Media: Publishing brands

2022 will be a magical year for TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, the Mondadori Group benchmark brand in music, cinema and television.

The weekly magazine edited by Aldo Vitali has reached its 70th anniversary and is preparing to mark the event with a packed calendar of initiatives and events, which, throughout the year, will bring an ever-growing public of 5.7 million readers and users and 950,000 fans into contact with the most popular names in entertainment, confirming the special relationship that Sorrisi has always enjoyed with the stars.

The brand will be the protagonist of a series of exclusive and prestigious events: from the Sanremo Festival to the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest as well as the 79th Venice Film Festival, with an abundance of meetings, interviews, original content and initiatives for its users and readers in the magazine, on the website and on social media, culminating with a huge party at the end of the year.

«I’ve never seen such a young seventy-year old! Sorrisi has reached an important milestone, but it is not taking time off to celebrate. It is already looking to the future, and as the content of all our channels shows, no brand is more attentive to contemporary life. Sorrisi has a tradition: to get there first. It was the first entertainment magazine, the first to publish TV program schedules and song lyrics, to put the spotlight on local TV channels and, recently, to devote important space to the world of streaming. A special year lies ahead, involving unprecedented numbers of our readers and fans and giving them the opportunity to enjoy uniquely exciting experiences,» said Aldo Vitali, editor-in-chief of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni.

IT ALL BEGINS AT SANREMO – The celebrations get off to a start at the Sanremo Festival: Sorrisi is taking its community into the heart of the 72nd edition of the year’s most eagerly awaited song contest with a non-stop social schedule on its Instagram and Facebook channels, which last year beat all the audience records.

The real-time reports over the five days in Sanremo will be hosted by Aldo Vitali. Every morning, the magazine’s editor will welcome the Sorrisi public to a special breakfast with an exclusive guest from the artistes competing in the festival: from Gianni Morandi and Ana Mena to Iva Zanicchi and Elisa, ending the week with Highsnob e Hu.

Space will also be devoted to make-up and beauty in the daily “Commenta il look” feature, with tips from Rajan Tolomei: the Make-Up Artist from Max Factor Italia, an exclusive partner of Sorrisi, and the editorial team will comment on all the competition outfits, and create a short make-up video every day so that the beauty looks trending on the stage of the Ariston theatre can be tried out at home.

Another must is the “Diari degli artisti” format, returning after last year’s success with the contribution of the stars at this year’s Festival, who will be telling the Instagram community about their day in the delightful town of Sanremo, from their morning call through to the moment when they step on stage, with all their emotions, good luck rituals, backstage activities. Ana Mena will take fans inside her life as a popstar, showing all her preparations for the evening, from her choice of outfit to her fitness routine; Sangiovanni will offer the community an original photo diary of his Sanremo week, accompanying his snapshots with suggestions, thoughts and reflections, while Noemi will front an original Posta del cuore with the best songs to listen to.

At the end of each packed afternoon of meetings, live streaming on social media and exclusive interviews, readers and users will be entertained by the not-to-be-missed Aperitivo con il direttore, starting at 7 p.m. with the special participation of Valeria Angione. The young actress and content creator from Naples, a hugely popular figure on the web, will join Aldo Vitali to comment on the progress of each evening’s competition in her unmistakeable ironic style.

THREE SPECIAL ISSUES – Italy’s best-selling and most widely read weekly magazine is bringing out three special issues, devoted to the best of the Italian music festival, with an extraordinary circulation of 1.5 million copies. The first of the three specials provided an exclusive preview of the lyrics of the songs in the competition, with a must-have cover photo showing all the singers together with the Festival’s presenter and artistic director, Amadeus.

The issue out today offers interviews with the co-presenters of the Festival, with a raft of original content and, once again, the lyrics of all the songs. Readers will also find instructions on how to take part in the great Sorrisi 70 competition, an annual competition launched by Sorrisi to thank the public for their loyalty and affection on its 70th anniversary. Three super prizes will be awarded: a Fiat Panda Hybrid, two Costa cruises for the entire family and a Polello jewellery set designed exclusively for Sorrisi (for info and the competition rules: sorrisi70.sorrisi.com).

