Whatever path they choose to spread their message, the contemporary gentleman should express their inner beauty with a focus on sensitivity, kindness and integrity, standing up for the ideas they believe in.
To celebrate the purest expression of beauty, Italian menswear brand Canali has launched the Through His Eyes project, which shines a spotlight on international male personalities whose actions embody the intrinsic values of integrity, respect, optimism and kindness. Throughout this feature, viewers will discover the causes, initiatives, and beliefs that drive them, making them ambassadors of authentic Inner Beauty, the main Canali advertising campaign concept.
Canali's alumni features, among others, multidisciplinary conceptual artist Kevin Claiborne, musician Flavio Paolo Graziano and contemporary painter You Yong, who explore what the next era of artistic men should look like.
Claiborne is an African American artist and photographer. Born in Maryland, he now lives in Harlem where he lives and works, he creates works where words, images and deep meaning overlap. His collages and silkscreens combine true stories (his family’s in particular) and collective imagery to construct the storyteller’s narrative.
“For me, the connection between art and inner beauty is born the moment the creative process begins,” reveals Claiborne. “My works are an expression of my inner beauty, as are those small daily gestures that allow me to be a bearer of justice, love, and to promote positivity around me.” Art, for Claiborne, gives a voice to people that may not have the platform to be heard: “Art gives anyone the opportunity to tell a story, share ideas and generate community. Fashion, like art, has the ability to allow everyone to get closer to their inner beauty and use it to change the world by sharing positivity and love.”
Flavio Paolo Graziano is an Italian musician who has been accompanying people into nature to rediscover themselves and connect to our planet through music. His project, Musical Forest, stems from previous cathartic experiences with WWF and Charity One Ocean Foundation, encouraging us to protect our environment and oceans. “I realized that humans need nature, as nature needs humans,” he says.
Graziano chose music as the tool of his environmental efforts because it is an art form that needs no translation. “Through music, we can discover our inner beauty and bring it outward,” he explains. “Only through this can we restore that connection between human beings and nature that has been lost. As a species, if we unite, we can change things for the planet.”
You Yong is a contemporary artist living and working in Beijing. Art, for him, is uniting the visible with what we cannot see, making us aware of our constantly changing identity. “Art allows me to share this evolution with people, between the real and the spiritual, allowing them to stay true to their hearts,” Yong says. “Art allows people to connect with each other and make contact with the worlds within ourselves. My mission is to continuously create a passage between these worlds.”
Yong says our inner beauty is often hidden. “It contains the power to heal the spirit and the world around us. It’s an expression of our ability to love and to exercise empathy. Through this, we can connect with others by following unseen paths… inner beauty is able to change the world.”
Listen to the stories of other creative protagonists in the Through His Eyes project by Canali
