In a market where the “need for novelty” risks erasing depth, the archive becomes a precious resource. No longer just to preserve, but above all to generate. It serves to build the future starting from what already exists, and what is truly relevant and identity-defining. Reread, reinterpret, reactivate: for MM Company, the archive is a strategic lever, capable of fueling identity, storytelling, and innovation.
A well-valued and living archive can be a precious input for developing collections, digital content, campaigns, exhibitions, editorial narratives. It can become the foundation of a distinctive positioning, because in depth no other brand will ever be exactly the same as its own.
We approach brand archives with a curatorial, narrative, and digital modus operandi. We do not treat them as mausoleums, but as design tools. In many of our projects, heritage is not only narrated, but made current. We work on visual identity starting from what the brand has been, with the intention of projecting it into the future.
Fragiacomo 60: a panoramic project
One of the most significant archive projects we have worked on was for Fragiacomo, a historic Made in Italy footwear brand, on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.
The journey began with the reconstruction of the company archive, led by journalist Fabiana Giacomotti. Through historical research and a meticulous recovery process, she brought back some of the brand’s most iconic shoe models from the past.
From there, our agency was asked to oversee the anniversary celebrations with a fully phygital cultural project. We developed a new brand identity and packaging, designed a corporate website with an editorial section dedicated to the brand’s heritage, created online and offline communication content, and managed social media and newsletters. The project culminated in an exhibition and a celebratory dinner, where footwear, artistic photography, and a monograph retracing six decades of the maison were presented.
Published by Silvana Editoriale, the book was distinguished by its powerful visual impact: original works by world-renowned photographers Giovanni Gastel, Gian Paolo Barbieri, Maurizio Galimberti, Piero Gemelli, Simone Nervi, and Maria Vittoria Backhaus, each interpreting one decade of the brand, alongside Fabrizio Sclavi’s vibrant pop illustrations and still-life photography of the “rediscovered archive” models, shot by Barbieri’s studio.
Complementing the imagery were essays by leading scholars and experts in fashion, costume, and cinema, including Fabiana Giacomotti, Clara Tosi Pamphili, Federico Poletti, and Flavia Colli Franzone, who offered deeper insights into the brand’s cultural legacy.
Etel: the evolution of icons
In the furniture sector, we highlight the archive project developed for the Brazilian brand ETEL: “Zanine (R)Evolution: A Story by ETEL”, which explored the evolutions and revolutions of José Zanine Caldas.
ETEL, the most important brand authorized to reissue the works of Brazil’s great design masters, has included 16 icons by Zanine in its collection, already rich with pieces from the most significant names in the country’s design culture, such as Jorge Zalszupin, Lina Bo Bardi, Giuseppe Scapinelli, and Oscar Niemeyer. To achieve this, we reconstructed and visualized the biographical connections of the designer, and curated a special installation connecting physical objects with a multitude of archival materials that influenced José Zanine Caldas’ design thinking, brought directly from Brazilian archives.
Reactivating the archive means rediscovering in the past what is most authentic, in order to shape the future of a brand. This is the idea that guided us: transforming memory into vision.