The third special issue, on news-stands on Tuesday 8 February, will provide a report on the whole week at Sanremo, with the best photos from the five evenings and the first cover photo of the winner, photographed exclusively for Sorrisi.

(source: Nielsen Media Impact Data fusion, May 2021)
(source: Shareablee e Insight, October 2021)

Focus, the Mondadori Group brand leader in spreading scientific knowledge, has completed its first 30 years and is looking to the future with Focus Next 30: a multi-touchpoint special project which will accompany readers and users throughout 2022, exploring key themes in science, technology and the environment and examining the innovations that will fuel development in these areas over the next 30 years, with contributions from distinguished international figures.

The initiative leverages the strength and the successful formula that have always characterised the brand.

Focus has been a household publication since 1992, satisfying people’s curiosity and desire for knowledge with an unmistakeable clear and direct style which, combined with contributions from scientists and specialists, has made the brand a go-to magazine for a community of 5.2 million readers and users (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, May 2021).

In its 30 years, Focus has been a reliable source of information on science, technology, the environment, medicine, nutrition, lifestyles and sustainability, in print, on the web, on social media, through local events such as Focus Live, through Academy for schools, TV and podcasts: a complete multimedia information platform, making new discoveries accessible and exciting for an ever growing public, helping readers and users distinguish fake news, learn about history and make their way in the various branches of knowledge.

The great questions of yesterday, today and tomorrow will be at the heart of the Focus Next 30 special project: a year of events and discussions on all the brand channels to get ready for the changes coming in the next 30 years. The journey begins with the innovations recounted by Focus since it was first published and will move ahead – with the faces of tomorrow, chosen from the top names in the scientific community – to look at how our world will change.

“We want to give this 30th anniversary the meaning that any birthday can have: to change, grow and become even more what we already are. Out of interest, I leafed through the issues from the first year of Focus, 1992. Two things struck me straightaway: the same sense of eager curiosity we still have today and the incredible strides that have been made in science, technology and medicine in just thirty years. So, with each issue, you’ll find the format that came to mind. It will be a fascinating journey through the past, present and future, highlighting the extraordinary capabilities of scientific research, the speed of improvement, our aptitude for progress through intelligence and the human soul,” said Raffaele Leone, editor-in-chief of Focus.

Renewable energy, sustainability, medicine of the future, home automation, mobility, food, cybersecurity and much else: for each topic, every month Focus will turn to an international specialist, young talents from the worlds of science and information, who will share their vision with the brand community, offering a new perspective on the future.

In the latest issue of Italy’s most widely read monthly magazine, on the news-stands from 22 January, the cover story will look at digital medicine, intelligent apps that follow patients and the growing use of technology to link physicians and patients remotely. The magazine will also examine the volcanic eruptions forecast in the first issue from 1992, to discuss the future of this discipline.

Another important feature in the new issue will be fourth-generation nuclear energy, particularly of interest given the possibility that the European Union will include it as a sustainable source of energy. The nuclear question will be linked to a survey to investigate the opinions of Focus readers and users. The questionnaire will be available on the brand website and social profiles, which will also publish its findings.

The Focus Next 30 project will continue throughout 2022 on all the channels of the Focus system with a circular dynamic offer: in the magazine readers will find a theme-based dossier starting with an article published in 1992, the first year of Focus, to investigate the changes and developments that have taken place since them and the forecasts and expectations for the coming years.

On Focus.it, users will be able to look in detail at the themes covered by Focus Next 30 in a special section providing in-depth features and exclusive video-interviews on the theme for the month.
On social media, Focus Next 30 will offer a range of content designed to engage the brand’s 4 million fans (source: Shareablee e Insight, December 2021), with live content, posts, surveys, quizzes, as well as podcasts – where Focus currently has more than 2 million downloads – with the Focus Storia special documentary series “Focus Next 30, dal passato al futuro”.

The Focus Next 30 initiatives will culminate with the new edition of the Focus Live event, an important festival of knowledge hosting researchers, scientists, explorers, artists and communicators, with a packed schedule of meetings and activities. Starting in the spring, this year’s Focus Live, to be held in November, will be flanked by a series of live and digital events, including talks, meetings and round tables on the subjects covered by Focus Next 30.

