Monday 17 September will see the launch of “OFF”, a new series conceived and presented by Edoardo Sylos Labini and promoted by Mondadori Store, which will bring to its events area of the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo in Milan some of the most famous and popular personalities in Italy.

Giusy Versace, Roberta Bruzzone, Vittorio Sgarbi, Raul Cremona, Vladimir Luxuria and Carlo Cracco are just some of the protagonists involved in 8 events on the programme that starts next week: one event per month until April 2019 will animate a late afternoon in Milan with fascinating revelations about the personal and professional lives of famous faces from the world of the arts, sport and entertainment.

They will be welcomed by Edoardo Sylos Labini who, accompanied by the voice and guitar of singer-songwriter Daniele Stefani, will give a new form to his OFF interviews: the eclectic Roman artist will adopt the role of presenter in a “salon” made less formal and attractive by unseen images of the guests and continuous interaction with the audience, who will be able to interact live with their favourite personalities.

“For an artist, an interview is often like an audition,” said Edoardo Sylos Labini. “If there is no feeling with the interviewer this can create tension. And if you don’t feel relaxed sometimes you can end up saying things you didn’t mean or intend to say. By switching roles, I try to make the interviewee feel at home with a friend, in an intimate setting. This is how the OFF interviews were launched in my web magazine ilgiornaleOFF.it, revealing some of the most secret aspects of the lives and careers of the interviewees and it’s a great joy that we can no bring the format to the Mondadori Stores”.

“The initiative picks up and develops the format of Manzoni Cultura, which last year brought us together with Sylos Labini,” declared Francesco Riganti, marketing director of Mondadori Retail, “and foresees a series of new and exciting encounters with personalities for a range of areas, from sport to the arts, the media world and cooking. The backdrop for the events will be the elegant location of our Piazza Duomo megastore, which has now been a point of reference for culture in Milan for more than 10 years: an irreplaceable hub and meeting place for the entire city that brings people together, where the guests of ‘OFF’ will be able to talk about themselves in a spontaneous and unusual way, sharing feelings, anecdotes and interesting stories about their private and public lives.

The series will start on Monday 17 September at 7 pm with Giusy Versace, the paralympian athlete, winner of silver and bronze medals at the European Championships in Grosseto in 2016, and who in recent years has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity as a TV presenter and theatre actor.

The OFF programme at the Mondadori Megastore in Piazza Duomo will then continue on 17 October, again at 7 pm, with the philosopher and essayist Diego Fusaro, and on 7 November with the criminologist and psychologist Roberta Bruzzone. The last date for  2018, will be 3 December when the protagonist will be the art critic Vittorio Sgarbi. Then, on 11 January 2019, it will be the turn of journalist and TV presenter, Serena Bortone.

From news to magic, on 5 February the amazing Raul Cremona, will tell some incredible stories from the world of conjuring. On 8 March. meanwhile, Sylos Labini will be face-to-face with writer Nino Spirlì and Vladimir Luxuria, activist, dramatist and TV presenter, to talk about sexual identity and civil rights. The series will come to a close of 16 April 2019 with award-winning chef Carlo Cracco, supported by a female chef from the Elior Group who will reveal some secrets fro special occasions.

The Media Partner of the initiative is the web magazine IlGiornaleOff.it, the detailed online version of the Saturday supplement of Il Giornale, edited by Edoardo Sylos Labini. The official Sponsors of the series include: Artisti Annuario Internazionale di Arte Contemporanea, Elior, Felicia and Lineapelle.

The complete schedule of OFF series is available at the webstie: https://eventi.mondadoristore.it/it/