Edoardo Gallorini founded his eponymous brand in 2019. He does it in Venice, his city and place where he has decided to install all the production of his collections. The red thread of his style are the one- of-a-kind foulard, not because they are unique pieces but because of how they are made and the sentimental value they bring with them. The prints are also designed directly by the designer. With Edoardo Gallorini, in an exclusive interview, we face a journey of tales, about his world but also, more generally, about the state of health of made in Italy and emerging brands.
Edoardo, when was your brand born and why? "My brand was born in early 2019, because I felt nostalgia for an elegance that has been completely lost over time. When I see old family photos, I listen to the speeches of my parents, I realize how in these years, in which the immediacy, the desire to have everything immediately and the speed with which fashions pass, have led to a loss of the concept of personal style. I would like to be able to re-evaluate the taste of well- dressed according to the different occasions, through a rediscovery of classic elegance, through a contemporary look, less plastered respecting what the labels are, albeit with a few touches of "polite rebellion"."
What are the elements of your fashion project that you would never compromise on? "The quality of the materials, the fundamental element from which I start to develop each of my collections; the Italian production, because it is right to support the artisan excellence that we have and which risk disappearing and, finally, the need to enhance and make each woman wearing my clothes more beautiful and charming."
Among the items you produce there are your foulard. What is the value you give to this very special accessory? "The foulard is an accessory to which I am very attached, and which never fails in my collections. It reminds me of when I was a child I helped my mother, who owns a large collection, to match it with her looks. She never leaves the house without a foulard, combined with the bag and shoes. It is an easy and precious accessory, which can give character even to the simplest outfit, and can be fun, colorful, rowdy, worn in a thousand ways. My foulard are all illustrated by me with different subjects, from bouquets of flowers, to interiors, to postcard images with the most iconic elements of Venice."
Venice. Your city. How much is the protagonist of your works? "Venice is central, both as a place - production develops in fact in the areas bordering the lagoon, exceptional for the quality of the materials and the wisdom in transforming them into objects - and as an idea. A city that has always been open to everyone and everything, a landing place for people and influences from all over the world, capable of absorbing foreign elements and making them their own. Decadent city but at the same time extremely lively thanks to the cultural fervor of the Biennale, the Mostra d’Arte Cinematografica and all the events that transform it into an always active cultural center. My declaration of love and belonging to Venice can be found right from the logo, which borrows the graphic language of the "nizioeti", the Venetian road signs, sewn on the walls of the city like the refined labels of a fine dress."
Who is the bourgeois of the 20s of the new millennium and why does his (or her) existence divide between eroticism and boredom? I am referring, of course, to the name by which you named the spring-summer 2020 collection? "She is an elegant woman who likes to take care of herself. A modern Silvana Mangano (I think of Pasolini's Teorema or Gruppo di Famiglia in un interno by Visconti, fundamental films in the construction of my aesthetic), who enjoys reinterpreting the codes of traditional clothing with some subtle transgression. Here, for example, that evening dresses have deep slits closed by malicious buttons, which can be opened or closed with a game of more or less veiled seduction."
“Magnifica illusione" is instead the title of the winter’s. What were you inspired by? "The title was born by reading an essay on the concept of glamor. The word glamor originally referred to a sort of spell, a witchcraft act that gives substance to a still unconscious or unexpressed, but suddenly burning desire, which makes something that would not be visible and desirable. It is something that bewitches, intrigues, but remains mysterious. Through clothes, accessories, make-up, we can all be transformed into something unique, magnificent."
If I say Fortuny, what do you answer? "Fortuny for me means "home" for two reasons. The first is that Palazzo Fortuny is by far my favorite palace in Venice, my dream home, imbued as it is with that eccentric and decadent, opulent and mysterious aesthetic. The second is because in the family home the curtains, the lampshades are of Fortuny fabrics, so since I was a child I learned to appreciate the value of these extraordinarily hand-decorated fabrics."
Let's talk about made in Italy. Beyond the exceptional situation that our country is facing, what is its state of health in recent years? "In my opinion, in the last two-three years, Italian fashion is starting to make its voice heard again, it is giving more space to young designers, even if the road is still long. Unfortunately, italians still tend to see fashion as a frivolous industry, there is no perception of its cultural value, as for example the french have, and not even of the importance it actually has for the economy of our country. And this is evident when we think that in Italy there is no real museum dedicated to fashion, which has the international resonance that the various sections dedicated to costume fashion of the Met, the V&A, the MoMu of Antwerp or the Galliera Museum have, just to name a few."
Why is an emerging brand like yours an added value of the wardrobe? "Because it reinterprets the beauty and quality codes typical of the most classic high fashion, with a look turned to the needs of a woman of today, through timeless clothes with undoubted quality of materials, which can occupy your wardrobe for many years without never be démodé."
Finally, a thought for contemporary fashion. "I hope that contemporary fashion re-evaluates the importance of time, quality and beauty, which in recent years have been lost in pursuit of a digital society that is hungry for ever new and spectacular ideas, which are consumed and forgotten in a few minutes."