Studying structures, volumes and alternative tailoring techniques with Marvie |

I have somehow neglected menswear in the last few months, so I’ll try to focus on it a little bit more in the next few days and restart this thread focusing on Marvie.

Launched in 2007 by Mariavittoria Sargentini, the brand is based on two main principles, deconstruction and reconstruction of classic garments.

Sargentini carried out a sort of research on the relation between a garment and the person who wears it, developing new and experimental volumes, shapes and silhouettes in natural materials fit for every season.

Can you tell me more about your background? Did you work with any fashion designers before launching your own label?
Mariavittoria Sargentini: I studied art, philosophy and fashion and costume design and also worked in the fashion industry with two Italian designers, Antonio Marras and Maurizio Altieri from Carpe Diem. These designers are very different one from the other: they have unique attitudes to fashion and we could say they come from two schools of thought. I found these two experiences very interesting since they offered me a chance to see both the strengths and limits of their work and maybe find an alternative between extreme conceptual research and very structured suits and typical Italian style.

Can you tell me more about the four projects you started when you launched your label?
Mariavittoria Sargentini: I developed the projects – "T-Shirt", "S+M+L", "Jersey2" and "coating" – in different stages. The basic idea was focusing on one single item, a classic men or women’s wear garment and reinvent and rebuild it, using clean and essential lines, taking into account the movement and functions of the body and the materials. The first project consisted in simplifying a classic man's shirt and making it more comfortable: the T-shaped design – calling to mind the shape of an open shirt – incorporates only a few parts of the classic shirt, that is collar/neckline, cuffs and the cut around the shoulders, the latter guarantees the wearer a fluidity of movements. Also the materials employed for this garment represent this combination of T-shirt and shirt, I indeed opted for jersey and poplin. The material falls fluidly around the chest and the arms forming circular shapes that give the garment a feminine touch. The second project was based on reinventing the suit and offering three different silhouettes that can me mixed and matched/mismatched one with the other [note: see video at the end of this post]. “S” stands for a tight fitting cut with seams that run around the human figure elongating it; “M” stands for medium and features frontal seams that endow the body with a regular silhouette; “L” indicates side seams that almost dilate the volumes. Wearers are able to match the pieces as they like, creating their own styles, matching an S jacket with an L pair of trousers and so on, creating an unconventional and untraditional “made-to-measure” suit based on volumes, attitudes and customisation. The jackets are made in cotton and wool and lined in linen, so they can be worn on a daily basis, since they are practical and functional. I remember that, when I first launched this project, seeing my designs, somebody thought I was Japanese, but in Japan there is a very different clothing culture compared to what we have here in Europe and their volumes and materials are very complicated at times and it would prove difficult for us to dress everyday in a jacket and a pair of trousers if they are excessively loose, voluminous or feature a lot of details when it comes to the cut or the silhouette. The starting point for the suit project was essentially the opposite of all this, I aimed indeed at neat, simple and timeless pieces. The "Jersey2" project was instead born out of the collaboration with C.L.A.S.S., using eco-sustainable materials such as a jersey made with soft, elastic and fluid natural fibres such as milk protein and wood fibres to create bi-dimensional designs based on a square that contains and frames the human body. The garment is made out of squares and, once worn, these geometrical forms fall according to the wearer’s body shape. The last project is dedicated to coats and it’s aimed at creating a stratified garment that can protect the body during any season. That's why the coat is built in 3 different lengths – short, medium, long – and with 3 volumes created by three strata in cotton, wool and waterproof fabric. The strata can be worn all together or they can be separated, but the silhouette is always rigorous and essential, so perfect for everyday wear. This is the sort of timeless item you will always be able to keep in your wardrobe.

Are there any special projects you would like to develop in future?
Mariavittoria Sargentini: I would like to work also on shoes and knitwear. I’m interested in researching the relationship between wearability, fitting and materials and I think these two fields could offer some interesting developments. The main aim of my label is essentially to spread a sort of clothing awareness among people, because what we wear is the first form of communication. Yet, nowadays there are many bad quality garments out there and homologation has brought us a sort of negative trend in competitiveness with many labels producing bad quality items, while I think we must stay focused on quality and craftsmanship.

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