CATERINA

C R E A T I V E

Index

C R E A T I V E

IndexCacao-labFashion ChocolateP.11

Finaest.comTradition and innovationmade in italy.P.24

Timeless and unfailing.P.27

Il Foulard

Nima Benati A great italian photographer.P.29

Daniele DavittiFashion as art.P.33

Capolavori da indossare

P.45

Arte e Make upP.49

Vito NestaP.55

Infestando P.47

www.harim.it

11

Milan is the capital of fashion and design, a place where trends and culture meet, steaming engine of original and creative ideas. Here is where Cacao Lab was born from the meeting of two creative minds

with different passions, a boutique that aims to give chocolate a fashion image.Cacao Lab was born in 2006 when Cristiano Spinoni, make up artist and hairstylist, and the interior designer Baptiste Roudel united their different interests with the common passion for chocolate. Their products, made with top quality raw materials, consist not only in the classic chocolates, created with a great attention to the detail, but range up to chocolate tools and decorative objects, exclusive and inimitable.Along with the present trend, they created Moustaches, a series of chocolate moustaches made to tease people’s fantasy but that serve well also as decoration on pralines, to give a touch of glamour. Chocolate is a must on St. Valentine’s, Christmas and Easter, so on these occasions the chocolates turn into small masterpieces to eat with your eyes first. One of the strong points of these small shop is the care they put in every detail, from the models to the molds to the production, rigorously hand-made with constant dedication. Another strong point is that they create customized objects in chocolate, standing out from the standard mass of other products. The main aim of Cacao Lab is to give chocolate a sophisticate image, as well as a fashionable one. For these reason they designed Glamour- a collection of bags and shoes entirely made of chocolate, a solution that represents the passion of the two owners. The bags and shoes are hand-made with the finest colorant-free chocolate and models, patterns and colours are obtained through the blending of different types of chocolate. The result is a collection of shoes, for man and women, and one of bags, much appreciated by the fashion addicted because they resemble the real model. There’s a special Cacao Lab corner by The Rinascente in Piazza Duomo and the shop in Via Eustachi 47 is a must for those who want to see whatever they desire turn into pure chocolate or just take a sweet break with a praline. The aim of Cristiano and Baptiste is to keep a small but careful production, resisting the temptation to expand.

FASHION CHOCOLATE

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By Rossella Scalzo-Selena Magni

Today internet has become the best way to communicate, as it’s able to connect people from different parts of the world. Internet is used both by major brands, that benefit from

it by advertising their products on a global scale, and by young emergent designers, who are trying to become well known and to assert themselves on the market. This is the reason why FINAEST.COM was created. FINAEST.COM is a project created by an Italian start-up, aimed at giving the brands greater visibility on a global scale, and at getting people to know the new brands on the market.In November 2012 Andrea Viganò, a fashion and e-commerce expert who lives between Milan and Singapore, met Luca Catalano, a made- in-Italy lover from Turin, who dreams of a new economic boom for Italy. Together, they started to cooperate in order to create a new platform aimed at promoting the made in Italy brand through emerging designers and renowned brands.Starting from this idea, they created FINAEST.COM, an online boutique, that offers an accurate selection of the most eminent and well-established Italian brands, which are now part of the historical heritage of our country. Among these there are: Oliviero Toscani, Santillo 1970, Miserocchi and Fumagalli. The main strength, the thing that makes this boutique different from all the other online shopping websites is its selection of emerging designers who chose to challenge the economic crises, creating fully-handmade Italian fashion products such as the SPEKTRE sunglasses, Nati con la camicia and Sunboo.The underlying concept of FINAEST.COM is to ensure the comforting presence of traditional Italian brands, that have been representing the high quality of the made in Italy for many years, on the market, as well as that of new emerging brands, to show that creativity and handmade production in Italy haven’t been stalling, and that, instead, they’re still growing steadily.But there’s more! FINAEST.COM is not just a way to showcase handmade high-quality Italian products. A great part of the website and a blog are dedicated to the history of every single designer, whose products are exposed and sold on the website, and to the history of the brand. This strategy allows those who are interested in the products to understand the idea and the culture behind every brand and its products.

Finaest.comTHE ONLINE PORTAL THAT UNITES TRADITIONS AND

INNOVATIONS OF MADE IN ITALY

Fina

est.com

24By Rossella Scalzo-Fabiana Marzucco

Those who created this online showcase wanted to focus both on selling the products and endorsing the design through interviews and pictures, that could be useful to give an insight of their work, from the production to their fundamental values. This is a useful strategy because we need to endorse the brand itself, as well as because today’s costumers are much more curious and sophisticated, and they want to learn as much as they can, before buying a product.The designers, who can sell and exhibit their products on the website, are chosen on the basis of few clear criteria: the products should be entirely made in Italy; they should be distinctive, unique and innovating; they should show great potential. It is not by chance that many products from new emerging brands are renowned at an international level.The main idea behind FINAEST.COM is believing in the real value of handmade products, irrespective of who made them or where they were made. According to those who designed and created this showcase, its value lies in the ability to create an heritage able to transfer its culture, its knowledge and the secrets of its quality from a generation to another. Craftsmanship means respect towards people, not only towards the products or the luxury goods it produces.During this period of crisis FINAEST.COM is showing us that the creative sector in Italy is full of untapped resources, which could be considered an added value for our country. If we can prove this idea by combining traditional elements such as the handmade production of made-in-Italy products and design innovations, we could be able to understand that tradition and modernity are not that far apart.