Grazia USA, the American edition of Grazia created under a licensing agreement signed by the Mondadori Group with Pantheon Media Group LLC, has been named “Best New Magazine Launch” of 2021.

Grazia USA was chosen for the honour out of more than 120 new publications launched in America during the past year thanks to its ability to combine quality content with cutting-edge images in the magazine’s inimitable refined style. The honour was awarded as a result of the ranking drawn up by Samir Husni, founder and director of the Magazine Innovation Center at the School of Journalism and New Media of the University of Mississippi.

The acknowledgement crowns the success of the first 100% Italian fashion brand on one of the world’s biggest and most important markets for fashion and luxury goods.

Present on the American market through the global digital first platform graziamagazine.com, Grazia USA launched its first quarterly print issue on 23 September 2021 under the title “Evolution”. The 356-page special edition celebrated three women who have risen to success on the American cultural and social scene, featured on three exclusive covers: nine-time Olympic medal winner Allyson Felix, British supermodel and designer Alek Wek, and Canadian singer, actor and activist Jordan Alexander

The début of Grazia USA marks a turning point for American fashion magazines in a year when the United States saw twice as many new print magazines launched as in 2020.

The brand has been a success with American readers right from the start for its unique cosmopolitan blend of fashion, art, culture and beauty, as well as design, travel and entertainment, putting new generations in contact with the most influential, renowned names in the fashion industry thanks to distribution through the world’s most exclusive retailers.

“We’re proud of this acknowledgement obtained by Grazia USA and very happy with the results achieved by our partner Pantheon Media Group in the United States. Our brand’s business model based on a global multi-channel approach has great potential for development on other markets too, combining authoritative content with strategic use of data for positioning that really makes us stand out,” emphasised Daniela Sola, International Business Managing Director for Mondadori Media.

“It’s a great honour to receive this award. I’m very proud of the work the editorial staff of Grazia USA has done, leading to creation of an outstanding product that meets the requirements of both readers and advertisers. We’re lucky to have our partners’ support conveying quality content about fashion, luxury, entertainment and much more to over 400,000 certified readers and millions of site visitors every month,” said Brendan Monaghan, Chief Global Brands Officer and Executive Vice-President of the Pantheon Media Group.

Grazia is the first 100% Italian fashion magazine to have exported its successful formula all over the world, from Italy to the United States. The Mondadori Group brand, which now has a total of 21 editions in 23 countries, reaches a global audience of 15 million readers and 45 million unique visitors, with more than 30 million followers on social media.

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s men’s fashion and lifestyle brand, ushers in the year 2022 with a celebration of Italian talent and style in a special issue available at news-stands starting tomorrow, focusing on the excellence that makes Italy unique.

“We call our first issue of 2022 “È stile italiano” (“That’s Italian style”) to pay tribute to the talented people we believe best represent Italy. All these artists are “made in Italy”, an expression that has, over the past few decades, come to stand for truly excellent products and outstanding people, whose stories we will be telling on the pages of Icon, explaining how they became icons of our unique and inimitable Italian identity. Inimitable, because everything that is made in Italy stands out not only for its style, but for the designer’s culture and approach to design. In short, it’s our culture that makes us unique! This is why the world continues to be amazed and fascinated by everything ‘made in Italy’. It’s the perfect cover for our country,” comments Andrea Tenerani, editor-in-chief of Icon.

Six faces will be featured in the January issue’s cover stories: world champion gymnast Nicola Bartolini; tennis player Matteo Berrettini, the first Italian to qualify for the finals at Wimbledon; rapper Blanco, a phenomenal success in Italian music today; two new faces in Italian film, Giuseppe Maggio and Lorenzo Zurzolo, and world superstar Laura Pausini, whom editor-in-chief Andrea Tenerani himself chose for the cover of Icon.

