Mr. A winks to fashion becoming the main character of the new capsule collection by Mango Man… don’t miss to watch the video about this street art and fashion story!
Text by: Annarosa Laureti
We all know how street art is a curious and mysterious world, having a great power to fascinate people with its bright colors and strong messages. Maybe because it is an art easy to access and enjoy and that belongs to everybody, or maybe because, standing on the legality borderline, it gets apart from social rules waking up our rebel soul’s side.
Also fashion usually – when arises from a creative mind of course – shuns concepts like ordinary behaviours and customs, but expresses the necessity of communicating clear subversive ideas trying to change whatever is wrong in the world.
That’s why these two realities, at first sight very different – one related to the mainstream and the other to the underground scene – have been bonding in a relationship for years: fashion admires street art’s maverick attitude, and street art cherishes fashion’s impact on the society.
They are two languages able to change over and over again and when they collaborates together it can only bring to life something special.
This was the case, for example, of “F is for GraFFiti” event, hosted by Fendi at Palazzo della Civiltà Nuova in Rome and now, indeed, of the new collaboration between the Spanish brand Mango and the famous street personality Mr.A.
With its huge funny smile – and well-known wink of course – this graffiti man has decided to abandon urban walls for a while to reach T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies as well.
The mind behind it is that of André Saraiva, Swedish street artist with a Portuguese soul. Born in 1971, he moved to Paris with his family at the age of 10 and there, only three years later, he discovered the rising graffiti movement.
Beginning to draw on public walls, he made the French city his personal playground. Describing himself like an “urban poet” he invented his alter ego, Mr. A, in 1994 and, after that, he became famous thanks to this hilarious character that soon has conquered the streets of the entire world.
After different street projects launched to spread out the concepts of love and generosity, first of all “Love Graffiti” project, André has introduced his imaginary also into clubs and the nightlife of metropolitan city such as Paris, New York and Tokyo.
Now, indeed, it’s the turn of fashion. In partnership with Mango he decided to create a menswear capsule collection that talks about freedom because, as he told, freedom is “the essence of graffiti”, as that of fashion as well.
In addition to embroidered and printed clothes, the collection offers a selection of patches reproducing André drawings – obviously Mr. A included – that are perfect to customised whatever you want, on your own or in a special corner set up in some stores of Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga, San Sebastian, Seville and Valencia.
For everybody who wants a side of fashion and graffiti, AndréxMango is available in limited edition in selected stores and at Mango.
