Cult retailer Slam Jam turns to seminal 80s Italian band Gaznevada for a new capsule collection dedicated to the group’s unparalleled, incendiary output. Titled Going Underground, the capsule was launched at a special event at Spazio Maiocchi in Milan. We discussed the collection and the power of archiving to shape the future with Slam Jam founder Luca Benini.

In 1979, as the social turmoil of Italy’s Years of Lead was coming to a violent end, a group of young punks from Bologna had just released their debut tape. Eponymously titled Gaznevada, it started with a white reggae track in the style of The Clash, and followed up with other eight numbers, including Mamma Dammi la Benza – a furious three-minute fuzz galore bursting into a distorted scream, “Andy Warhol!” It was the manifesto of a band that never sat still, never sank into genre stereotypes – a group of young people riffing a new Italy into existence. Across the following decade, from 1980 to 1988, Gazenavda went on to release four albums: from the no wave of their debut album Sick Soundtrack to the synth-pop and mutant disco of Psicopatico Party [1983] and the Italo sound of Strange Life [1988].

Fast forward forty years and Slam Jam celebrate the Bolognese icons with a dedicated capsule collection. Consisting of two hoodies, two tees and one leather biker jacket, the capsule isn’t merely a tribute, but a way of underlining how Gaznevada’s heritage, message and aesthetic reverberates stronger than ever.

The collection takes inspiration from two pivotal moments in the band’s career: the Japanese manga and Gundam-inspired logo of Sick Soundtrack, designed by former member Giorgio Lavagna (also known by his stage names of Andy Droid and Andrew Nevada) and the Xerox art of their breakthrough single I.C. Love Affair, a detail of which is printed across the back of one of the t-shirts. 

As Benini explains, the Sick Soundtrack artwork “offers a decisive insight into their aesthetic sense: the minimalist cover in violent primary colors; the slick logo, constructivist part gasoline-brand. Andy Warhol would have loved that! Not to mention the polaroids hidden in the inner sleeve, with the five chaps dressed in plain shirts and tight ties – not a single trace left of the ‘old’ punk paraphernalia. And then the fascination with the far East, which certainly had a lot to do with certain Japanese cartoons: colourful, hyper-kinetic and hyper-technological, just like Gaznevada.”

“It is good for us to reference and enhance things of the past, but I wouldn’t want to come across as nostalgic.”

The Japanese lettering is referenced on one of the hoodies, while the biker jacket – echoing a staple garment of 1980s Bolognese youth culture – is enhanced by multiple patches that nod to the evolution of the band’s visual identity.

Benini, who grew up in Ferrara, started working in fashion in the late 70s when still a student, doing Saturday shifts in a shop retailing Fiorucci. However, it was in 1983 that he walked into New Order, a seminal clothing store in Riccione, and discovered the power of post-punk aesthetics. Less than an hour’s drive, in Bologna, Gaznevada were cooking up their record, Psicopatico Party, a cornerstone of Italian underground music.

Prior to their Gaznevada capsule, Slam Jam had celebrated US new wave icons DEVO as well as C.C.C.P. Fedeli alla Linea. Both capsules are part of Slam Jam’s vision towards fostering contemporary culture by establishing a cross-generational, subcultural dialogue. It was no doubt inspiring to see multiple generations of fans gathering at Milan’s Spazio Maiocchi nightclub this week for the capsule release. The art director of legendary nightclub Plastic Nicola Guiducci, who had also joined the Gaznevada line-up in the second half of the 1980s, was there too, alongside Jo Squillo, the riot girl of Italian punk – later an Italo Disco queen and television personality.

“We move between present, past and future. Slam Jam is an ecosystem, broad but at the same time very well defined.”

“It is good for us to reference and enhance things of the past, but I wouldn’t want to come across as nostalgic. What we ultimately want is to have contemporary relevance. Gaznevada express messages that, if decontextualised, are stronger than many of those communicated today. I am also thinking of DEVO, who we worked with: they were prophetic. We like to bring artists back and put them into today’s context to try sparking a conversation.”

As Benini points out, there have been projects involving bonafide icons from the past as well as new ones, like Yung Lean, while their Milanese store was also recently turned into one big moshpit, bouncing to the sound of up-and-coming hardcore punk outfit Kobra.

Going Underground, the capsule collection by Slam Jam in collaboration with Gaznevada is now available here.