Amabiland, Martina Strazzer's Neapolitan Coachella: between marketing and cultural storytelling

Ercolano – Naples is preparing to host “Amabiland,” the event created by Amabile Jewels, the brand owned by Modena-based Martina Strazzer, which for two days will transform the Zeno Complex—a green space between Vesuvius and the sea—into a festival of music, beauty, and entertainment.

Billed as a "Neapolitan Coachella," Amabiland raises questions: is it a genuine cultural celebration or a physical extension of a marketing strategy? From Modena, where it all began with a €300 investment in Martina Strazzer's bedroom, to Bologna, with the opening of its first flagship store on Via Rizzoli in April, the brand has consolidated its Emilian roots.

However, the lack of initiatives in Southern Italy had sparked criticism from a community that felt excluded from the inclusive narrative promised on social media. Amabiland, hosted in Naples, seems to address this discontent, but not without ambiguity: is it a genuine opening to the South or an aesthetic operation to capitalize on the city's iconic appeal? Naples, experiencing a boom in tourism and culture, is the ideal setting for a brand that thrives on visual communication and social trends.

The city, celebrated for its football records, Netflix series, and musical hits, is often reduced to an aesthetic cliché, consumed through filters and reels. Protagonists like Rita De Crescenzo, Very, Sasy, and Patrizio Chianese transform the decay into viral content, a context that Amabiland exploits with its "Safari Boho Chic" imagery, potentially alien to the local area.

The program includes body painting, tarot readings, an artistic experience with Jacqueline Luna Di Giacomo, and a musical lineup spanning pop, reggaeton, and revival. The activities, labeled "free" but accessible only with a ticket, seem geared more toward generating social media content than creating a participatory cultural experience.

The corner shops will stock the new safari-glam collection, while the first 4.000 shoppers will receive a VIP Box, a kit designed to fuel the brand's visual narrative. The event is further enhanced by a collaboration with NSS Magazine, a leading force for urban aesthetics and youth culture.

NSS Edicola will be a sales space for an exclusive capsule collection of Amabile Napoli T-shirts, an alliance that aims to introduce the brand to Gen Z and independent fashion circles.

However, the risk is that Naples will be reduced to an aesthetic souvenir, rather than valorized as a cultural context. Amabiland presents itself as a meeting between brand and community, but its performative nature raises doubts about its ability to generate shared value. The rhetoric of authentic connection clashes with an event that seems more focused on social media visibility than on engaging with the local community.

Naples, present but silent, risks becoming merely a backdrop for photos and captions, replicating a pattern of cultural appropriation disguised as celebration. The real challenge for Amabiland would be to showcase Naples without bending it to a prefabricated aesthetic. But for an event born from a brand, and not from a cultural urgency, the line between intention and opportunism remains thin. Naples is watching: whether it will be hype or cultural restitution, the facts will tell. The event is in a few hours, and the numbers will speak for themselves.