La Carmina in Italy for Firenze4Ever, Luisa Via Roma fashion blogger event. Milan Goth shopping & clubs.
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 by La Carmina
Ciao, Italia! La Carmina has lots of Gothic Globetrotting ahead this year. Sebastiano and I will be in Italy in June… on a sponsored trip! From June 9-11, Seba and I will be special guests at Firenze4Ever III. It’s an extravaganza for top fashion bloggers around the world, presented by designer boutique LuisaViaRoma.
If you’re in Italy with a fellow Lip Service model, you might as well do some traveling, right? Our wonderful friends at Hostelbookers are hooking us up with hotels all over Italy — meaning Seba and I will be in Venice, Rome, Milan and Florence this June.
Of course, the first question on my mind is… what’s Italy’s Gothic scene like? I had the pleasure of interviewing my Twitter friend, Lady Aphasia, about the best Goth shops and parties in Milan. Here are her suggestions.
La Carmina: Tell me a bit about yourself.
Aphasia: I’m a woman in love — in love with my job (events organization), with life and with music. I’ve always lived in Milan, even though I’m half French.
La Carmina: How did you first become interested and involved in Goth underground fashion and subcultures in Milan?
Aphasia: It’s always been so, since I was 14 and I discovered bands like Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxie and so on. Milan it’s a little town compared to London or L.A. but we don’t miss anything if you know where to look for.
La Carmina: Can you tell me how the Gothic scene in Milan originated and evolved? Are there aspects that are distinct to the scene?
Aphasia: I guess it began at the end of eighties, where there was also the punk scene. Milan has been divided in groups: trendy ones, punk, gothic, metal and glam. Even the districts of the town were delineated by these groups. Music from UK and USA was like an overflow, so many discos and alternative pubs opened.
Now it’s a bit different: all alternative peoples meet in a few places, they get along quite well. But there are only a few pubs and discos. Now new wave and gothic has a quite of overlap with other cultures, like industrial.
La Carmina: How would you describe Gothic fashion in Italy?
Aphasia: You should check yourself, it’s very heterogeneous, you can find aristocrat fashion and cyber goth in the same group. During the last few years, Gothic & Lolita has become famous. Unfortunately there aren’t many shops, most of them sell cosplay outfits. You can find goth and loli accessories without many troubles, but for dresses, the web is still the best way.
La Carmina: Has the fashion scene changed a lot?
Aphasia: Yes it is, but because of internet, now you can see and choose clothing, and get input from the foreign scenes.
La Carmina: Can you recommend some Milan / Italy-based Gothic clothing brands, designers and shops?
Aphasia: For alternative shops, goods, clothes etc. you can’t miss Corso Porta Ticinese. It’s a street in the middle of Milan that will bring you to Duomo. This part of the town is where alternatives people meet, and there are many types of shops, low-cost bars and pubs.
La Carmina: What is the Italian Goth clubs scene like?
Aphasia: One of the most important alternative/goth club is the BLACK HOLE. This is my favorite; it’s not in the center of town but not far either. Zoe Club is the bigger alternative club in town. Then there’s the Shelter Club: this one is out of Milan, not easy to reach, but important for dark and new wave culture. Black Circus is good too. At these events, you will see dark, loli, goth, cyber styles all together.
La Carmina: What do you predict for the dark fashion / scene in Milan and Italy? Is it growing, changing?
Aphasia: I love Japanese brands so it’s quite difficult to answer. But things are always changing – it’s always so, isn’t it?
La Carmina: Thank you, my dark Lady, for the interview. Sebastiano Serafini and I can’t wait to check out Milan’s darkest haunts. As always, I’ll have photos and stories for you on my Goth culture and fashion blog.
Ciao, ciao!
XXX LA CARMINA XXX
http://www.lacarmina.com/
(The first 2 photos are by La Carmina. The last 3 photos in this post are courtesy Shelter Club.)
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