Federico Cina presents SS26 ‘Sottovoce,’ an invitation to look at the ordinary with a new sensibility. The collection draws on moments when beauty rests quietly on simple things: a shirt on a line, a tablecloth shifting in the wind, a blade of grass bending. Cina shapes a language that does not seek to appear loud but instead to feel present. He connects his vision to the dusty palette of Giorgio Morandi and the still photographs of Luigi Ghirri, where silence carries meaning and slowness becomes its own rhythm.
The Fondazione Sozzani becomes the stage for this vision. Cina transforms the space into a tableau vivant with paper, objects, and gestures that suggest suspended presences. Paper turns into body, folds into gesture, and muted sound into something to be heard. Fragile in nature but strengthened through layering, the paper structures grow into sculptural forms that suggest both fragility and resilience. Within this transformation lies the foundation of the collection: simplicity given weight, silence turned into presence.
Garments follow the same principle. Layered fabrics on moving bodies transform stillness into animation. Cina uses paradox as a visual language, allowing opposites to exist together within the same garment. Ordinary references combine with the everyday repetitions of life, evoking subtle cycles of memory and use. Paper-covered walls and garments share the same tones, blurring human presence with material presence. The transformations continue with objects once lived and embraced, which now gain new form through touch and layering.
Performance becomes integral to the presentation. Figures stand as living sculptures, suspended in gestures shaped by circular time. Within this rhythm, Cina introduces the new Via Emilia bag. Its long zipper references the length of the historic road connecting suburbs to industrial centers. The name ties back to Luigi Ghirri’s 1986 photographic explorations of Via Emilia, a territory also personal to Cina.
Gruppo Mastrotto provided fine leathers that gave form to Cina’s ideas, while Laser Team shaped them into tangible creations. Credo supported bag production, and Maglificio Mas developed the knitwear. Cina also collaborated with Ahdiid to create a co-branded footwear capsule, extending the season’s vocabulary into shoes that share process and values. These partnerships anchor the collection in craft and collective effort, grounding the designer’s ideas in the work of many hands.
The project extends gratitude to the Fondazione Sozzani, founded in 2016 under the Galleria Carla Sozzani to support photography, art, fashion, and culture. Since 2021, Sara Sozzani Maino has guided its projects, emphasizing education and the training of emerging talent. Cina’s presentation fits within this mission, shaping an environment where fashion enters into dialogue with art and reflection. The designer also thanks the community around his brand, a network both local and national, whose trust and enthusiasm sustain the work.
