On September 21, during Milano Fashion Week, Marni Prisma will start its year-long journey with the opening of the Marni Flower Market in the Rotonda della Besana.
Consuelo Castiglioni says she has always been fascinated by flower markets for their vitality and energy, because they smell of the local culture and are colorful and vibrant; not least, because flowers are an essential part of the composite Marni language, whose prints often reproduce phytomorphic motifs.
The non-celebratory event is thought to last the span of one single afternoon and will be held in 
Milan to highlight the deep Italian roots of Marni.
Directed by Carolina Castiglioni, Special Projects Creative Director of Marni, with the artistic supervision of Stefano Rabolli Pansera, architect and curator of the Angola pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Marni Flower Market is a fluid action, which will be open to all citizens from 3 to 8 pm. Marni thus confirms its interest in contamination, expressed through an inclusive message.
A flower market is made up of color, freshness, nature, all of which are an integral part of the Marni language. Distributed in the spaces of the rotunda, the Marni Flower Market defines a succession of experiences that viewers can make their own and personal, following non-imposed paths, not unlike the Marni collections, which are made up of pieces that each customer can assemble in individual ways.
Bundles of flowers will be distributed in semicircles around the columns of the basilica, laid on fabrics printed with Marni archive patterns. The exhibition will consist of small house-shaped stalls containing and showcasing the different products, mannequins with braided pvc skirts and then braided pvc and metal chairs, and decorative flowers, insects and animals made of pvc.
During the Marni Flower Market, the public will be able to shop, bringing home a unique and useful souvenir of the one-off event. There will be many items for sale: pvc vase holders in different sizes decorated with Marni archive prints; Marni Flower Market shopping bags; printed Japanese porcelain pots containing seeds of a flower; canvas aprons and cover-plant sheets decorated with archive prints. The dialogue between the Marni prints and the flowers will be a constant link, for instance in the packaging. Also on sale new editions of the animal-sculptures handcrafted by a group of Colombian women.
Marni Flower Market will also span an active collaboration with the MUBA – Museo dei Bambini di Milano, whose headquarters are located just inside the Rotonda della Besana. A series of childrens workshops will be open to the public. For the occasion, special products such as gardening cotton aprons, hand painted in Zambia, and tool bags will all be available to purchase at the Marni Flower Market.
The project reaffirms Marni’s commitment to charity initiatives: a part of the proceeds from the sale of limited edition products will be donated in support of children organizations.
