Umit Benan S/S 2010 |

In a previous post I announced the winners of the first "Who's On Next?" menswear competition. Here's a quick Q&A with Umit Benan, winner of the ready-to-wear category. You can read the rest of my interview on Dazed Digital.

Question: Do you feel it can be difficult to emerge in the well-established Italian fashion scene for a young designer?
Umit Benan: I think it can be very hard and tough to find your way into fashion. You may be very talented, but you may not make it all the same. I lived in New York for many years and I love it. I absolutely felt at home there. New York is also the place where I started my fashion career, working for 6 months at Marc Jacobs. Undoubtedly things are a lot easier over there as people are more open, while in Italy it can be really hard to get a job. Besides, the New York fashion scene has become increasingly important in the last five years, there are lots of interesting things happening there. Yet Italy still has the quality when it comes to producing clothes and accessories, though at the same time I think it needs to modernise itself a bit since in the last few years its fashion scene has been losing attention to other countries.

Question: According to you what’s the toughest aspect of being a designer nowadays?
Umit Benan: On a financial level it can be very tough, as everything is very expensive. It’s easier if you have money in your bank account and can start a business project so that you can hire people. But when you don’t have the money, you have to do everything by yourself and, while this may not be a real problem, it can be a bit hard. Besides, while I think it’s important to find a financial backer, I also think it’s essential to find somebody who genuinely believes in what you do.