The “Market of VIP second-hand items” comes to the Poretti Brewery

 If you are a fan of Jovanotti, Arisa, Luca Marin or Gigi Buffon, make a note of the dates and the venue: Villa Magnani in the Angelo Poretti Brewery in Induno Olona, on 1 and 2 June. You will be able to do some special shopping, collect objects that belonged to your favourite VIPs, and learn a practice that should become increasingly widespread, that can prevent the accumulation of useless objects that others might want: the second-hand market.

After collecting and sorting the “rubbish” donated, the Association ON, which is endorsed by Max Laudadio, the well-known face of the television programme Striscia la Notizia, chose this approach, asking well-known personalities from television and sport to help, with the call “What others don’t need, you might, and what you don’t need, others might.”

And so, the Famous Fleas, a second-hand flea market of objects that belonged to famous people, was born. For a moderate price (from €10 upwards: the Pignatelli suit, for Le Iene, worn by Claudio Bisio, is “listed” for €150, for example), you could take home the aprons of Benedetta Parodi, two neckties from Le Iene, one of which was worn by Max Laudadio, when he was the correspondent, or the bathing costume that made Juliana Moreira famous on the programme Paperissima. There are even the sweaters of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, and an autographed photo of him with his wife, Geppi Cucciari’s improbable heeled shoes (size 40, for the record), and a little number, donated by Arisa. No fewer than 48 VIPs have helped this special, second-hand charity event, and the list of the people involved and of the objects on sale is very long.

Some of these pieces, the more “valuable” ones, will be sold off in a final auction, held, by invitation, on the evening of Sunday 2 June, by Living is Life, in the magnificent Sala della Cotta, in the Angelo Poretti Brewery. The auction will be presided over by Max Laudadio, and will include some truly special items: from the hat that Borsalino made for Jovanotti, to Cristiana Capotondi’s 1950’s-style dress by Dolce & Gabbana, from the child’s car, with Zelig plates, which Mago Forrest drove onto the Canale 5 TV programme, to the boots worn by Gigi Buffon, the goalkeeper of the Italian team. There is also the Armani suit worn by Enzo Iacchetti when he presented Striscia la Notizia, and the leather helmet used by Paolo Kessisoglu during the Mille Miglia race, the uniform that Pietro Anastasi used with the national team in the 1970’s, and the helmet that Fabrizio Macchi was wearing when he achieved the hour record.

In order to take part, you will have to pre-register, as you will be entering an industrial site; but this is easy to do, just visit the website www.on-va.it, to be sure of entry (which is free of charge) and the opportunity to look at, and maybe purchase, some “VIP” second-hand items. The magnificent Villa Magnani is a historical, Liberty-style villa, that stands on the Poretti-Carlsberg site, and can only hold 100 people per hour; so visitors will have to take turns to go to the market, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday 1st, and Sunday 2nd. The room of the “VIP second-hand market” will not be the only one in which you can purchase beautiful items; there will also be one with second-hand objects for children (clothes, but also board and educational games, baby bouncers, and more), organised by the association “Genitori Scuole Cuasso”, together with Baby Bazar; and there will be a “Ring del Baratto” (Barter Ring), where you can exchange items. And finally, a sweet touch: chocolates with the association’s logo, by the Buosi chocolate makers.

The takings of the two days will be given to Don Nicolò, the vicar of Cuasso al Monte, to purchase a minibus for the parish summer youth camp, in the “Cinque Vette” Park. Famous Fleas began with the intention to help another local association that, alone, would not be able to achieve its goal. “We’re going to choose one every year, and we wanted to begin with a small, local project,” Laudadio concluded. “Even Don Nicolò brought some second-hand objects, to make sure the event would be successful.”