ALESSANDRO BORGHI

Clear, confident but also simple and a bit ‘dreamer: this is how the young Roman actor is. With a past that saw him as a stuntman as well as starring in television dramas and short films, is now on everyone’s lips. The audience in fact knew him through “Do not be bad” by Claudio Caligari and “Suburra” by Stefano Sollima, both belong to 2015 but maybe not everyone remember him in the second series of Romanzo Criminale or in the new second season of Squadra Narcotici. Alessandro gets by films for over ten years and his passion is felt in everything he says, is very attached to Rome and has certainly not afraid to show how he really is.

A spectacular 2015 behind us and a very promising sign in 2016, starting with the Oscar where “Do not be bad” is nominated for best foreign film. How do you see the Italian spirit of this movie brought to the Academy?

I admit that I thought about it a lot, especially while we were shooting. It ‘s true, this film has a strong Italian character, is a cross-section of the ‘90 in Ostia; we think that it is Italian because we know what it is about. During the promotion made in December, in Los Angeles or Seattle, the reactions that we have gathered, however, went further, were strong and it was just what we wanted. I think that this film will assert universally, because it’s it talks about friendship, about love, so it could be set anywhere, the values do not change. People, at the Academy, is used to know Italian films with great productions behind and maybe watch a so small movie, with a production like that, made them fall in love.

For now you have always worked in pretty busy films, playing roles often strong and difficult. And is this the types of film in which you want act, or you are thinking about something else in your professional future?

I think I was very lucky to interpret these roles, I loved it and definitely I will continue with it. The fact remains that I am open to all genres, as long as there will be quality. I’d like to act in plays, but I think that the italian play is a bit missed today, I’d like to work in a project like “Quasi Amici” because that’s the comedy is in the writing of dialogues and scenes, not in the individual actors lines.

Which are your film benchmarks? Maybe for style, interpretation, passion…

Basically I’m very curious, I love this job so I observe the other actors to learn more and improve myself. If I have to choose a particular actor, I would say Leonardo DiCaprio, because he has always acted in amazing films and his acting is impeccable although usually very different from one film to another.

So professionally inspired but not for the style…

Exact. Actually I have my own style that is dictated by the need to be always at ease, I want to convey who I am without much thoughts. If I choose something, a dress rather than a pair of shoes, must be because I like them.

With which director would you like to work today?

I could tell you some big Italian names, for example Sorrentino but also Tornatore but are too ordinary. I would love to work with Virzì because I really loved “Human capital”, or, among foreigners, definitely Derek Cianfrance, I think he is really exceptional.

Photographer | Francesco Bertola
Style | Fabio Ferraris
Grooming | Grazia Carbone @Wmmanagement
Special Thanks | Hotel Majestic Roma

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THE GENTLEMANLY SIDE OF CHEF RUBIO

Cover Natural Gentleman shirt & tie | Gabriele Pasini vest

Chef Rubio also known as Gabriele Rubini (born in 1983) is not only the protagonist and television phenomenon of UNTI E BISUNTI broadcast on DMAX, but an eclectic man for culture and interests. Gabriele is an avid reader and traveler, loves books saturated with poetry and dream visions: the authors have formed him, as Murakami, but also Frey, Palahniuk and Welsh. His education began at the high school, in a multicultural environment full of subcultures between punk and metal fans.He lives his adolescence between music, study, sport and a lot of reading. The sport gets for therapeutic reasons after a bad scoliosis. He choosed rugby, after trying to practice without constant judo, fencing and basketball. He remembers the early days, in which rugby represented to him ” fatigue, stress, cold and beating”, that slowly turns into something that he will not be able to do without. “From distrust to dependency”, he says. Hallmark of Chef Rubio is undoubtedly the irony with sarcastic tones and a charisma that involves people in the territories and in the most different situations. Recently he took a shirtless portray by the photographer Alessia Leporati with a lamb on his shoulders. A bucolic picture that in the intentions wanted to celebrate the charism of Rubio as a shepherd who leads his flocks of followers. From here it has developed a chain reaction among newspapers and websites, including controversies and enthusiastic comments. The result? Rubio is well captured in his figurine version in the role of pastor. The maestro Marco Ferrigno, the head in the art of Neapolitan terracotta and among the most productive in transforming in shepherds the characters of politics and show business, says: “With a so naturally pose, I thought inevitable a recognition to Rubio who in his program has been able to give the right emphasis to the culinary tradition that lives right here, in the alleys of our historical center of Naples, in San Gregorio Armeno”. Rubio remains a tireless traveler and insatiable searcher of flavors and culinary traditions, overcoming borders and patterns. With his program Unti e Bisunti, with tones often irreverent, he was able to convey a message in which the food is also curiosity about what surrounds us, an accessible culture to everyone, a mirror of society and not an elitist phenomenon.

