Domenico Formichetti has always approached fashion as lived experience rather than abstraction. With LIFE AT DENTE! THE FAMILY RECIPE, his FW26 presentation for PDF unfolds as a theatrical meditation on family,
tradition, tension, and inherited identity.
Set inside the historic Teatro Lirico Milanese, the show is conceived as a five-act performance. Each chapter draws from familiar social rituals that define family life, both nurturing and suffocating. The dinner table. The after hours escape. The game of chance. The room where decisions are made. These are not symbolic spaces. They are
emotional ones.
Formichetti describes the project as an examination of what we inherit and what we choose to carry forward.
“Family is where love and pressure coexist,” he explains. “feeds you, shapes you, and sometimes traps you. I wanted to put that feeling on stage.”
The opening act centers on the family meal. Models gather, sit, wait, and observe. Clothing feels protective yet restrained. Tailoring is sharp but worn in. Textures reference domestic familiarity, heavy knits, structured outerwear,
garments that feel passed down rather than newly acquired.
As the performance progresses, the setting shifts. The second act introduces nightlife and escape. Silhouettes loosen, proportions stretch, energy builds. In the third act, risk and power take over. Gambling, negotiation, hierarchy. The clothing sharpens again, amplifying tension between control and impulse.
The final act brings reflection. Set to a live musical moment featuring Formichetti alongside a singer, the curtain lifts one last time as the narrative resolves. The runway becomes a shared space where emotion, memory, and intention converge. The collection settles into balance, mixing precision with vulnerability, tradition with instinct.
Throughout the show, models transition between stillness and movement, seated moments and runway passages.
Looks are treated as characters, each carrying memory, conflict, and intention. Footwear is treated as a fixed pillar of the collection’s construction and identity.
Casting reflects the extended PDF family, bringing together figures from both the Italian and American worlds that shape Formichetti’s universe. Artists and musicians including Sfera Ebbasta, Shiva, Tony Boy, Nerissima Serpe,
and Papa V walk the show, reinforcing its deeply personal and communal nature.
Napapijri’s presence reflects a shared commitment to creative experimentation, bringing the brand’s iconic pieces, including the Bering bag and the Skidoo and Rainforest anoraks, into a new dimension where technical heritage meets the bold, unconventional energy of PDF’s runway.
Front row attendance further underscores the cultural reach of the project, with guests including Rafael Leão, Moise Kean, Tedua, Sierra Rena, Miles Sanders, Pyrex, and Jacob Rott.
With LIFE AT DENTE! THE FAMILY RECIPE, Formichetti continues to evolve PDF beyond streetwear codes, using fashion as performance, emotion, and autobiography. It is not about nostalgia. It is about understanding where you come from in order to decide where you are going.
As Formichetti puts it, “You don’t choose the recipe you’re born into. But you decide how to cook it.”
CREDITS
Creative Direction: Domenico Formichetti @dformichetti @pdf.channel
Brand Manager: John Baldwin @johnbformayor @goodnewsonlyagency
Project Manager: Annachiara Tosadori @annachiaratosadori
Production: Francesca Nale
Set Design: Michael Commie
Casting Director: Emma Farachi @aemmaf
Styling: Ana Sotillo @anaasotillo
Styling Assistant: Leo Chiaramida @leo.chiaramida
Hair: Hair by Richard Phillipart @richardphillipart
Make Up: Mandy Gakhal @mandygakhal for AOFMPro @aofmakeup using Dermalogica UK
@dermalogicauk
Music: Sadturs Kiid @sadturs @kiidyouready
Video: Menhir Studios @menhirstudios
Photography: Mattia Arnone @mattiarnone
Press: REP Agency @repnyc
Sales: Good News Only Agency @goodnewsonlyagency, Annalisa Dalma @annadalma, ACP Agency
@acpagency