Pierre-Louis Mascia’s collections are a genuine delight for the senses of touch and sight since they allow the wearer to indulge in the tactile pleasure of fabric while creating flashes of unexpected colour combinations.
Cashmere and silk mix and combine in his tops, scarves and windbreakers inspired by Mascia’s artistic influences and by slouchy sportswear, while contrasting shades and prints blend together bringing into our wardrobes a new harmonic idea of beauty with a fun twist.
Thanks to a special digital process that allows to save energy and water while at the same time manages to produce prints characterised by bright and bold colours, Mascia’s palette for the Autumn/Winter 2011-12 hits the retina generating visual stimuli: classic crocheted squares in orange, pink, blue and red are replicated on light scarves, jackets and tops creating a sort of "cosy domesticity Vs dynamic urbanity" dichotomy, while geometrical motifs clash with tartans and polka dots in luxurious unisex jumpers in brown, grey and cream with prints of antique laces and embroideries.
The palette of your Autumn/Winter 2011-12 is very rich, what inspired it?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: This collection is a mixture of very eclectic influences. The starting points are as different as paintings, literature such as books by Stefan Zweig or phantasmagoric circus-like double acts. All these influences gave me some ideas for the collection, and, in some cases, I also moved from a black background and threw on it some bright shades of orange, red or yellow. I mainly used colours to avoid being boring: nowadays wherever you go shopping – Paris, London, New York or even Korea – you find yourself surrounded by a lot of gray shades. I want to add some brightness to this grey world and paint it in blue, pink, yellow and red, because these shades reflect the kaleidoscopic inspirations I have in my mind.
You often opt for luxurious materials such as cashmere or silk for your designs, yet some of them look very casual, is this a way to create a sort of oxymoronic “informal luxury”?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: I like the idea that you can wear something very chic like a dress in cashmere or silk, but add something at the same time that somehow dramatically breaks into the chic and creates a contrast. I like very luxurious things, but I also like to add a trashy touch, an element that introduces a sort of dramatic crack in the texture, a twist in my textile narrative. When I explain this concept I often make the example of entering an extremely tidy house and finding yourself surrounded by a boring environment. A certain degree of untidiness can be fun instead since it reflects the fact that nobody is perfect!
What’s the first thing you do when you start creating your designs?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: Each piece is different and, in the case of the scarves, it’s a bit as if each of them told a story. At times I start from a sketch, others from a photograph or a book. I select these things and ideas and store them in boxes. When I start focusing on the collection I open the boxes and see what I have, going through each image and inspiration as if I were a chef and I were cooking and picking different ingredients.
Some of the new pieces incorporate prints of vintage embroideries, lace and crocheted elements: is this a way to rediscover craft in a modern way?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: By reusing this crafted elements in my prints I reinterpret these bits and pieces in a modern key while trying to understand how craftsmen actually created them. This is also a way to make a statement and prove that you don’t need to integrate in your designs a crazy over the top print to prove you’re avant-garde since being avant-garde is a state of mind.
When you first started your label you created a line of bags inspired by Maurice Ravel, has the line of bag developed?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: The main shape of my bag is a sort of idée fixe so it’s destined to stay the same, while some details have been developed and altered. I don’t want to change the bags too much because I prefer to give people enough time to discover the collection and grow fond of it.
Are you still working as fashion illustrator?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: Yes I am, but I’m also trying to be more selective. I want to do interesting jobs that allow me to collaborate with nice artists since I think confronting yourself with somebody else is very important.
Would you ever teach fashion illustration?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: I actually used to be a teacher ten years ago and taught in a fashion course in France, but I don’t think I have the vocation to do it. I don’t seem to be able to forget individuality while I teach and when you find yourself in front of a class in a school environment you must consider and understand the group’s needs and not yours!
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