What was your first project?
The first project I ventured into in the clothing field was about T-shirts. The brand was called VITTORIO VALERIO: it consisted of worn-looking shirts, enzyme-washed and offered in a wide range of colors, both as a basic product and with graphic interventions through stencils. Thanks to this project, I had the opportunity to participate in trade fairs such as Pitti Uomo and White in Milan.
The creative process: do you work instinctively or plan every single step? Where do your ideas come from?
Since I founded VV KIDZ, my approach to the world of clothing has been exclusively instinctive and strongly open to influences from other forms of expression such as art, music, and design. For this reason, my collections are just the visible tip of the iceberg: deep down, there’s a story of synergies and meanings. The only common thread I follow is the constant inspiration that comes from the world of workwear and military style: it’s this type of taste that has drawn me closer to fashion since I was a customer of stores that dealt with this type of product.
What did you think when you were first contacted by Berto?
I thought it was really a lucky break: it was a great opportunity, not to be missed. In this sense, I consider myself privileged.
Which Berto fabrics did you use for your project and your collection?
I incorporated Berto fabrics into “GENESIS”, my SS17 preview collection. I have always been very interested in canvases, heavy gabardines… In short, all those fabrics that refer to that idea of workwear I was talking about: for this reason, I immediately chose those denims that could give continuity to a path of experimentation that was already active in my mind. On the other hand, I was presented with the opportunity to include a quality denim in my collection, so I had fun building a kind of “color palette” of garments that testify to this new combination, without falling into rhetoric and without straying too far from the product I have dealt with until now.
What do you think is the most significant part of this project? What were you able to achieve through this program?
The most significant part of #BertoForTalents is providing young people with quality tools to empower their creativity. Quality is expensive and as such cannot be available to everyone: here we are talking about quality as a tool, a means to create. This is why I find it unfair that young people cannot work with excellence just because they cannot afford it: it’s a rather weak reason to be calmly accepted.
“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?
I think it can be a real investiture for young creatives, I think it can legitimize all of us to be pioneers of new perspectives of Made in Italy, inevitably passing through the rediscovery of workshops and craftsmanship, love for the product, knowing how to explain what you’re doing to the customer, the personal and trusting relationship with those who choose your product. From all this, macro concepts such as sustainability and reduction would certainly benefit.
Is there anything you would like to do that you haven’t done yet?
The experience with the world of denim is certainly something I have never done before, therefore the simple fact of having this opportunity undoubtedly consolidates the wealth of knowledge that I am building with my creative factory. Personally, if I have to be honest, I would like to try a collaborative experience with a brand of great experience in the denim field: it would be a way for me to feel even more fortunate.