The first Italian to win a Grammy, a Golden Globe, four Latin Grammies and an Oscar nomination, Laura Pausini bares her soul in her interview with Icon. The star’s lifestyle is tempered by the down-to-earth attitude typical of the people of her region, Romagna: “When I travel alone, I always ask for the smallest room in the hotel, because being alone in a big room makes me anxious. The global head of Warner Brothers once told me I was the only singer to record for the company who had never used a hotel minibar!” She talks about her family and her idols, such as Sophia Loren: “I want to be as serious, concentrated, dedicated, and disciplined as I believe she is.” She has a comment about the Italian rock group Måneskin: “Everything they do makes a splash in Italy, and I’m happy for them. I used to do the same kind of thing, but in those days there were no social networks, so nobody knew what I was up to!”

The January issue of Icon also features great Italian stylists and entrepreneurs such as Armani, discussing his ties with the world of film; Brunello Cucinelli, and his idea of business; and Andrea della Valle, with his winning combination of heritage and innovation. The Destination Future section focuses on stories of Italian know-how, both famous and unknown: from the mystery of Stradivarius violins to the rediscovery of visionary stylist Rosa Genoni, as well as world-renowned artists and musicians, films, indie magazines and much more. Lastly, in the Voices section, authors like Stefano Bartezzaghi and Nadeesha Uyangoda talk about how they see Italy.

The magazine, website and social networks dedicate plenty of space to men’s passions at the start of 2022, from beauty to beverages and from travel to automobiles, presenting plenty of news and sneak previews. In the month of July, this content will be further expanded with the return to the news-stand of Icon Wheels, a special issue of Icon concerned entirely with cars and motorbikes, showcasing the most iconic and desirable models.

This celebration of the people who have made Italy an example of excellence that stands out all over the world will culminate on the catwalks of Pitti Immagine Uomo with the exclusive event “È stile italiano” – “That’s Italian style”, organised by Icon. This very special evening will bring together some of the most prominent people in the fashion industry at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence on Monday, January 10, including Pitti Immagine CEO Raffaello Napoleone. The honoured guest of the evening will be violinist Charlie Siem, offering a truly outstanding performance.

To provide additional visibility for this showcase of all-Italian faces, traditions and excellence, during the fair dates Icon will also be distributed at Milano Centrale and Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway stations. The first of the 8 issues of the magazine to be published in 2022 will also enjoy the support of a communication campaign via digital out-of-home advertising circuits.

Mondadori Media, Italy’s leading multimedia publisher with 55.5 million fans on social networks, has signed a partnership with Twitter to join the Twitter Amplify program, which allows the possibility to amplify and promote video contents on the platform, reaching an even wider audience.

The agreement involves the Twitter accounts of the Mondadori Media brands Giallozafferano, MyPersonalTrainer, TheWom, Smartworld, Focus, NostroFiglio and Studenti, which are real points of reference in vertical segments linked to the passions of Italians – from cooking to wellness, from technology to science and training – with 1.6 million followers overall.

The partnership highlights the strength of Mondadori Media, chosen as an important partner to get in touch with valuable audiences through innovative content, relying on consolidated know-how in the production of videos for social media: an area in which Mondadori Media has already strong experience and leadership, thanks to an internal team dedicated to the co-production of editorial content with partner brands and successful special projects.

Thanks to this agreement, Mondadori Media and Twitter will offer partner companies the possibility of inserting pre-roll advertising videos, before the contents published by the Mondadori Media brands.

Mondadori Media will further expand the development of branded content social projects and initiatives on Twitter. This will extend the opportunities for companies and investors interested in reaching new audiences based on their needs and in an authoritative, transparent and highly interactive context thanks to the involvement of the Mondadori Media brand communities, making advertising communication ever more effective.

Giallozafferano, the leading food media brand in Italy, continues to grow on social media, with a global fanbase that has now topped 35 million thanks to the acquisition of the Foodqood profiles.

Created by chef Khalid El Mahi, Foodqood is the world’s fourth largest cookery profile on TikTok by number of fans, and the top profile in Italy.
In little more than a year, Foodqood, which is also on Instagram, has accumulated more than 13 million followers, with an increase of 1 million fans in the last 30 days, attracted by short dynamic videos that have gone viral in Italy and around the world, with each one attracting an average of more than 6 million views.

