Today the bond with home territory is very important for many designers: how and how much do your roots and your origins influence and have presence in the things you create? ““So much! My heart is Calabrese, my stubbornness is Calabrese. Calabria is a magic place, too underrated whereas it actually has a huge potential in terms of workforces, from which I already have had immediate tangible effects. Some years ago I created some truly exclusive garments embroidered by hand, which got noticed immediately by the way I was able to render contemporary elements extrapolated from antique methods.”
Your clothes bring us back to tailoring, to the beauty and substance of unique creations, in contrast with the voracity of homologous “cooked and eaten” mass fashion. How can new makers insert themselves into the fashion world today without suffocating by the competition of multinational or large brands? “In these years, in certain situations, I have felt deceived and exploited; now I’d like to elaborate new approaches. I reiterate that unicity of persona is crucial in producing unique projects and clothes: in my opinion this is the key and obviously also being a serious person who believes in their potential without ever setting limits. The “cooked and eaten” fashion doesn’t interest me, I find it “ridiculous and useless” not in stylistic terms but as a concept and for sustainability. What sense does it have to open a wardrobe and find 1000 garments inside that are all anonymous and devoid of spirit? A well-made garment, even after being closed in a wardrobe, will be able to speak simply hanging from its hanger.”
We’re curious…are there any projects in the works or for the future that you could fill us in on? “Other than collaborations, with a friend I’m developing two new important projects (that have been long-time dreams): the first will see me working on the creation of two new exclusive “Mario Costantino Triolo” lines; the second project, very ambitious and linked to the first, will be looking at training. That’s enough, I’ve already said too much!!”
Photo credit Sosud