NOWNESS debuts a brilliant little film featuring Italian playboy Carlo Mancuso and the spring 2011 designs from Corto Moltedo collection. The brand is in seven-hours countdown for the opening of its new store in Milan, created to showcase its crystal studded and neon patent clutches.

Designer Gabriele Corto Moltedo, whose parents founded Bottega Veneta, commissioned Paris-based director Dustin Lynn to make the film that celebrates his second shop in the Montenapoleone fashion district. His first boutique is in the Palais Royal in Paris.

Corto Moltedo’s Pool Party

Corto Moltedo’s Pool Party on Nowness.com.

“We wanted the [design] signature to come across filmically, always tracing a line of sexual metaphor, but without taking ourselves too seriously,” says Lynn, adding that Mancuso was perfect: “Hugh Hefner, John Waters, and Marcello Mastroianni from Divorce, Italian Style all rolled into one.” Moltedo’s self-proclaimed “pop-luxe chic” aesthetic is a world away from the classic woven leather pieces associated with his parents’ classic brand, but the label prides itself on the same commitment to craftsmanship.

As an American woman hearing the sounds, I kept waiting for Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate to emerge from the pool. What an artful statement about the Corto Moltedo accessories brand. My senses were visually saturated watching the film and it reminds me of why I kiss the ground when my plane lands in Italy.

Trust me. I am not genuflecting to Pope Benedict. Anne