Milan's Party Culture

Many parties tap into the cultural zeitgeist, but very few create their own. London's now-shuttered BoomBox nights managed that feat, and now Pink Is Punk, a long-running but recently remixed party in Milan, is establishing itself as a music-meets-fashion epicenter.

"We're the BoomBox generation," declares Pink Is Punk host Marcelo Burlon, who founded the party with partner Andrea. "They were responsible for our generation of people starting to dress up again," he explains, "and our aim is to capitalize on this mood of going out as an event." Boombox may have sparked this latest movement, but the splinter culture in Milan has built up a momentum all its own.

Before it settled into the downstairs of Magazzini Generali (with its own entrance, of course), Pink Is Punk ran at Bond, a small bar not far from the Naviglio in southern Milan. The space could only hold 100 people, and the event eventually spilled out onto the streets, bringing traffic in the area to a late-night standstill. The party collected a decidedly fashion-y intersection of creative talents as guest DJs, including model Scott Barnhill, Jefferson Hack and Fantastic Plastic Machine. But it finally outgrew the space.

The move to Magazzini Generali this past January cemented Pink Is Punk's legendary status. At its monthly theme party, Xtravaganza, identities are ruled by fashion, and the tastes here run toward the high-end designers — this is Milan, after all — a big distinction from the thrift-store finds and just-stitched-together looks in London.

"Anti-cheap" was the theme of Pink Is Punk's most recent party, with door doyennes Greta La Medica (wearing Givenchy) and Paolo Farcic strictly enforcing the right entries. The theme was taken so seriously that attendees turned out in head-to-toe Jil Sander and bespoke suits topped off with a variety of bow-tie shapes; one guest with showroom connections even turned up in a/w '08 Miu Miu that had yet to show on the runway. Adding to the glamour, fashion stylist Catherine Baba was flown in from Paris to serve as hostess extraordinaire, and Jerry Bouthier, BoomBox's longtime DJ, began his monthly residence (along with Nico and Fabee). However, it was the chic 20- and 30-something crowd who played the starring roles, showing up en masse decadently dressed and photo-op-ready.

Pink Is Punk just took over the entire 2,500-square-foot Magazzini Generali space to start up another monthly event, Bugged Out!, which mixes DJs and live headliners including Tomboy from WhoMadeWho, Kavinsky, Shit Disco, Klaxons, Gazelle and Hugo Capablanca.

How does Burlon sum up this bubbling and influential subculture? "We have this crowd, and it's a good time and place to get the audience together—it's something that Milan needs."

—Jason Campbell