Age, shapes, inspirations, colors, genres. All inclusive, nobody excluded. Following an expressive freedom without diktat or prepackaged impositions, fashion moves in a fluid dimension. Where the rules give way to personalities.
With Elisabetta Viola, founder & designer of the Bgbl bag brand and Camilla Carrara founder & designer of the Zerobarracento outerwear brand, we explore in our Talk About the genderless and interpretation of garments and accessories starting from themselves, from their own individuality rather than by predefined fees.
But not only. Creators of two eco-sustainable projects, we discover the beauty of a style that focuses on quality, attention to the environment and exclusive individuality between one application and another.
Two major themes, sustainability and genderless. What motivated you to create a brand based on two contemporary principles, now necessary, but at the same time difficult to respect and pursue over time?
Camilla Carrara: “Zerobarracento finds its origin in sustainability and zero waste. The research and study of processes that lead to the creation of the garment with a view to zero waste, led us to choose the zero waste technique and the use of materials with minimal environmental impact. We were born as a female brand but over time we realized that our outerwear was also liked by men; so we started to study suitable closures to make them easily wearable by everyone.”
Elisabetta Viola: “When a concept, a thought is part of your experience, you make it your own and it becomes a spontaneous reaction when you create: I often felt much sexier with a man's head than with a woman's one. As a child I was a disaster, a real volcano and for this reason my mother dressed me as a boy almost to reflect my expectation, my attitude. Genderless gives you the opportunity to feel a certain way at a certain moment, gives you the opportunity to change. With regard to eco-sustainability, I start from a reflection: we were the first generation to do the separate collection, therefore to change habits; we therefore embraced the desire to convey a message and support a necessary change."
We talk and talk about sustainability. Sometimes, unfortunately, it's just a mirror for larks. How can a final consumer recognize a good eco-sustainable product?
Elisabetta Viola: “Sustainability has multiple meanings and multiple facets, we should define one to put rules. However, we can identify ourselves in a characteristic that the product communicates: for Bgbl, for example, an essential feature is upcycling, that is to give a new life to what no longer has a primary function and would be thrown away, ending up with waste and related costs. disposal. But sustainability can also be the support of activities that enhance Italian craftsmanship with wages appropriate to the performance of workers or the choice of local raw materials that do not make displacements and enhance the place of origin. For example, Bgbl supports the basketball teams in our area by taking the old balls, protagonists of our creations, and giving them new ones. With all the above information for the final consumer it is not easy to make distinctions: for example we would like to get through the blockchain to trace the product."
Camilla Carrara: “Ask, be curious, investigate. All brands declare something but also the consumer should have a more active role: once upon a time there was a more widespread culture of product and quality. As Elisabetta said, each has its own version of sustainability; we do zero waste their upcycling, there are no stamps, the consumer should ask and inquire in front of an eco-sustainable label."
What meaning do you give to Made in Italy?
Camilla Carrara: “District knowledge, the concept of quality in the supply chain, in short, we have everything: from thread, to fabric, to manufacturing, to good design... it is truly an opportunity for transparency and quality. It is a story of knowledge and know-how to be preserved as an invaluable value and carried forward."
Elisabetta Viola: “We are children of what was before and we should enhance all this treasure. Made in Italy is in fact also the ability to highlight this handcrafted fabric that characterizes us. Obviously we should make an extra effort to make it more competitive and to develop greater synergies so that the know-how is also transmitted more quickly. Made in Italy is also beauty, poetry, savoir-faire".
Both designed and manufactured products that speak to both her and him. How can the boss himself communicate both male and female sensuality? Will there be room for a new sensuality?
Elisabetta Viola: “When I choose a product for men or women I would like to identify myself with something: in addition to the story that the product tells, it is important to recognize yourself in this. In my bags I decided to combine the sinuosity of the very soft lines, therefore feminine, with the basketball that is very characterizing and represents fatigue, sweat, victory, determination, binding in the imagination to a more masculine background. For example, the bucket changes a lot according to who wears it and interprets it. So sensuality for me is also linked to the opposition, to the deconstruction that interrupts one mechanism to create others. These two opposites have linked, sensuality is also linked for me to the contrast that we tie to a product, the sensuality of deconstructing to interrupt this mechanism to create others".
Camilla Carrara: "To express sensuality you have the courage to express a new sensuality. We are individuals and with leaders we express our uniqueness. Products are born 2d and then become 3d interpreted by the personality who wears them I create forms that become unique on the body itself I do not impose a single canon of aesthetics and beauty there are no more genres or right sizes everyone wants to be what he is."
Does the concept of luxury still make sense? How do you mean it?
Camilla Carrara: "Luxury for me is the possibility of satisfying one's most intimate needs. Everyone has his own concept of luxury, it can be having more time to share with those who count, wear a shirt with a special material, the grandmother's sweater to feel protected. The important thing is to define your own luxury."
Elisabetta Viola: "I coined my idea of luxury three years ago in India during a vacation, I was there a month and I understood what it was for me. The ability to choose, to be for example in a context that would bring me back to a home dimension. A New Delhi in a flurry of strong emotions and strong images my luxury was able to return to a size of the house. It is not a standard thing but having a heartfelt feeling. The possibility of choice."
A message to send to our readers as young designers?
Elisabetta Viola: "Return to the origins and simplicity. Choose what to wear, what makes us feel good and recognize ourselves in our choices. Prefer quality and value in relationships, in what we do, in what we buy. Be consistent. Simplicity is a word sometimes used too often but it must be built and strengthened over time."
Camilla Carrara: "Authenticity and individuality. These are the values to be pursued with strength and courage; will choose something that characterizes us, that makes us be consistent with the values in the choices as in what we do".
Dress your clothes every day, choose yourself every day. Thanks to Camilla Carrara and Elisabetta Viola for being with us in this Talk About dedicated to genderless and sustainability.