On October 29, 2026, Antonioli and Fantasie presented A1923 GENESIS, an audiovisual installation exploring birth, vulnerability and the oppressive forces of the modern world. Directed by Enea Colombi with a soundscape by Cosimo Damiano, the project offered an unsettling glimpse into the creative universe of Simone Cecchetto’s artisanal footwear label A1923.
A1923 GENESIS: The Body’s First Defeat
Staged inside Antonioli’s Milan boutique on the Navigli, GENESIS confronts the notion of birth as the body’s first defeat. Human existence arrives immediately subjected to the crushing weight of a dark, industrial and corrupt world. The installation’s premise challenges conventional associations of birth with innocence and possibility. Instead, existence begins in a state of vulnerability, with the human body exposed to forces beyond its control from the very beginning.
Directed by Enea Colombi and accompanied by a soundscape from Cosimo Damiano, GENESIS translates this bleak philosophical perspective into an audiovisual experience. Projections capture a naked, glistening human figure contorting across pools of dark liquid, struggling for equilibrium against blinding white voids. Cosimo Damiano’s soundscape fills the subterranean concrete room with low-frequency mechanical drones, sub-bass rumbles, and abrasive metallic resonance. It turns passive viewing into a visceral physical confrontation.
The Creative Universe of A1923: Materiality as Anatomy
Founded by Italian designer Simone Cecchetto, whose foundational years trace back to the seminal Carpe Diem collective, A1923 (Augusta) occupies a singular position in artisanal footwear. Cecchetto treats cordovan, washed calf, and rough-scaled hides as sculptural flesh subjected to time and manual stress. The brand’s signature motto is “Do not handle with care”, reflecting the philosophy that high-quality, thick vegetable-tanned leather and handmade craftsmanship are built to be worn hard, age through time, and develop a unique patina rather than being preserved in pristine condition. Irregularities, raw edges, and traces of brutal physical manipulation define the label’s visual identity.
GENESIS broadens this vocabulary into three dimensions. Along Antonioli’s display surfaces, Cecchetto introduced radical sculptural explorations alongside his footwear archives. A monumental, hand-stitched cocoon of translucent parchment rawhide glows from within like an embryonic egg, casting skeletal shadows across the floor. Slip-on shoes reveal outsoles sculpted directly with anatomical contours of human foot bones and metatarsal pads. Heavy, thick-soled leather boots ground voluminous trousers that gather and crease around the ankles, while distressed surfaces and irregular textures give the silhouettes a raw, weathered appearance.
Antonioli: Beyond the Fashion Boutique
Hosted across Antonioli’s flagship on Via Pasquale Paoli 1, the event reaffirms Claudio Antonioli’s dedication to experimental fashion subcultures. For an independent, reclusive atelier like A1923, an installation like GENESIS provides a space to communicate philosophical intent beyond static product displays. The boutique’s dark architectural framework allowed moving images, raw sculptures, and unlined leather tailoring to function as a unified, uncompromising artistic monograph.
A1923 GENESIS
October 29, 2026
Antonioli, Via Pasquale Paoli 1, Milan
Presented by Antonioli & Fantasie
Video: Enea Colombi
Soundscape: Cosimo Damiano
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