Its success is due to the talent of its young creator, El Mahi, 37 years old, head chef at the Das Badl restaurant in Trentino – Alto Adige. The rapid growth of Foodqood’s social profiles is driven in particular by its fast and easy Italian and international recipes, illustrated in short dynamic videos, which are also available in English.

The acquisition has given a decisive boost to Giallozafferano’s position on TikTok and its international expansion. 

Giallozafferano was the first Italian food media brand to target TikTok – where it now has more than 2 million fans on three profiles – as a fundamental move to reach the new generations, experiment with new styles and collaborate with the top emerging talents in Italian cooking.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of the year, Giallozafferano successfully launched its international English-language version as a website and on social media, where today the brand has a community of more than 5 million fans on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

«We are delighted to expand and diversify our social media presence with the acquisition of a hugely successful international young profile. The Instagram and TikTok profiles of Foodqood, which from today will be called GZ Foodqood, mean we can count on an overall fanbase on a par with the top world players,» said Andrea Santagata, general manager of Mondadori Media. «Furthermore, our strategic collaboration with young chef Khalid enables us to continue our on-going productive experimentation with new styles, with the focus increasingly on video shorts, a format that already lets us reach 150 million video views a month on social media. The purchase also strengthens our positioning as a Food Talent Factory. Giallozafferano believes in creators as an important ingredient to deliver fresh content and engage Millennials and Generation Z. This is why today Giallozafferano collaborates on a stable basis with over 50 of Italy’s best and most original food creators,» Santagata added.

With its latest acquisition, Giallozafferano continues to attract and select the most exciting talents on the web, a process that began in 2011 when it created the largest Italian food blogging community, attracting growing numbers of top chefs, influencers and creators.

This also enhances branded content opportunities for commercial partners, who, through the Mediamond space concessionaire, can target new audiences with innovative publishing formats, using the factory content of Giallozafferano and the unique team of food creators who work with the brand.

Christmas is a time for music and solidarity with Sorrisi Live – Un sorriso per Natale, the exclusive digital concert TV Sorrisi e Canzoni, the entertainment world’s landmark brand, will present this evening, Wednesday 22 December, so that readers, followers, and fans can enjoy the festive atmosphere together with the top names in Italy’s recording industry.

Following 2020’s great success, the event this year will see the participation of 9 of today’s most popular young artists, ready to offer special good wishes to all their fans from 7pm on the website and on the magazine’s Instagram and Facebook channels.

The artists performing on the Sorrisi Live stage will be Gaia, Francesca Michielin, Federico Rossi, The Kolors, Arisa, Deddy, Emma Muscat and Rocco Hunt, while one of the big names from last year’s concert, Francesco Gabbani, will be making a return appearance.

Hugely talented musicians and singer-songwriters, who will lead the Sorrisi audience into the warm and familiar Christmas mood with an exclusive acoustic version of songs from their personal repertoires.

A playlist of the voices most admired by the young generation, who will give the concert even greater appeal thanks to their popularity on the social networks, engaging an even larger audience and demonstrating the privileged relationship that has always existed between Italy’s best-selling weekly magazine and artists of every generation.

The concert – which can be watched and re-watched on Sorrisi.com and the magazine’s social profiles – will be presented by Gabriele Corsi, with the participation of the event’s host, Aldo Vitali, editor-in-chief of TV Sorrisi e Canzoni.

«This year once again we have the pleasure of offering our readers and social media followers a unique and special Christmas concert, with leading artistes who responded enthusiastically to our invitation and whom I thank most warmly. I’m especially grateful to them because the concert allows us to help many unfortunate children through the Dottor Sorriso Foundation,» said Aldo Vitali.

The concert will indeed provide an opportunity to offer a smile to the families who will be spending the festivities in hospital wards, thanks to the support Sorrisi has decided to give to the Dottor Sorriso Foundation. The foundation has been working in hospitals across Italy for more than 25 years, promoting the Smile Therapy to brighten small patients’ stay in hospital and help them cope with their illness with renewed optimism.

