The last time I spoke to Aroma30’s Michela Fasanella, the young Italian designer had just launched her minimalist all-white collection in Milan.
Quite a few things have changed since then: Fasanella moved to London and, letting the moods and the weather of the English capital seep into all aspects of her work, she created a collection based on a palette that mainly features black and powdery beige nuances with just a splash of grey.
Employing geometry as a generative force and twisting and bending simple geometrical forms and lines, the designer came up with designs characterised by essentially simple silhouettes, but embellished with complex folds, pleats and draped motifs that create intricate and sculptural shapes around the shoulders and the breasts or build volumes in unexpected areas of the body.
What’s the main theme behind your A/W 2010-11 collection?The balance between geometric and soft shapes in nature. I really wanted to concentrate the more elaborate and stronger features and motifs in the details while keeping the silhouette clean and wearable. That’s why I came up with only nine designs, opting for a sort of capsule collection focused on a few looks with a strong message.
This is the first collection since I moved to London and I’ve been really influenced by the colours and moods of this city. The sky in London is often grey and cloudy and gives a cold shade to everything. That’s something I really love about this place, so it was only natural for me to use this sort of cold palette for my new designs.
Some designs feature more intricate details compared to your previous collections, do you feel your style has changed in the last few seasons?
I would say that my previous collection was extremely simple and clean since I wanted to explore a minimal approach to garment construction and focus on soft contrasts. For this collection I explored the possibilities offered by handmade techniques and this allowed me to experiment with exquisite craftsman details that could highlight my style in a better way and come up with clean designs, such as a black jacket incorporating in its stark structure ruffled frothy details created by cascades of cotton ribbons.
There are some architecturally geometric elements and motifs in your new designs: do you feel that such disciplines entered into your new collections somehow?
Yes, definitely. I’ve been really influenced by geometry and by the way you can create amazing shapes. In architecture as in nature, geometry is a key to balance and harmony.
Wool gabardine, silk satin and cotton. I wanted to use two different materials such as wool and silk since the former creates very easily shapes and architectural structures. Silk can instead help you coming up with some wonderfully luscious draped motifs.
What is influencing your creations nowadays?
I’m quite attracted by a monastic approach to things, a kind of anti-materialistic way that leads me to ignore what’s not necessary. I’m also into Renaissance portraits, especially when they are painted with dark colours and you feel a sort of dramatic atmosphere oozing from the canvas.
In February you were featured in London’s On|Off exhibition: did you enjoy it?
Yes I did. I got some really positive feedback about my collection and about its wearability. I didn’t know what to expect since it was the first time I was exhibiting in London, but I was really impressed by the attention people showed for my designs. I’ve also seen quite a few designers that I really liked: Roksanda Ilincic is definitely among my favourite ones. Among the fashion designers exhibiting at On|Off I really enjoyed Brooke Roberts and Derek Lawlor.
What are you working on at present?
I’m working on the moods for the next collection. I’m still at an early stage at the moment, but I would also like to focus on some “extracurricular” activities and projects that aren’t strictly connected with my collections and that may involve collaborations with other artists.
Photographs by Emma Engkvist
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