The life of Marcelo Burlon is like a fairy tale. He was born in Argentina in 1976, to an Italian father and a Lebanese mother, in 1990 he moved with his family to Italy in the Marche region.
Due to financial difficulties, he began working in the disco and moved to Milan. It has been Milan’s music and nightlife that made Marcelo Burlon rise all the way up to the top.
Working at the door of Magazzini Generali, a place frequented by the big names in fashion, Burlon makes friends that lead him to collaborate with Riccardo Tisci, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Raf Simons and Dolce & Gabbana. Following his passion, he embarks on a musical career and success soon arrives: as a DJ he travels the world playing in the most famous clubs of Tel Aviv, Beirut, Moscow, Toronto and is the protagonist of the coolest nights of Milan. But it does not abandon the world of fashion, as PR he organizes parties and fashion shows for international fashion brands.
The brand Marcelo Burlon County of Milan
In 2012, together with Davide De Giglio and Claudio Antonioli, he founded the brand Marcelo Burlon County of Milan, with the launch of a line of t-shirts that have an immediate success. Marcelo Burlon is the pioneer of what streetwear is today: he brought the trends born among young people into the fashion system and he is the first to understand the influence of trap music and the its potential for collaborations.
Marcelo Burlon County of Milan offers basic garments such as t-shirts and sweatshirts characterized by prints inspired by the tribal motifs of Patagonia, reinterpreted in a strong modern version. Snakes, wolves and birds with spectacular plumage adorn the streetwear garnments as if they were the symbols of a tribe, and it is precisely what gathers around the brand: an urban tribe of young people who goes to the clubs of Milan.
Burlon and the very important collaborations
The first official collection was presented in 2005 in Florence during Pitti Uomo 87, then a women’s line was also created and the brand was included in the official calendar of Milano Moda Donna.
The success of County of Milan is unstoppable so that it immediately gets to be worn by big international names such as Lebron James, Tyga, The Weekend and to establish partnerships as far reaching as those with Alpha Industries, Starter, Kappa, Reebok and Lamborghini. The brand is now distributed in over 500 stores worldwide.
Il Ponte tra il fashion system e lo street style
Marcelo Burlon was also a pioneer in the use of social media: exploiting his visibility on the web, obtained thanks to nights and parties in the clubs, he immediately attracted a well-defined audience that created a community around his character. He was among the first to introduce his creations by wearing them and posting photos on social media: he created a brand that embodies the aesthetics of his community of followers.
The power of Marcelo Burlon garments is the fusion of different cultures, not only geographical but also social, which have created a bridge between the fashion system and street style: the designer started with a line of t-shirts and came to realize an empire of streetwear, anticipating all the trends of today.
It is no coincidence that it was Burlon who supported Virgil Abloh in the foundation of Off-White, another brand that changed fashion forever. Burlon, along with De Giglio and Antonioli, founded in 2015 New Guards Group, a company that in addition to Marcelo Burlon County of Milan and Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh owns many other brands protagonists of streetwear such as Palm Angels, Unravel Project and Alanui.
Cover Image: rivistastudio