Exclusively for MANINTOWN we show the “gentleman” side of Chef Rubio, also through images of the service directed by Peter Cardona in which you will see him in a new version.

How was your adolescence?

I was a normal boy who faced studies of the classical high school and I grew up in an environment with different ethnic groups such as metal fans, punk or what they call “zecche” in Rome. Music has always been present during the span of the school and the study was present, but it was not important for me.

How is your passion for the sport?

Actually it is started for therapeutic and health purpose, because having had scoliosis at ten years I started practicing rugby, judo, fencing and basketball. Then when I started rugby, I have never stopped.

How did you come to the world of food?

I had different experiences as gourmand, traveling in Europe and particularly in the United Kingdom. All interests a little forgotten because I thought of the career in rugby. Then over time it has become a subject of study,and only after a job, thanks to an interlocking of multiple situations. Then the fact of being able to tell a program was another opportunity that I confirmed the need to show a country or a people without ignore the street culture and the poor cuisine.

Among the cities that you visited, what would you live?

Since 2012 I moved around twelve nations before the television adventure, including India, China, Korea, Japan, Lebanon, Turkey, Israel. All very interesting experiences, I am also very fond of the East and Tokyo is the city where I would live quietly.

How was this year of “Unti e Bisunti”?

It was the most followed and the most complex series, certainly different from the first and second ones. I am also an active parte in the planning of program, since in any case it speaks of myself and I contribute to the design of the content.

How do you choose the city to visit and in which one do you have more satisfaction?

Unfortunately I can’t always choose because there are production requirements, even if my dream was to go abroad to tell different cities and reality. Surely Girona and the Costa Brava were not among my favorite destinations, but once there I discovered a fantastic reality. You never stop learning and therefore you have sometimes preconceived ideas when instead they starting turn out to be super interesting.

Your irony has caused controversy in the network and among vegans.

This vegan’s never existed, it was only a title taken by some newspapers and commentaries that criticized the shots in an unorthodox way. So I speak out of turn…therefore a revolt of fans vegans has been unleashed, when instead I am the first to have vegan friends. In the pastoral photos that caused such stir, there are rural images related to the area of Parma, where I lived and I feel right to pay tribute to the city.

If I open your wardrobe?

You’ll find mostly T-shirts, shorts, flip-flops…from April to October I prefer to be barefoot, then if the weather works against me, I also put the shoes!

And the elegance…

The last occasion on which I wore formal dress was at a wedding of a friend. For this and other occasions I always choose a bespoke suit.

Which is the message you would like to launch with your program?

To love and respect others, to involve people who have around and that everything we were can’t be forgotten for a better future, but there must be a connection between the past and the future that make us alive the present in the best way possible. Food is a silver thread around which revolve sociological and anthropological themes, but shines only to those who want to deepen the theme.

Photo | Roberta Krasnig
Style | Peter Cardona
Grooming | Veronica Caboni
Special Thanks | Lanificio Roma

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MARTIN GARRIX

2015 has been a ‘year of collaborations’ for him, and it seems that 2016 will continue in the same direction, recently confirming a project with Steve Aoki. He’s only 19 years old but his music has already gotten thousands of fans up dancing: He’s Martijn Garritsen, stage name Martin Garrix, the young blue-eyed Dutch DJ that is causing everyone to fall in love.

You’re just 19 and yet you are already among the 4 most influential DJs in the world. How did you get to this point? What do you like about your job?

My secret is to use the energy I get from people. To feed them your emotions and to bring them joy- to have a good time together. If they see that the DJ is having a good time while he is spinning they will have even more fun, and I join in their happiness. It’s a win-win situation: I make them happy, and they make me happy as well.

What is your secret for expressing yourself as DJ?
To always continue to try, to recreate myself in different contexts, to remain full of energy and never forget that my job is to amuse people: I don’t take myself too seriously, it’s all matter of lightness and spontaneity.

What was your life like before your music career. What were some of your interests?

It was very different. I liked to collect shells and stones – so much that I have a full collection now [laughs]. I also played a lot of sports. I started windsurfing when I was twelve, and I still go anytime I’m able. Ever since I started my music career I don’t have much free time, especially when I’m on tour, but I love working so I work all the time. But whenever I have some free time I run off to go windsurfing.

What do you think is the most important thing to consider when you’re producing music? What sets you apart from other musicians?
Surprising people. If you do what everybody expects you to do, people get bored. But if you do something that totally shocks people, they go, ‘Oh, my God, have you heard what Martin Garrix wrote? What was he thinking?’ And that’s something very important for me – if you have the power to surprise people, to do something that no one expects, then they talk about it, they tell their friends about it. So whenever I’m in the studio, I always try to find something that’s a little bit weird or a little bit new for me.

