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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER FROM ANDREA BATILLA

WHO’S AFRAID OF GIULIA SALEMI?

During the latest episode of her podcast Non Lo Faccio Per Moda, Giulia Salemi hosted Anna dello Russo and Piero Piazzi.

Here’s a brief recap before we begin. Giulia Salemi is a young television host, known mostly for her appearances on reality shows like Big Brother. Anna dello Russo, former fashion editor of Vogue Italia and Vogue Japan, has become a social media icon over time, especially for her exaggeratedly flashy looks. Piero Piazzi is the president of Women Model Management and is known for discovering talents like Carla Bruni and Monica Bellucci.

The only interesting moment in an episode where the average question was “What words should you avoid to be accepted in the fashion world?” came when Giulia Salemi expressed, quite clearly, her frustration at not being granted access to major fashion brands for her public and television appearances. While this might seem like a minor or uninteresting issue, it’s true that big brands have very little relationship with the world of television—and it’s equally true that if I were handling PR for Valentino or Gucci or Balenciaga, I’d probably try to steer clear of anyone who came out of Big Brother. Probably. Or maybe not.

During the two seasons of the TV show Loretta Goggi in Quiz (1984 and 1985), the host was dressed by Valentino and Fendi. At the time, both brands easily embraced TV culture, and like most others—even the more intellectual ones—they followed it, wanted it, approved of it, and ultimately used it as a communication tool. Designers themselves appeared on TV whenever they could, often preferring the most popular national shows. Gianni Versace and Giorgio Armani were frequent guests on prime-time or Sunday afternoon shows on RAI 1—not to discuss deep philosophy, but to be seen, to appear approachable and, therefore, desirable. They talked about skirt lengths.

Then the Internet and social media arrived. And the concept of “popular” expanded exponentially, breaking out of the TV container and invading even lesser-known platforms. At the same time, one key element of pop culture grew bigger: trash.

According to the Treccani Encyclopedia, trash is “A product (book, film, TV show, etc.) characterized by bad taste, vulgarity, themes and subjects chosen deliberately and indulgently to appeal to the public through what is cheap, lowbrow, and culturally poor.”

Loretta Goggi impersonating Ornella Vanoni while Vanoni watches with a mix of approval and resentment is trash.

But so is Chiara Ferragni pretending to live in a fairytale world to monetize its appearance. And Anna dello Russo is more likely to be remembered for her clownish fashion week street style than her long and important career as a fashion editor.