MISSION STATEMENT
TROPHI magazine arises during a time of confinement in which our freedoms are compromised and our lives are suspended, as the Covid-19 Pandemic dominates the world.
Money and power might be the typical definitions of success for many, but not for the talented people in our magazine. Their success is about being rich in creativity and inventiveness, even when confined in their homes. Through phone screens and laptop cameras, TROPHI has interacted, questioned and collaborated with them during the past two months.
Success without freedom is the challenge every one of these young artists in facing now and this magazine is its document for posterity.
TROPHI opens a space for dialogue where every featured artist and every member of our team engages in a communal conversation along with our readers that become integral part of our narrative in an ever growing community.
Narrated through a series of unique photographic and written stories, TROPHI captures this new Year Zero: the suspension of time before a big change, akin to when humans first set foot on the moon for the first time.
We stand breathless — but not wordless — gazing into our new time.
FROM NOTHING - Chiara
![]()
One of those primitive and magical forms of life fights to reach the soil and manages to stay there to create life as we know it
Millions of years later, here we are
Fighting to reach the same freedom once again
But this time the confinement comes from our own actions
![]()
To walk on the moon sounds deranged when all the steps we can count are those back and forth between the four walls of our houses
The desire to reach for the unknown becomes fear of the known
“To reach for something” becomes a forbidden phrase
Let alone “to touch”
Our own planet becomes remote and foreign as millions die to a virus smaller than 300 nanometers
…
It’s time zero once again
In 1969, technology is a monstrous and fascinating new goddess able to send us in space and walk on the mythical lunar ground to ideally elevate humankind to a new kind of power and to total and undisturbed freedom
In July, raging under the rocket,
fire regains the same mystical power of when first discovered
…
it’s time zero
…
When that robot-y figure dressed in ceremonial and virgin white made contact with the lunar ground it seemed almost possible to build a better life there than on our own planet
Whether that was hope, idealism or just clairvoyance
It now sounds more appealing than ever
When and if everything will go back to normal, will it be "one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind” all over again?
Will this be the rediscovery of our planet as we used to know it?
If so, how vain will we be once freedom is be back in our powers?
![]()
Men have to adapt to a new dimension and gravity until, against all pains the space-man is born with agony on his face
Mouth twitching, eyes narrowed and intent gaze directed solely to the future
If only those space-men knew what the future really looked like, they wouldn’t even have dared gazing so intensely into it
If only they knew that the next big human adaptation was to barely survive on our own planet, the agony on their faces would translate into disappointment
![]()
To show off it’s a human instinct, it comes directly from animals
Never before in this planet’s history so many creatures have been asked not to parade in public for so long
And when the time will come to finally set foot on our planet again, the scenario will be beastly
Big herds of fancy dressed people, strolling around to show off their faces, bodies and clothes that have been hidden for too long
Vanity is strictly linked with one’s success
When freedom lacks, vanity, in turn, is restricted
…
It will eventually explode
In our new time zero
DRESSING IN WONDERLAND
Science says it: dress up and have fun
As we lose our first hand experiences with fashion — watching a catwalk show or walking into a shop — the two-dimensional element of it increases throughout the industry. Dressing up for ourselves in lockdown becomes not only an event we look forward to, but also the only way to experience fashion since the whole industry stoped.
When it comes to places we can go with our minds, it’s curious how easily we end up trapped in fashion fantasies where clothes are our White Rabbit taking us down a hole of narcissistic wonders. But when the world is at its soberest, how can we resist the thrill of dressing up in our finest fashions pretending life was actually happening there and then in our homes?
“How we feel and how we perform during everyday life can be deeply influenced by what we're wearing, especially if we consider the symbolic meaning of the gesture” says fashion psychologist Carolyn Mair who adds that dressing up for ourselves during lockdown gives us a feeling of control we lost the moment the pandemic spread. Mair confirms that introducing this “event” in our daily lives is not only uplifting but also replaces all the other fashion experiences we used to have in our life.
Fashion is becoming more two-dimensional than ever with magazines like Vogue Italia relying on illustrations and collages for editorials starting from its January issues dedicated to illustration, and all the followings. Models slowly disappearing in favour of digital mannequins everywhere from advertising to runways as seen in brands like Hanifa that just launched their Pink Label Congo collection with a défilé of animated fluctuating clothes.
Without the fashion experiences we used to have, the only possible three-dimensional interaction with fashion is styling ourselves especially now that we’re strictly isolated in our homes.
In addition, social media — which turned into the easiest way of interaction with the world — is promoting dressing up as a companion to our creative survival from TikTok fashion challenges like the “Wardrobe Tour” or the “Through the Decades”, to Leandra Medine #goingnowherebutfuckitimgettingdressed revolt or the ManRepeller thoughtline that suggests daily fun outfits.
When fashion is deprived of all the experiences it can provide to its public, using clothes to emulate everyday life and take control over our lockdown comes naturally. Besides, even Oscar Wilde said that “looking good and dressing well is a necessity. Having a purpose in life is not”.
WORDS BY CHIARA
INSIDE A MASK — Jin
![]()
99% of South Korea is wearing a mask on their face due to the current pandemic crisis making it almost impossible to communicate through facial expressions.
So how can one reveal their emotions? Even when “normal life” is completely flipped, people still manage to adapt and carry on their daily tasks. Under the pressures of life in a pandemic, not being able to understand the emotions of people around you sounds paradoxical when so many mixed feelings are being suppressed behind that same masks.
![]()
What I created represents dissonant human emotions all trapped and enclosed in a mask. The three masks on the wall evolved in unique ways: on the right a leopard, ready to bounce for improvement, in the middle a hundred eyes to keep track of the fast evolving world, and on the left the complete loss of will to express oneself, giving up on all facial expressions.
Unsaid words are on the verge of explosion in the form of dripping fabrics.
