Longarone Valley

Is there any emotional landscape more engaging than a shot captured from above?

It seems like an infinite amount of time has passed since, at the end of the 1970s, aerial photography by the Frenchman Yann-Arthus Bertrand began to show us the world through the quintessential imagery-filled point of view – according to many filmmakers, scriptwriters and, indeed, photographers – whatever, from a bird’s eye view, is able to capture textures of reality and bring to our attention secrets that the human eye, from a simple ‘American shot’, for example, would find hard to see. Today, drones have replaced helicopters, and for many artists they are the most appropriate tool for capturing the face of nature and cities from the right distance. Neither too close. Nor too far away. Around the world, the column that explores the world from the perspective of eyewear couldn’t help but begin its wanderings from where Marcolin’s story began: Longarone, in the heart of the Cadore region, an area known the world over as the eyewear district, the only one home to one of the very few museums dedicated to the kaleidoscopic historical evolution of eyewear. And what better vantage point than from above? What is evident, under this piece of sky, a stone’s throw from Belluno and destinations with a strong resonance – such as Cortina D’Ampezzo, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo or even the lakes, such as Misurina and Cadore, with their azure waters and Eden-like panoramas – is an emotional geography of a place, and its surroundings, whose freeze frame depicts the range of matching tones of the natural elements. Air, earth, water and fire, in which crackling echoes call to mind snowy scenarios during the quintessential season of these lands i.e. winter, are the most authentic face of a mountain community, united with five others, ideally located in the central southern area of the Belluno Dolomites National Park.

A natural World Heritage

Suspended over 470 metres above sea level, nestled in the largest province of the Veneto region – Belluno – Longarone is considered an open door to an interregnum separating two worlds, with paths traced to rise from the earth, the peaks of its mountains, the Dolomites, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. It is precisely the peaks of these landscapes that establish an indispensable and undoubtedly emotional bond with the local area and the element of rock. A passion for these mountains that has inspired artists, explorers, such as Vittorino Cazzetta, to whom we owe the discovery of the famous Mondeval hunter, who helped to give an identity to the Mesolithic era in these areas, or writers such as Dino Buzzati, born in this great province of Belluno. The icy influence of the Dolomites flows in the same way in Marcolin, a company with deep ties to the emotional geography of its homeland.

The profile of the mountains as a style detail

While on the summit of Monte Rite stands the Museum in the Clouds, the highest in all of Europe, paying homage to the mountain as the custodian of a heritage that encompasses the essence of mountain life, with its glass and steel domes on the foundations of a former fort, a remnant of World War I, profiling the most striking glimpse of the Monti Pallidi – the other name by which an ancient legend defines the Dolomites – and to the east of the Cadore region, Marcolin allows this passion to be expressed by the brand that is representative of its DNA, Web Eyewear, which embodies the adventurous spirit and love for the beauty of these places in a contemporary and essential style. And it is precisely the profile of the Dolomites, with its reflections, that is imprinted on the brand’s iconic eyewear: ascending the shades of these peaks recreated along the temples, until reaching the heart of the frame, as if on the summit of a mountain, wearing the most ethereal of elements: air, floating and light.  

Marcolin and Timberland Forest

International Earth Day: Marcolin and Treedom respond to the call

Each year, a month and a day after the spring equinox, the world rallies around the Earth to celebrate it on an international day that has been held on 22 April for more than 50 years: it is one of the most significant calls to action in terms of global participation and focuses on safeguarding the planet. Because Marcolin is conscious of the issue, it responds to the call and, since 2021, has chosen to participate in the development of sustainable projects in collaboration with Treedom, the digital platform that allows people to donate and choose native trees to be planted at a distance, learn about their history and give them a name. Following its development, via a ‘Tree Diary’ that chronicles its growth through photos and periodic reports, from the comfort of their own home, is part of the process. What lies behind it, however, is more than just a note of colour: that green, which does not appear on the Treedom world map, denotes the concrete tension towards an ideal. 

3.5 million trees have been planted

For the benefit of the environment – since 2010, thanks to Treedom, 3.5 million trees have been planted, involving more than 75,000 farmers in 17 countries around the world, which means offsetting the level of CO2 emissions, protecting the biodiversity of the environment and taking concrete action to combat soil erosion and the consequences of deforestation. The other side of this story speaks the language of local communities whose return is measured in terms of increased social welfare and security. 

50 million trees worldwide by 2025

Marcolin’s project – in partnership with Treedom and Timberland Eyewear, a brand in its portfolio since 2003 – sponsors the planting of 10,000 trees, geolocated by ID codes, for three years, through Treedom, enabling each supporter to follow the evolution and the related project in the different continents of the world involved. 14,985 trees, with unusual names – such as the Grevillea shrub that grows in Kenya, reaches a height of 10-12 metres and produces the characteristic yellow flowers whose nectar, attracting bees, promotes vital plant pollination – have been planted in ten countries, but also thanks to the previous agreement between Treedom and Timberland, committed to planting 50 million trees worldwide by 2025, we can witness the growth of a veritable widespread forest, one tree at a time, under the care of their respective custodians. 

Duro Olowu

1

People, Places, Colour, name of your exclusive Capsule Collection, seem to identify three essential components of your ideal journey. Do you have any place in your heart where these three ideals meet and flow together?

For me people and places are linked by colour. My capsule collection for MAX&Co. is an expression of that. You remember where you have travelled to, particularly on holiday by the colours of the city, terrain, sea, or the particularly inspiring ways in which people from a specific place dress and mix vivid colours. This collection is an expression of that joyful mix and fantastic style. I drew on my well-known love and knowledge of contemporary art. My Capsule Collection for MAX&Co. was inspired by the work of Italian artist Luigi Ghirri whose wonderfully composed cinematic, colourful and poetic photographs set against the Italian landscape of Italy in the 1970s and 1980s evoked the beauty and emotion of simple travel to familiar places. I imagine the artist extending his travels to other parts of the world, such as Bamako in Mali, using his camera to capture the same kind of technicolor hues and moments. 

The collection represents who I imagine to be the MAX&Co woman. Young and free minded with a fresh and interesting approach to dressing
2

How did the collaboration process carry out? How was working together with the MAX&Co. and Marcolin teams?

My entire experience working on this collection with MAX&Co was very creative and rather good fun. I am a very hands-on designer in every way, and they were thrilled and encouraged about this side of my design process. Added to that was the access I had to their incredible manufacturing facilities and making techniques. A combination of quality, innovation and high standards that is always very important to me and my work. 

3

What kind of woman did you imagine when you created “People, Places, Colour”?

The collection represents who I imagine to be the MAX&Co woman. Young and free minded with a fresh and interesting approach to dressing. She thinks less about casual or formal, day or night and mixes classic silhouettes (with unexpected details) in vivid monotone colours with luxuriously bold patterns, in an interesting way. She is intelligent and aware of the world she lives in and the places she visits. She is not easily led and makes her clothing choices spontaneously but consciously.