The dream of becoming a fashion designer is shared by many young people out there and, quite often, talent and education are not enough to emerge and establish one's brand. But there are different figures inside the fashion industry and channelling one's creativity towards other roles may lead to more rewarding jobs. We will be meeting in future posts some of the people working behind the fashion scene in the hope that these interviews will inspire young people to find their place in a vast industry that it's not just about the glitz and the glamour. Let's start today with Italian knitwear expert Elisabetta Mancini.
The Millefili stand is usually the most coloured one of the entire Pitti Filati fair: this year it was covered in pompoms, and offered visitors the chance to play a memory game with coloured tiles, decorate headbands and phone covers with tiny pompoms, enjoy some pop corns and have a look at the yarns and stitches for the next Autumn/Winter.
Every season Millefili also comes up with a very original package for its collection of samples: this year the swatches came in a box of multi-vitamins, each little sachet containing a small knitwear sample to inject some inspiring energy into the mind of knitwear designers.
The samples on view (with Millefili yarns: Twitter, Perrier, Ghost, Minnie, Minigum, Schweppes, Sub, Naomi, Blig-Ring, Ha-Tu and Casper, just to mention a few ones) were developed by Elisabetta Mancini in collaboration with Maglificio Fuzzi, Maglificio Giordano's, Shima Seiki Italia, Stoll Italia, and Tessilservice.
Mancini, a knitwear expert who had the chance to work for prominent French fashion houses including Gaultier, Alaïa and Yves Saint Laurent and considers herself as a creative technician, developed for the next season a wide range of moods and ideas, moving from geometries, grids, manga comics, three-dimensional patterns and padded details.
The secret to keep her creativity alive is acting like a radar trying to capture different moods on an everyday basis and keeping herself constantly updated.
Can you tell us more about yourself and your experience as a knitwear expert?
Elisabetta Mancini: I'm a knitwear designer and I started working first for a very famous Italian mill and then moved to Paris. I spent ten years there working for Azzedine Alaïa and Yves Saint Laurent and, when that experience finished, Millefili contacted me to research and work on their collection. My job focuses on spotting the macrotrends for the next season and develop stitches and textures that can take the yarns to another level.
Did you enjoy working with such famous fashion names?
Elisabetta Mancini: It is always quite hard to work for famous fashion houses or groups. Quite a few young people just think about the glamour of the catwalk show, but that's only the epitome of a collection. People who genuinely want to get into this industry should instead understand that this is a very difficult and highly-skilled job that never stops.
What's the most important aspect of working with yarn manufacturing companies?
Elisabetta Mancini: I've always been strongly connected with the industrial aspects of fashion and the manufacturing processes since I'm a very down to earth person. But it is unthinkable for a designer to work without bearing firmly in mind the manufacturing side of things. My role while working in Paris implied a strong link with different knitwear companies, but whoever works in a fashion company must remember that the contact with the manufacturing plant is vital. I've always seen myself as a technician who interprets a yarn and tries to understand what a Creative Director wants while attempting to translate their ideas and inspirations into the shapes, volumes and three-dimensional details of the knits.
What's it like working for a company such as Millefili?
Elisabetta Mancini: Millefili is a very open and dynamic company and so they leave me all the freedom to experiment with my knowledge and background. As I said, my job is a very technical one, but it can offer great satisfactions, because you provide fashion designers, trendsetters and other companies with tangible inspirations by translating into stitches the products of the yarn manufacturer. You closely work with the company as you must understand what kind of moods they want to provide visitors with for a specific season and collection and you find yourself doing a wide research involving drawings and graphic textures that you then have to explain to the technicians at the various knitwear companies collaborating with the main yarn producer. The final results visitors see at the stand are developed through several months.
What inspired the samples for the next season?
Elisabetta Mancini: Fashion is returning to fantasy, but also to geometry, and I love this mix of freedom and rigourous lines at the same time. The samples we developed point towards a mix of graphic geometries, but there are also swatches with a fun twist, with Japanese mangas, little dolls and cute characters reinterpreted as intarsia. There are also quite interesting stretch effects or innovative stitches made with a new Shima machine that creates a sort of three-dimensional padded effect. These are all very new ideas and offer designers the chance to get away from the traditional braided motifs.
Do you ever think about your stitches and textures in your free time while you go for example to visit an exhibition?
Elisabetta Mancini: Yes, I constantly do so. Keeping yourself updated is the main key to this job. Visiting exhibitions, going to the movies and also following what's up on the social media are important things as they can reveal you about certain trends or crazes that may be arriving on the scene or simply coming back into fashion. It is also extremely important to keep up-to-date with the evolution of youth cultures and sub-cultures, especially in our digital times in which, because of the Internet, everything travels extremely fast and fads come and go at the speed of light.
What kind of advice would you give to young people who want to do your job?
Elisabetta Mancini: It is always important to have an excellent education, so attend a good art or technical college or university. Interning with fashion houses, companies or style offices is also a positive experience, especially if they can offer you the possibility of getting to know manufacturing companies and plants.The first years are extremely important because you will get your training, improve your knowledge and skills and get to know how things work. Last but not least, always challenge yourself and put yourself to the test and never claim that you know how to make something, but be humble and keep on learning from your job.
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