Despite her career being marked by an everchanging construction and deconstruction of her image, oftentimes through fashion and bold stylistic choices, this is the first time Mina Anna Maria Mazzini - known just as Mina - has released an album in partnership with a fashion brand, especially for the production of merchandising directly inspired by her.  Balenciaga Music | Mina is a special capsule collection dedicated to the great Italian musician, which for the first time will have an official merchandising production.

“It all started in 2011, one evening in a bar-restaurant in Veneto,” says Demna in an interview released by Vogue Italia. “They played one of her songs on the radio, and I was struck by the extraordinary emotional power that voice—so beautiful—was able to convey. I asked my Italian friends: who is this singer? I noted her name down, just four letters: Mina.” That was the moment, he explains, when the obsession that led to this collaboration was born.

The collection, co-created with Mina herself, will be released on September 19 and will include a limited-edition T-shirt featuring the singer’s face and a list of her 106 albums, along with sunglasses inspired by her iconic makeup. The T-shirt’s label (equipped with an NFC chip) and the QR code engraved inside the sunglasses will provide early access to L’amore vero, the first single from her new album due in November. The innovative capsule collection will also be accompanied by a playlist of 50 songs personally selected by Mina, featuring her favourite and most listened-to artists, such as Battisti, Sinatra, Porter, Aerosmith, and many others.

Opening image: Cover of the album Catene, 1984. Photo Mauro Balletti