«For the second year, I have the honour and pleasure of joining the editor of Sorrisi to present the Christmas concert. This is turning into a wonderful tradition which, hopefully, we shall soon be able to hold live, » said Gabriele Corsi. «On television, on radio, at events, I always try to get people smiling. So what better occasion, as we celebrate Christmas, than the Sorrisi concert in collaboration with our friends from Dottor Sorriso?»

With the Sorrisi Live – Un sorriso per Natale concert, TV Sorrisi e Canzoni confirms its standing as a constantly evolving brand with the power to bring together artistes and entertainers, a public of 5.7 million readers and users a month (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data fusion, May 2021) and a community of 950,000 fans on the social networks (source: Shareablee e Insight, October 2021), thanks to an editorial offer comprising the magazine, the website, social media and events.

Click here for information on how to make a donation to the Dottor Sorriso Foundation project.

More than 15 million unique users a month on the web, a global fanbase of 35 million on social media, 200 million video views a month: with these numbers Giallozafferano is celebrating 2021 as a very successful year.

A success achieved thanks to a distinctive positioning, which saw Giallozafferano become thefirst food media brand to focus on TikTok and on creators. Today, it collaborates with a team of more than 50 of the best and most original food talents.

The Giallozafferano young talents were the protagonists of the “GZ Creator Award” event held yesterday in Milan: a special acknowledgment for the creators and bloggers who distinguished themselves during 2021 by engaging growing communities of foodlovers, and achieving record-breaking views and interaction, and helped to foster the growth of Giallozafferano with their talent and content.

«For Giallozafferano, the creators, each with their own specific identity, are an increasingly central element: as publishers, the decision to create a team with the top Italian cookery talents has enabled us to strengthen and innovate our content offer and at the same time given them the chance to grow together with us, with the support of a brand leader and the expertise of our team, in a mutual beneficial relationship,» said Mondadori Media general manager Andrea Santagata. «We are proud to have become the home of Italy’s top food talents and we have created the GZ Creator Award specifically to thank all our creators and bloggers for their passion and extraordinary skills, » Santagata added.

The GZ Creator Award 2021 was presented in seven categories by Andrea Santagata together with starred chef Alessandro Negrini from the Vòce di Aimo e Nadia restaurant, which provided the venue for the event.

The Giallozafferano 2021 best blogger award went to Luisa Orizio (Allacciate il grembiule), whose dishes everyone can cook attract more than 4 million monthly visits to her blog and 1.2 million fans.

The creator with the highest like average is Andriana Kulchytska, who is always on the look-out for tempting dishes that will appeal to the fitness world, with an average of almost 50,000 “likes” per video.

The creator who attracted the highest number of comments in 2021 is Daniele Rossi, a Tuscan chef who seduces everyone with his choice of traditional popular dishes and raw materials of the highest quality, with more than 1,400 comments for his guacamole video recipe.

The most sustainable creator award, with the most viewed veg videos, was won by Diletta Secco, a young cook who promotes sustainability in the kitchen with simple, unique recipes.

The creator with the highest average for video reel views was Rafael Nistor with his live video recipes, where the sounds as he prepares the food create an original and hypnotic audio, with an average of 1.4 million views for each video.

The award for the highest overall number of views went to Cooker Girl, aka Aurora Cavallo, with her unmistakeable red apron and huge repertoire of “traditionally new” dishes, for more than 50 million views on Instagram Reels and TikTok.

The creator behind the most viewed video is Khalid El Mahi, now a permanent member of the Giallozafferano family of social profiles with the “GZ Foodqood” brand, a youthful, fast and dynamic approach to cooking: his recipe for pita bread attracted 8 million views.

The exclusive Giallozafferano event – devoted to cooking, creativity and entertainment – was compered by special host Guglielmo Scilla, known as Willwoosh. The guest of honour was singer Orietta Berti, who offered the guests an exceptional medley of her hits, including Mille, winner of five platinum disks and one of the songs most downloaded and listened to by generation Z, and her new single Luna Piena, composed in collaboration with Hell Raton and sung in public for the first time last night.