Which artist surprises you most?
Skrillex. I love Skrillex, and he surprises me the most. As a producer, as a DJ, and as a person, I look up to him so much. He’s the kind of a producer who is constantly evolving, and that’s why I really, really look up to him.

If you could travel back in time, with whom would you have liked to play or to remix?
Surely it would be a dream to have been able to play with Michael Jackson.

What are your plans for the coming year? You have an official album on the horizon, correct?
I hope so. It’s a process, it takes time and I don’t want to rush it, because it’s my first album so I want it to be good. I also love to be in the studio and work with other artists. I recently worked with Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park last week. It’s exciting because an artist like him does such different music from mine, when we come together it pushes me to create something completely new.

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When less is more

He is one of the most famed photographers, editors and publishers. With titles like Dazed and Confused and Hunger under his belt, not to mention being a dog lover, strongly passionate for cinema and deeply in love with his wife, top model Tuuli, Rankin (John Rankin Waddel) has reached incomparable success since his beginnings in the early 90’s due to his unique personhood, and unmistakable style that’s powerful and always straight-forward. And yet, recently Rankin has rediscovered a new way to enjoy photography; one that focuses on thought-provoking imagery through spontaneity, and investigating the impact this can have on people. He has indeed inaugurated one of his most radical exhibitions of all: Less is more. Curated by Ulrich Ptak at Kunsthalle Rostock and conceived as a retrospective of his most controversial and experimental work, images have been printed in large scale, forcing visitors to really reflect on what they are seeing. Simply, you love it or you hate it. There are no half measures for Rankin, nor half emotions nor half answers.

What does the concept LESS IS MORE mean to you?

It means what is says on the tin; you get more out of seeing less. It’s a reflection on the way we consume imagery these days, bombarded with a flick and click, where seeing less for a moment may evoke more meaning.

What do you think about this entire obsession with appearance?

I find it very boring. It’s like we’re all trying to create our own brands. It’s sad, really.

What is real beauty to you?

My wife is real beauty.

What do you think about the phenomenon of curvy beauties?

Is it a phenomenon? It’s been round quite a while. I love women and men of all different shapes and sizes.

What’s the part of your job you enjoy the most?

I just love taking photographs. The actual taking of the pictures is what I get the biggest kick from.

What’s the trick of being a good photographer?

Not stealing anybody’s soul. I’m playful with people, but I don’t want to change their attitude. A photo is a self-expression, It has to be taken seriously and still not seriously at all. It’s you in front of the camera but I have to make you forget about it. It has to be momentous in itself because everybody is different.

Somebody you haven’t photographer yet is…?

Barack Obama. I’d jump at the chance to do a portrait of him.

Besides photography, what other passions do you have?

My dogs are a massive passion in my life, and also watching films.

If you weren’t a photographer what would you be?

A magazine publisher which I am as well.

Rankin’s ‘Less Is More’ is curated by Ulrich Ptak and will run until 28th February 2016 at Kunsthalle Rostock in Germany.

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I TRAVEL, THEREFORE I AM

Cover Ermenegildo Zegna vest | Tommy Hilfiger shirt & jeans

If not long ago, somebody announced the biggest trend in travelling is staying at a strangers’ home, I guess we wouldn’t have believed it. Well cut to now when seemingly everyone is using Airbnb, a global website for renting private properties. It all began in 2007 when two flatmates and graduates from Rhode Island School of Design, Joe Gebbia and Brian Chesky, received a notification from their landlords that their rent would increase. In order not to lose their apartment, they decided to rent out an air-bed in their house, and build a site to evaluate and receive requests for this simple set-up, alongside Nathan Blecharczyk. We now know what it has grown to become and opened its doors to Italy back in 2011, and was recently awarded by Glassdoor as the best company to work for. We met Andrea Crociani, Marketing Manager of Airbnb Italy, who told us that the way we travel has changed, thanks to a simple and yet genius intuition. Don’t miss his secret tip – a special house in Bali: https://www.airbnb.it/rooms/800284

How do you conduct the research for the most amazing houses?

People consider us to be a reliable platform with an important global showcase, so we are lucky because we don’t have to look for the most beautiful houses; the owners of the houses themselves chose to publish their announcements on Airbnb. Just to give you an idea, there are 1600 castles, more than 600 tree houses and 3000 boats on Airbnb.

Have you ever thought about the business of renting commercial locations (for parties and events, for example)?

Inside every announcement you can highlight if the location is available for organizing special events. For us it isn’t a business but an additional opportunity that our hosts offer to their guests.

Are there any special services you wish to implement?

