Marcelo Burlon Designs From the Heart

Patagonian fashion designer Marcelo Burlon is at one with nature and psychedelia, infusing his Marcelo Burlon County of Milan collections with the colors that are often found around us. Natural blues and Earth tones complement the all-weather attire of Spring/Summer 2024, but for this season there almost isn’t a season at all; it’s a collection that reoccurs in your wardrobe rotation day-in, day-out, fit for all moments in life.

Burlon achieves such versatility by creating conventional clothing in unconventional ways. For example, a suit is cut oversized and slouchy in blue leather that features laser detailing on it to give it a worn-in aesthetic, giving room for a more eco-friendly way to treat the material as opposed to using chemicals. It appears once again on a checkered leather suit, here using dusty yellow and nightshade blue together to create a suit that feels familiar and loved.

Formalities are deconstructed on an orange two-piece that’s sans-collared, while knitted patchwork sits atop a cobalt blue jersey for a tracksuit-cum-tailored number, again fit for every scenario. Outside of the more formal attire, Marcelo Burlon County of Milan also presents laser-treated denim in rusty tones, hybrid technical garms in the form of a utility vest and pants, and the latter once again in blue, spiraling with circular motifs like ripples in the Ibizian sea.

His home of Patagonia is referenced numerous times with motifs and designs printed across, or even used to create, various two-pieces, and it is here that we understand Burlon’s love for nature, life, and home. To understand more about the collection, Hypebeast sat down with the designer at his brand-new store in Milan to discuss how the collection came about and what it means, as well as to discuss some defining life stories and more.

Hypebeast: Where did you get your inspiration for SS24?

Marcelo Burlon: It’s the water. I live between Ibiza and Patagonia, so they are my main inspirations, and from LSD and mushrooms. The orange comes from Goa in India — Ibiza and Goa are the most energetic of places, they’re magnetic.

And why is it so important for you to always find a way to incorporate your logo into the design?

It’s native to Patagonia and it represents the Southern Cross. If you go to my home in Patagonia, you’ll see this. When I see the Southern Cross, I feel at home. I know where home is.

First of all, it is our logo. But it means more — geographically, it’s about how the mountains are reflected in the lake. It’s the key to the universe, so there are many meanings. Different cultures were tied to this sign because of the stars — if you go to Tibet, Brazil, or Peru, you will see this in the walls. But they didn’t know that this also existed [elsewhere]; they were connected by the stars.

We usually use a lot of symbols because it from the natives. We have the cosmos, there’s the Goddess of Ibiza. The symbols are super powerful.

And what else did you explore with the Ss24 collection?

All our customers liked our knitwear, so we have a team for that. We have a jacket that is like a kimono.

Denim is a big part of our collections; we need to keep the environment safe so we try to not use acids or stuff like that. We use lasers to create that effect instead.

But it’s always inspired by psychedelics, Argentina and Patagonia, the ’90s raves because I grew up in the ’90s. I was a club kid in 1992, I was a PR and a DJ and I did parties and have done for more than 20 years. Rave culture was very present in everything I was doing.

How do you feel now the collection is here?

I like to see people from very far and remote places wear it. I like to see people wearing my stuff, I usually like to see older people wearing it. Older people who aren’t part of the party scene, just people who live their lives in Ibiza… It’s quite crazy to see. But also the kids are the ones that are moving things.

Does it feel nostalgic to see your clothes in this light, seeing you came up in the ’90s?

It’s quite weird. I was a DJ, I am still a DJ. I launched my brand 11 years ago because I used to make parties all around the world, and then I saw people interested in my music and they wanted to belong to my family — so I launched my brand. It was the beginning of social media, it was a tool to promote my stuff.

It helped me to promote my parties and then my clothing line internationally. Today, the world is going very fast; I live in Ibiza which is a different realm. I don’t feel like a part of “this” anymore, but somehow I have to because I have a brand.

Marcelo Burlon County of Milan SS24 can be seen in the gallery above. More Milan Fashion Week SS24 content can be found here.