Giallozafferano’s success in 2021 confirms the brand’s unique ability to select web talents as part of a continuously evolving journey: one that began in 2011, when Giallozafferano created the largest Italian food blogging community, which today has transformed the brand into a veritable food talent factory – with contributions from more than 100 top chefs, bloggers and creators – and will continue in 2022 with an even more ambitious program.

The basis of its success is a benchmark brand for Italian foodlovers, a “top of mind” food medium, the best known, most frequently consulted, must-have name in the kitchen. This is confirmed by the constantly growing community, reflecting the ability of GialloZafferano to be of service throughout the day thanks to consolidated content and video production knowhow, the result of a special in-house social content production.

INTERNI, the Mondadori Group’s interiors and contemporary design magazine edited by Gilda Bojardi, presents XXX-Y 30 YEARS OF THE FUORISALONE, a book published by Electa that celebrates the most memorable designs, personalities and events that have characterised the creation and development of an event that is a symbol of the city of Milan. The story begins with the origins as the “Milano Designer’s Week” created in 1990 by Gilda Bojardi and INTERNI, which evolved and adopted the name FuoriSalone (also invented by the magazine’s editor) which then led to the explosion of temporary districts and its position as an authentic urban festival.

In 512 pages, 1000 images and the designs of over 2500 protagonists, the book covers the history of the most important event in the world of international design.

“It’s not enough to use the equation Design = Milano to understand the success of an event as unique as the FuoriSalone,” declared Gilda Bojardi, editor of INTERNI. “As the book explains, created 30 years after the first event which, on our initiative, structurally involved many of Milan’s key design locations, the FuoriSalone is a choral effort with a great number of protagonists involving a range of historical factors, geographic, productive and cultural. It is, in fact, the expression of a system that only in Italy, and only in Milan, could find such fertile ground. From 1990 to the present, the event has continued to grow, overcoming, both in terms of cultural vivacity and experimentation, the limits of an exhibition-market to become an exceptional urban festival that visitors, regardless of their professional interests, experience as an important spectacular and unmissable cross-cultural happening. The knock-on economic impact is such as to make it the most important week of the year for the city and, together with the Salone del Mobile – to which it is complementary – makes Milan the ideal place for the diffusion of a culture that places design at the heart of debates regarding innovation and the progress of society,” concluded the editor.

The book brings to life the various stages of its development and the most emblematic events that has marked the history of the FuoriSalone – a spectacular cultural and market model, copied around the world, based on a successful mix of performance, installations, and experimental exhibitions and expressions – and enabled Milan to become the recognised capital of international design.

The story is told chronologically and divided by decades (1990-1999, 2000-2009, 2010-2019), introduced by a chapter on the 1980s, and specifically the events that led to the creation of the FuoriSalone. Written by four leading design critics (Beppe Finessi, Deyan Sudjic, Paolo Ferrarini and Li Edelkoort) the book offers a general and personal account of the phenomenon, its evolution and significance. The decades, meanwhile, benefit from a historical and sociological introduction by university professor and scholar Andrea Davide Cuman, who tells the story of the event in relation to the evolution of taste and the transformations of the city.

The range of images – drawn from the INTERNI archives – is accompanied by contributions from around  50 personalities who with their first-hand accounts, memories and anecdotes, describe ‘their’ FuoriSalone: from the inventors of the big events that formed the basis for the FuoriSalone – such as Giulio Cappellini, Paolo Pallucco, Patrizia Moroso – to designers that created unforgettable installations – including Ron Arad, Andrea Branzi, Michele De Lucchi, Jacopo Foggini, Barnaba Fornasetti, Massimo Iosa Ghini, Antonio Marras, Fabio Novembre, William Sawaya and Paolo Moroni, Emiliano Salci – as well as the gallerists and curators whose spaces and initiatives have marked the evolution of this urban phenomenon – including Gisella Borioli, Rossana Orlandi, Antonia Jannone and Carla Sozzani.