We are constantly working to improve our platform. In the last weeks we extended our Host Insurance Protection to 15 new countries, which guarantees a coverage of 1 million dollars to the hosts if a guest has an accident in the house or in a surrounding area. It is another important step that Airbnb is making to support their customers in the best possible way.

Will a social community dedicated only to Airbnb users ever exist?

Partly, it already exists. In the platform there are some groups that are online communities created and organised by the Airbnb hosts. They speak about precise arguments and interests. They are the virtual space in which the host can be helped, share information and connect with similar people. Here, the members of the community can publish comments and participate to the discussions. Often, these virtual encounters turn into meet-ups in the real world.

What is your favourite destination and why?

A house without walls completely made of bamboo in the middle of the forests of Bali, close to mountain Batukaru. The only company you have is that of a dog, two cats and a monkey.

The countries you loved and the ones you wish to visit soon are?

I went to Asia three times now and I have to say that I like it a lot, especially Thailand and Indonesia where spirituality and meditation were an important part of my enjoyment. San Francisco also holds a special place in my heart, it is the only city out of Europe where I could live in. It is also the city where the adventure of airbnb started.

What is your favourite destination and why?

A house without walls completely made of bamboo in the middle of the forests of Bali, close to mountain Batukaru. The only company you have is that of a dog, two cats and a monkey.

What’s inside your suitacase?

 My suitcase is always very small. I can’t travel without my swimming trunks and a pair of flip flops. Even if I go to the mountains I like to relax in a Spa.

 Your look for travelling is…

 Pretty wild!

What’s the meaning of travelling to you?

Travelling is fiding myself everytime, is part of my constant transformation.

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Photographer | Pier Nicola Bruno
Style | Fabio Ferraris
Grooming | Valeria Orlando @Hmbattaglia
Special Thanks | Yamaha

MY SPIRITUAL SIDE

Portrait by Alessandromoggi.com

The Tuscan actor is not only hugely talented but has also a managerial-spiritual attitude. He has been part of International films like To Rome with Love by Woody Allen, as well as participating the renown TV series, and recently landing a big role in Guy Ritchie’s latest movie The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. In 2014 Luca launched a collection of candles and then followed it up with perfumes in 2015, under the mysterious name ‘INSPIRITV’. We sat with him to talk more about his olfactory concept and how he stays well and groomed. Clearly staying busy has something to do with it…

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Maserati Experience

Cover Paul Smith suit| Calvin Klein Collection shirt | Corneliani Pocket Square

Often, the people who are the most silent are the ones who, when incited, have the most to say. And it is in this exact silence that I happened to test drive a new unique car. Maserati is a symbol of stylish elegance and a car of top performance that gives a shot of adrenaline and an imaginary finish line to the lucky few who get to press on the accelerator of one of the most famous gems in the automobile world.
After settling down into the car’s refined cockpit, which can be personalized inside in infinite ways, I adjusted the seat for the optimal distance from the steering wheel, watched with great care by Domenico Schiattarella, the driver who accompanied me that day in the Ghibli 3000 Turbo Diesel 275 Cv, and who, noticing my curiosity granted me the honour of his flair and talent, opening ‘a full-throttle’ account of memories which catapulted us into a universe of passion and heart tracked in thousandths of seconds.
As soon as we began, leaving behind the city’s traffic, I noticed the braking system and how it was capable of responding even to the slightest touch. Domenico confirmed my intuition. For a car that reaches 250 km/h, the braking system requires excellent engineering; that of Maserati makes use of a technique that melts a cast iron disc and light metal alloys, such that even when pressed to the limit on test track, it doesn’t overheat.
I step on the gas with the excuse of trying to familiarize myself with the gear shift on the steering wheel, and the turbine kicked in, satisfying our ears with an intense but graceful roar while the force pushed us back against our seats. Domenico, in short Mimmo, then revealed a piece of information that for him was obvious: the Maserati engines are assembled in the same factory in Maranello where they assemble the cylinders of that brand with the “horsey.” It was at that point I regret not heading toward Monza where, with Mimmo’s help, try to find my way onto the track.

At that point, the spirit of the silent but surprising Maserati is revealed, like a shy person with whom you have just broken the ice. But that wasn’t enough, and I wanted to know just how far I could go. On the way back, instead of following the prescribed route, I headed toward a green sign that I spot in the distance. Mimmo, with the gaze of a co-pilot, has already understood the lightning in my eyes whenever I rev the engine and, before tossing his conspiratorial glance out the window, he promises me to meet me again soon on the track. I began shyly in the first lane but then remembering that we’ve already broken the ice, I press the button to activate the sport mode and we fly into the passing lane, hoping all the time that this ride never has to end.


Photo | Francesco Bertola
Style | Fabio Ferraris

Grooming | Marco Minunno@wmmanagement
Photo Assistant | Simona Bolchini

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