Inter Milan: The Derby di Milano Weekend Experience

There are football matches, and then there are weekends that change how you feel about a club forever.

This was the latter.

The Timeline of Events

Sabrina Carrozza reached out to me in early October with an idea to curate a once-in-a-lifetime weekend with F.C. Internazionale Milano. She invited us to co-create a Fashion Meets Football experience alongside the brilliant Inter PR team.

The idea was simple: merge FMF’s creative direction with Inter’s football and fashion culture for a weekend that felt like a runway show wrapped around a derby.

Over a few weeks, we watched the team flawlessly pull together one of the most extraordinary weekends, immersed in Inter culture and centered around one of the biggest matches in the world football calendar — Inter Milan hosting AC Milan at the San Siro for the Derby di Milano.

The History

In 1908, a group of rebels walked out of the Milan Cricket and Football Club (today’s AC Milan) and made a radical statement at the time: football belongs to everyone. While their former club wanted to restrict foreign players, these founders chose a different path — they named their new club "Internazionale" to declare that talent knows no borders and the universal language of football transcends all nationalities. From that moment, the city was divided, and the Derby di Milano was born.

Most Americans will never understand this. In Milan, football isn’t a sport. The San Siro isn’t a stadium. And the Derby di Milano isn’t a game.

It’s a religion, a cathedral, and the most important Sunday mass of the year.

The Heartbreak

While I have lived and breathed football my entire life, I am no pundit.

What I can tell you is this: We battered them. Hit the post twice. Had a penalty saved. Then Christian Pulisic — the guy from Hershey, Pennsylvania — tucked away a goal to win the game for AC Milan in the 54th minute. We continued to fight but couldn’t find the back of the net.

As an American Inter fan, I feel positive about the team and confident in the group. Although I’m still hurting from the loss, a bit of patriotic pride beams through knowing our guy is balling out on one of the biggest stages in world football.

I hope you get to enjoy something in life as much as we enjoyed this weekend.

Words can only capture so much of the San Siro's energy, so I’d like to take you through the entire weekend visually. Below is the end-to-end experience.

1. The Journey

I woke up in Tampa on Wednesday, still buzzing from watching Auston Trusty, Matt Freese, Brenden Aaronson and the rest of the USMNT crush Uruguay. Flew to NYC, landed, trained to apartment, did laundry, worked, packed, trained back to airport, and then flew to Milano.

No rest for the weary.

2. The Trophies

We landed in Milano on Thursday morning. After not much sleep, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and drove to the Headquarters of Inter Milan. An incredible tour followed, where we learned more about the club’s past, present and future.

The trophies lit up the room.

3. The Interview

The next day we trekked out to the countryside for a visit to the training grounds. Manuel Akanji was kind enough to spare some time and join us for a couple interviews.

Raheemovic in the building — aka Raheem Taylor-Parkes — kept the vibes high as he asked some questions Manuel had never been asked before. “Who is your favorite football friend to play against?” Raheemovic started out.

Akanji paused for a second and thought deeply before responding, “That’s a tough question. It means I don’t think the player is good, no?” as Manuel began to chuckle… “I don’t like to play against any of my friends. I have to tackle them, as you know I’m a defender, so I don’t like to play against any of them. Because I’m always wishing them well as well and obviously this game I can’t. There is no friend I’d want to play against.”

Raheemovic continued with another prompt, “Rank these three Inter Milan Strikers: Eto’o, R9, and Vieri.”

After some time, Manuel Akanji replied, “I’d probably go #1 Vieri, then Eto’o and R9. Even though R9 was one of my favorite players, he was injured a lot throughout his career. So if I just look at Inter, I’d probably go like that.”

And it just so happens that Christian Vieri is the legend who joined us for dinner.

4. The Setup

Fede, Valeria, and Chiara beautifully set the dinner table and left some finishing touches to me and Chris. We are fortunate to be able to work with such great People in life.

5. The Product Shots

When you see Matthew Yoscary pull out a new light, you best believe the pics are going to pop. And sure enough, the man himself delivered once again.

We basically shot an entire campaign before the dinner even began.

6. The Aperitivo

7. The Dinner

The food, the service, the people — every aspect of this dinner was top notch.

All smiles from everyone in the room.

As the final course was cleared, Luca Adornato, Inter’s Brand & Marketing Director, rose to thank everyone for sharing in this very special derby weekend celebration before he introduced the legendary Italian striker and Inter icon, Christian Vieri.

Christian Vieri went on to share his perspective on preparing for the derby and playing in the derby. One of my favorite moments came as Vieri opened up about missing the sport he dominated for so many years.

“I attended the Miami Dolphins’ NFL Game at the Bernabéu a couple weeks ago. I got to talk with Dan Marino. You know Dan Marino? Absolute legend.” You could feel the room lean in when he shifted from jokes to honesty. Vieri continued, “Both of us shared how much we wanted to be back out there. If we could continue competing at the highest levels, we would.” Vieri paused to let the crowd build up tension as we held onto each of his words, “So if you ask me if I’m upset that I am not going to be attending the derby tomorrow, I will say that I am not. But I am upset that I’m not able to play in it!”

A round of laughs and applause ensued. It was an incredible moment shared with everyone at the table.

8. The Gifts

Each guest walked away with their own Inter Milan fragrance, created in collaboration with the artistic perfumery Maison 19-69.

9. The Arrival

Matchday finally arrived, and you could feel the energy shift as we made our way to San Siro.

10. The Walkabout

11. The Player Arrivals

12. The Warm Ups

13. THE Rio Ferdinand

As if the evening didn’t already have enough star power, Rio Ferdinand casually stepped into the frame — football royalty in the middle of our Milan story.

14. The Pre Match Show

Before kickoff, the San Siro turned into a stage.

15. The Crest Club

Inside The Crest Club, it felt like a who’s who of Inter’s world — artists, creators, business leaders, and fans all buzzing under the same roof.

16. The Fan Photos

To Sabrina, Fede, Valeria, Roberto, Giorgio, Luca, Chiara, Danilo, Martino, Nico, and the rest of the Inter team — thank you for orchestrating the kind of weekend that reminds me why I fell in love with this sport.

To Shane, Gaby, Shlomo, Lau, Raheem, and Sofí — thank you for making this weekend a lifelong memory.

To everyone who made it this far through 75+ photos and 1,500+ words — I appreciate you.

And to Matthew and Chris — we don’t miss.

Thank you for walking through this experience with us. Stay tuned, because we have plenty more stories, fits, events and matchday experiences to share very soon.

— DB

All photos by the ridiculously talented Matthew Yoscary