It’s always hard to go back to your usual routine after spending some time doing a long research or a round of interviews, but I’ll try to do it all the same as I need to catch up a bit with the posts on this blog.
I will be focusing on Milan for today starting with a post about a visit to a very special atelier, that of young Italian designer Federico Sangalli.
Federico was part of the Camera della Moda Italiana (National Chamber of Italian fashion) annual project "Regeneration", that supports new Italian designers and labels and that allowed the project winners to present their collections at the recent Milan Fashion Week.
Last Friday morning I was treated to a very special visit to his atelier, where I met Federico's "girls” a group of very skilled dressmakers and embroiderers - most of them have been working for Federico's family for years and are now over 60 - who literally make his designs come true.
The atelier, located in Corso Monforte 2, near Piazza San Babila, a few minutes' walk from the Duomo, originally belonged to Federico’s aunt. Growing up surrounded by amazing haute couture designs created by following the highest possible standards of quality and craftsmanship, helped Federico developing a true passion not for the world of fashion per se, but for the amazing work that actually goes on behind the scenes of this glittering world.
While selling his creations in various shops in Milan, at the Corso Monforte atelier Federico develops mainly haute couture and made-to-measure designs. His haute couture, made-to-measure and ready-to-wear creations are all characterised by Federico's personal motto, "fashion should make people dream".
Yet it's not by adding heavy and unnecessary doses of glamour that Federico's design make people dream, but it's in the choice of the fabrics - all luxurious and precious - in the details and motifs that decorate the garments, in the attention that goes into each single piece and in that perfect balance between traditions and new and experimental ideas.
One of my favourite collections by Federico is the one that features elements made out of Vienna straw, as this rigid material plays a sort of game of contrast with the ethereal lightness of the dresses. I also love the woollen, fur or camel jackets from the designer's A/W 09 collection: their draped and pleated motifs that create wave-like movements on the front of the jackets or on the sleeves are simply beautiful.
There's also a bit of architecture in the A/W 09 designs that feature metal mesh elements, while Federico cleverly re-employed marquisette fabric in quite a few of his autumnal creations, using it for the jacket lining or for creating structures that he over-imposed on warm woollen tops. Apparently it can be rather hard to work with marquisette and it can be difficult to find dressmakers who are actually able to work with such a material.
I was happy to be able to visit Federico in his atelier and have a long chat with him about his work, inspirations and the current fashion situation in Italy. Watch this space to read a further interview with him.
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