What was your first project?
Design Around was born two years ago. This is my first and only project. I immediately started working with skirts. Circle skirts. Because I was fascinated by the history of the dress revolution made by Christian Dior, because it was a period when I was constantly inspired by the 1950s, and so I decided to sew them for myself.
The creative process: do you work instinctively or plan every single step? Where do your ideas come from?
Perhaps wrongly, I work instinctively. This doesn’t always bear fruit because sometimes there’s a need for precise planning before embarking on an idea. But often, the spark of the moment helps you capture things that probably wouldn’t come with systematic planning of intentions. My ideas always come from the world, from what surrounds me, from my emotional state, from the places I frequent. I am curious, and this makes me a good observer, reflective and creative in the subsequent phase.
What did you think when you were contacted by Berto?
I felt honored. I was thrilled to work with a team of this caliber. I started collaborating with Berto convinced that when valid projects exist, and when you deliver quality and craftsmanship results, even larger companies are willing to support and experiment. And in this, Berto is always present, thanks to a particularly ‘enlightened’ vision, in my opinion, of manufacturing today.
Which Berto fabrics have you worked with for your project and collections?
I worked with various fabrics of different weights and consistencies. With many prints and some underjackets. The most requested from the Berto line are: Tobago Blue, Grace Color Print, Windsor, and the unmissable Vogue, which has a fit that girls really like and colors that make them feel noticed while always remaining comfortable.
What do you consider the most significant aspect of Berto for Talents? What objectives were you able to achieve through this program?
I am extremely proud to work with a company that feels like family and welcomes you as if you were part of it. And this is one of the most meaningful things for me. A team that values Made in Italy and has always practiced it, that has quality products, that is open to experimentation, and above all makes available to designers its know-how based on experience, research, and tradition. I started collaborating with Berto happy that my entrepreneurial project could have a feather in its cap, and I am convinced that today through Berto, I can truly give clients something unique.
‘Less but better’ can be read as an endorsement of a certain degree of purity in design but also in fashion design. It can also be understood as an environmental message about reduction and sustainability. What do you think?
Rather than ‘less but better’ I say ‘less is more’ quoting Mies Van der Rohe, who was one of my first loves during university. And I strongly believe in it. I believe fashion should go in this direction. Because in a world where everything exists, and no one invents anything new anymore, and every need can be satisfied with a click from your Mac, there is a need for niche products. For something that follows the laws of a market that is constantly evolving and that in many ways simplifies, but must not maximize-standardize-uniform. So I am absolutely ‘pro’ the philosophy of ‘less.’ Both in terms of design understood as model, simplicity of lines, and clarity of forms, and in terms of production. After all, with Design Around I only make unique pieces. I couldn’t think otherwise. I find that this discourse perpetuated over time can really give our world a bit more life: less waste, less energy used, fewer dispersions and losses.
Is there something you’ve never done that you’d like to accomplish?
There are endless things I want. And this has always been my crux: I desire too much. But it’s also the source of my creativity. I have several projects for this year. Apart from a line of sandals that I’m already putting into production and which are part of the expression of my land, which comes from this tradition of artisanal sandals with Capri, Sorrento, and Amalfi that have decades of production, I would like to organize an artistic event, since I’ve always been passionate about photography and I believe I’m somewhat lacking in this aspect in my company, with a photography contest that would end during the Christmas period, entrusting one of my productions to professional and amateur photographers and organizing an exhibition to display these works. Then there’s already the idea of creating a line of blouses, simple and wearable, and a series of miniature skirts for little girls promoting the combination of a coordinated skirt with the mother.
