On September 15, with a party at Diane von Furstenberg’s, Stefano Tonchi and Maria Luisa Frida will finally, officially launch their new book, Walter Albini and His Times: All Power to the Imagination (Rizzoli, cover design by Francesco Vezzoli). While largely unknown today, Albini was, simply put, the most important Italian designer of the 70s, before his untimely death in 1983 at the age of 42. Often compared to Yves Saint Laurent, he revolutionized Italian ready-to-wear with his androgynous, modern collections and through good old-fashioned force of will—Italian-style. Scandalously, he once exhibited plaster penises at Milan’s Eros Museum, each dressed to look like a famous fictional character, i.e. Casanova, Tarzan, even Mickey Mouse. Here’s a peek at those and a few other pages from the book…