Ingo Maurer has designed a light installation for Ferragamo during Milan fashion week 2017. The projection was screened as part of the fashion show at Piazza Affari and announces the launch of a new Ferragamo perfume, AMO. The Palazzo Mezzanotte with its distinctive façade and its two flanking buildings at Piazza Affari serve as canvas for this combination of static light and projection. Starting with gradients of cold colors blue and green, flowers from Botticelli paintings appear and float gently over Palazzo Mezzanotte. The shapes and colors of this early Renaissance vividness come to life in large scale until they get blown away from the wind gods, which appear on the bright travertine surface. Botticelli’s work is the inspiration for the fashion show – the models walk through a field of flowers and grass. “Diving into the beautiful world of Botticelli is a joyful experience. Working with the open and gentle minds of Ferragamo, their tradition, quality and elegance was a wonderful challenge.”, said Ingo Maurer.

The piazza dims down to darkness for a moment, until small triangular light emblems appear, which move around and multiply in the upper part of the façade, swirling like clouds of stars or a flurry of snow, building a random pattern of light. The triangular shape and the rose color of some of the light shapes resemble of the AMO flacon, the new perfume that is launched with this event. At certain moments, the spinning light emblems find together to group words that appear on the façade: “AMO Ferragamo”, “AMO Milano”. During this animation, the two buildings left and right waft in color gradients between red and crimson to enhance the passion and suspense. In the end of this scene, all light dots move down, fluttering in streams towards the three entrance doors of Palazzo Mezzanotte, as if these doors are magnetic. They cluster together around these doors, building up tension until the three doors swing open, unleashing bright white light that beams out towards the audience. (For some seconds, the columns and the pediment appear as if they are made of glass, with the crystalline surface of the “AMO” flacon, getting filled up with the pale pink liquid.) The visitors can now enter the building through the bright tunnels of light, and the party begins.