Hype is a very fickle thing to build and maintain, especially in an ever-changing scene like the fashion industry. Fads come and go, beloved names quickly devolve into tackiness (or even worse, irrelevance), and you can never really predict what’s going to be the next big hit. As far as one young Maltese fashion designer is concerned, though, I could’ve thrown everything I just said out of the window.

Half a decade after breaking into the local fashion scene with a series of bold slogans that are now Maltese clothing staples, Marco Parascandalo is still going strong. Actually, if this year’s collection unveiling was anything to go by, the Maltese designer is only getting stronger.

On Day 6 of Malta Fashion Week 2019, Parascandalo took the stage for a collection reveal with one key element at its heart: hype

And when I say hype, I mean fully-fledged, people scrambling to get in, shouts of “Yaaas!”, and endless applause levels of hype.

With local alt queen Gabrielle Fenech and Argentinian maestro Ocantos presenting their own explosive collections on the same day, it was always going to be a great night for Malta’s fashion enthusiasts. But as people continued to flood Fort St Elmo late on Monday night, you could tell that there was a certain electricity in the air. A certain electricity, it turned out, that Parascandalo was very happy to amplify.

Five years into designing sick streetwear, Parascandalo’s 2019 collection Eyeconic had already kicked off with a whole lot of hype thanks to an influencer-filled campaign

But when the lights turned off and a full version of the teaser he had shared on Facebook started, everyone was immediately entranced.

For the next 10 minutes, set to the pumping music of local indie-pop band Oxygyn‘s new collaborative track Blindfold, some of Malta’s top models walked up and down the runway, showcasing both Parascandalo’s spring & summer and winter collections in a high-octane show that everyone in attendance quickly dubbed one of the top highlights of MFW 2019.

The show ended up being so great, that even the backstage photos themselves looked like something I wanted to be a part of… but the show had actually started a whole month ago

Teasing his fans with everything from his new collection’s colour palette to all the influencers and models who’ll be featuring in yesterday’s clip (not to mention the talented young musicians providing the backdrop to it all), Parascandalo definitely knows how to work the hype machine.

And this isn’t even his only 2019 appointment either; earlier this year, Marco celebrated his five-year anniversary with a limited edition collection that called back stuff as early as as 2014 with a swagged out, neon-infused new vibe. And that’s without mentioning their romantic AF red Kemm Inħobbok collection for Valentine’s.

Parascandalo’s awesome collections can be purchased online or at their store at Żabbar’s The Mad Tatter.

Tag someone who needs to check out Parascandalo’s latest collection!

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).