Khrisjoy Taps Maripol, Gatekeeper of ‘80s Club Culture, for Artistic Project
The brand, founded in 2017 and controlled by the Alsara Investment Group, is taking over the city's Montenapoleone subway stop decking its walls in large scale portraits taken by Maripol. They depict ordinary Milanese women selected through street, Instagram and word of mouth casting, to celebrate the city's dynamic spirit.
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'For me, beauty is everywhere and in everything. I wanted real people, women who live Milan, who shape its energy. Some I knew, some I didn't, some I had met as little girls. What I wanted to capture was their essence, their truth, beyond any predefined notion of femininity,' Maripol said.
The artist and designer is best known for her Polaroids documenting the buzzy New York cultural and underground scene in the '80s, portraying pop culture icons including Madonna, Keith Haring, Deborah Harry, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, among others.
After moving to New York in the mid-'70s Maripol landed a designer job at Elio Fiorucci's namesake brand ultimately becoming its art director and splitting her life between Milan and New York.
Milan 'is a mosaic, and these portraits are fragments of its soul,' Maripol said about the 'Women of Milan' photography project. 'Milan is freedom to be, to create, to reinvent oneself without apology. That's what these women represent. They are strong, unconventional, diverse,' she said.
Captured against vividly colored, solid backgrounds in candid-like portraits, the 30 women were selected as a sample of different backgrounds, ages, sexual orientations, professions and gender identities. The pop-tinged pictures align with Khrisjoy's mood-boosting aesthetics, rooted in the use of colors, playful patterns and edgy silhouettes.
'We did street casting as well as Instagram casting, mixing ages and backgrounds, making sure to keep it real. Milan is a cosmopolitan city — someone who has lived here for a month is already Milanese. That's what I wanted to reflect,' Maripol offered, reminiscing about her early days in the city.
The Montenapoleone subway stop in Milan's Golden Triangle luxury shopping district is to be decked with the pictures starting Monday and through the end of February.
'This project is about women, about identity, about Milan. It's about capturing the city not through its architecture, but through the people who bring it to life. That's why we chose the metro — it's democratic, it's where the real energy of the city flows,' the artist and photographer offered.
'Some were nervous, unaccustomed to the camera, but in that vulnerability, there is power. I wanted them to feel seen, to recognize themselves in this project. They are not just subjects, they are the city itself — its movement, its contradictions, its boundless creativity,' she said.
The subway takeover is flanked by the launch of a one-of-a-kind art book conceived as a box with 30 Polaroid photographs of the same subjects, paying homage to Maripol's signature art form.
'I've always had my Polaroid camera with me.…It's immediate, raw and true — you can't retouch it, you can't manipulate it. That's what I love. It captures a moment exactly as it is, with all its imperfections and beauty.…For me, it's not just a medium, it's a language — a way to tell stories with honesty, spontaneity, and emotion, preserving the essence of a moment before it slips away,' Maripol said about the medium that has gained her global fame as an artist.
The brand held its first official presentation during Milan Fashion Week in February last year and will return to the schedule this month, with a presentation of its fall 2025 collection on Feb 26. The collection is designed by a team, since Khrisjoy last year parted ways with cofounder and creative director Marzia Bellotti, after eight years.
Alsara Investment Group took full control of Khrisjoy in December 2023. The group had acquired a majority stake in the label in 2021.
Since the acquisition, it has invested in bolstering the brand's management team, developing its wholesale distribution, launching e-commerce operations and expanding product categories.
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