories and images, selected and ordered to be first published and then kept by readers. Starting from these premises, the cycle of talks Magazine, dall’Italiano Magazzino wants to generate and store narratives, voices, perspectives, to try to express the charm and complexity of the magazine. In the first talk the guests have discussed about the role of digital and the implications of social platforms, in the second appointment the invited art directors talked about the importance of editorial design and the changes in the publishing industry. The evolution of writing and the predominance of visual culture in the contemporaneity will be the themes of the September talks. The talks are hosted by Reading Room, the Milanese space dedicated to independent periodical publishing, in collaboration with Combo Milano and in media partnership with C41 Magazine.

Listen to the fourth episode of our podcasts series with Chiara Lombardi, photographer and art student. We go through her Cam4shots project, a self-released book that collects several screenshot of people performing live on Cam4 website, also featured on C41 Magazine issue 9 Eros with a special selection of images and an interview. Alice De Santis, our staff editor, did a phone interview with her facing several themes regarding censorship issues, instagram policies and her final graduation essay. Soundtrack: Silla – Argonauta (Robotalco Club Edit)