XXX-Y 30 OF THE FUORISALONE will be presented in preview on Tuesday 21 December 2021 at the Triennale in Milan with the participation of: Stefano Boeri, Giulio Cappellini, Antonio Citterio, Stefano Giovannoni, Ferruccio Laviani, Piero Lissoni, Rosita Missoni, Paola Navone, Maria Porro and Patricia Urquiola.

XXX-Y 30 ANNI DI FUORISALONE will be in bookstores from 18 January.

INTERNI is grateful for the collaboration of: Videomobile, Moretti and Acqua Chiarella.

Focus, the Mondadori Group brand, leader in popular science, is strengthening its commitment to safeguarding the planet with a special issue produced in collaboration with the WWF.

An extraordinary project that sees Italy’s most widely read popular science monthly, a point of reference for science, nature and technology enthusiasts, travelling with the organisation’s researchers to examine – through the authoritative lens of the editorial team – the projects that for 60 years the WWF has pursued in order to protect and endangered land and species.

The project, which brings together Focus and the WWF, will lead to a special report that aims to share with the whole of the brand’s community – of 5.2 million users and readers (source: Nielsen Media Impact Data Fusion, May 2021) – the message that, now more than ever, our defence of the environment cannot be postponed. An initiative that is the first stage of a journey that in 2022 will see Focus celebrate its first 30 years with a series of activities and special events.

“Since 1961, the WWF has been fighting for the protection of nature and ecosystems. And it does so because it understood, before others, that humankind’s wonderful journey has also endangered the planet’s delicate balance. So, we travelled around Italy and the world with the WWF to learn more about the nature reserves they defend, the work they do, the wild places, the plants and the animals that live there. We observed the amazing nature of the earth so that we could tell you about it. And, once again, we did it in awe and admiration, with an amazement that we never want to lose.” said Raffaele Leone, editor of Focus.

“Focus proved to be an extraordinary travelling companion that enabled us to talk about the work we did in our first sixty years, from the challenges we have overcome to those we still have to face, aware that our wellbeing also depends on the wellbeing of the nature that surrounds us. Today we know that in the next 10 years we will have to do much more than what has been done in the last 60 years if we are to face the climate crisis and reverse the trend in biodiversity loss. In the last 60 years we have seen the world undergo profound transformations and even the WWF has changed in that time, but one thing will never change: our absolute determination to create a future where people can live in harmony with nature,” said Donatella Bianchi, president of the WWF Italy.

This initiative is the result of a multi-year commitment that Focus has been engaged in to raise awareness and promote the sustainable development goals of the UN 2030 Agenda through initiatives that involve readers, students and teachers across all its channels, which make the brand an important multimedia platform of reference for such issues.

At the heart of this special edition of Focus are reports, first-hand accounts and encounters by journalists from the magazine’s editorial team, exceptional protagonists of the expeditions conducted together with WWF experts.
A journey through the pages of the magazine that will accompany readers around the world with exclusive stories and a selection of unpublished images of the territories explored and their inhabitants.

In Paraguay visiting environments where nature still reigns supreme: an expedition to the heart of South America, which begins in the Chaco area, a territory increasingly threatened by the expansion of livestock breeding and extensive agriculture and which continues from the Pantanal area to the Atlantic forest.

And then in central Africa with a visit to the protected Dzanga-Sangha area where gorillas – overwhelmed by poaching and further threatened by both pervasive and silent deforestation and diseases such as Ebola – are protected and admired by tourists thanks to an “habituation” project launched by the WWF in the 1990s.

The issue also features the story of the search for whales and dolphins in the waters of our own seas: a direct testimony of the experience lived on board the Blue Panda, the WWF ambassador ship, which last summer crossed the Mediterranean Sea spreading its message on the importance of safeguarding the marine ecosystem.

Further enhancing the project, there is also a programme of special content available on the Focus.it website and on the brand’s social channels – which reach more than 3 million followers – with many additional insights, interviews and exclusive images and videos on WWF projects to satisfy the curiosity and interest of users.

A multichannel and circular offer which, from the magazine is developed and enhanced on Focus’s digital channels, confirming the brand’s successful formula that combines the contribution of authoritative voices of international standing with an always fresh and rigorous look with an unmistakably clear and direct style that is able to reach an ever-wider audience.