Il Foulard T I M E L E S S A N D

U N F A I L I N G

Il FoulardElegant and unique, the foulard is an evergreen

accessory that distinguishes every woman and tell much about the person that wears it. Before it became an aesthetic object, it was

used to cover the head, to shield it from sun, rain and wind. Towards the end of the 60s there was an abrupt change and it became a decoration without using its utility. It was the distinctive item of numerous collections designed by international fashion houses like Hermes. Dior, Chanel and many Italian ones like Ferragamo and Gucci. It is tied to the great classic movies, most beloved accessory of actresses like Audrey Hepburn, Sofia Loren and Grace Kelly. As Hermes teaches, it can be worn in many ways, the most classic is to wear it over the head, twist it around the neck and tie it with a knot. There are many others, easy and nice to see. For example, make a topknot, fold the foulard and tie it around the knot with a bow. Another decorative version is to tie it to the base of a lateral pony-tail and then tie it again at the end of it with a bow-this gives a gentler look to the face. One of the most appreciated techniques is the Plaited Bandeau, by Hermes, which uses three foulard with different colours and patterns. Fold the foulards and tie them together in braid, then put it on the end and knot it. Foulards can also decorate bags, rolled around the handles, they can be worn on the shoulders as a cover or on the hips as a belt or simply put into the pocket of a jacket. In the past few years it has become part of the male look, too. The boom in sales was in 2011 when it started to be regarded as a unisex accessory. 27

By Veronica Gomini-Selena Magni

A G R E A T I T A L I A N P H O T O G R A P H E R

In her shootings there is a significant care for the single picture. The attention to the smallest of details makes every picture unique and inimitable. It’s exactly this peculiarity what makes the young Nima so requested for covers, shootings and fashion campaigns like those she did for Cruciani, Fragolina Pompadour, Gate21, Exia and Patrizia Pepe. One of her more important shooting is surely the one she made for the magazine Maxim, where Biasi is on the cover. One can probably say that her heart’s desire has come already come true: to work with prestigious fashion houses and to design campaigns for greatest brands, as well as to work together with magazines as Vogue.This girl’s popularity is constantly growing thanks to internet and to socials like Instagram, where she keeps the followers up-to-date on the projects on which she is working and where she can be seen in the role of the model (she is often the protagonist of her shootings). As it is, her agenda is full until 2015. The advice Nima gives to those who wants to fulfil their dream is to never give up when there are obstacles, but to continue with determination and dedication. Waiting to see her new projects, we can only congratulate with her.

Born in 1992 in Bologna, the fashion lover Nima Benati is making herself known all over the world for her photography. On her tumblr page

she concisely describes herself as a “20 year- old fashion photographer based in Italy, working wherever my camera brings me”. Her shots are described by several fashion experts as real works of art. The strong passion of Nima dates back to childhood, when flipping through the pages of fashion magazines, she was captured by the dress, the jewels, the gazes of the models and by the emotions these shots awakened in her. When she got her first camera, a present from her parents, it was love at first sight. The young girl from Bologna began to take pictures, portraying her friend Ksenia and uploading the photos on Social Networks, and it’s in this way that her popularity started to grow, thanks to the web. At that time Nima was attending the 4th class at the high school, so she was forced to split her time between study and photography. Misjudging her liking for photography, teachers and friends didn’t support her so, unable to balance both things, she decided to focus completely on the school, only to pursue her interest after graduation, taking a full delight in it.With the facebook boom, the requests of shootings from complete strangers became too many so, after a year, Nina decided to open her own photography studio. Her first real photo shooting was for the fashion brand AMEN and their shop in Bologna, “L’Inde Le Palais”, where Nima was able to express her creativity at best, thanks to the fabulous locations and the haute couture’s dress. Suddenly thrown into this world, she began to work with models and high-profile fashion bloggers as Chiara Ferragni or Chiara Biasi.

Nima Benat iNima Benati A G R E A T I T A L I A N

P H O T O G R A P H E R

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By Gaia BregalantiAlessandra Donattini

Daniele DavittiBy Angelica Grittani-

Selena Magni

Daniele Davitti, born in 1989, is an eclectic artist that made of his passion for fashion and art a way

to express himself, showing his ability and dedication.Born into a family of artists in Firenze, he studied Fashion Design at Polimoda, where he created his first collection. Later, he won a scholarship that enabled him to attend a Master course in Fashion Design in Japan, where he discovered the art of drawing and the culture of the kimono. He then embraced a new aesthetic conception that considers fashion as art, as a traditional value, able to reveal the essential feature of the society we live in. His recent displays in New York, London and Florence made us wonder what exactly are the motivations that animate the young designer and we found that his dream came true only thanks to great efforts, passion and motivation.

Danie l e Dav i t t i

Danie l e Dav i t t i-You were born in a family of artists and craftsman. How did this affect your decisions about your future career?I think it helped me a lot. Art has always been part of me and my life as I grew up in a house full of music and sculptures, where the very furniture was hand-made by my grandfather. While working I realized that art has always been a constant presence in my life. -What did you study?I studied at the art school and then I attended the Polimoda in Florence, where I won a scholarship that enabled me to attend a Master in Fashion and Illustration at Bunka Fashion College, in Osaka, in 2008. I’ve always regarded fashion as a mean for artistic expression and I thought it was also my way of expressing myself. In some time, I naturally got closer to painting because fashion and painting very often blend together.-How much did your study affect your stylistic choices? It is easy to recognize my fashion background in my works. Some designers of the past really influenced me, like Mariano Fortuny, Balenciaga and Chanel. All of them I admire not only for their works and writings but also for their personality and attitude. As far as art is concerned, several artists inspired me not just because of their stylistic choices, but mostly because of their transgressive spirit and their original ideas: Salvador Dalì, Frida Kahlo, Egon Schiele and Klimt. In Japan, I discovered prints and kimonos and that is the perfect fusion between art and fashion- I realised that was probably my path.

-How did you decide to go to Japan?I won this scholarship during my last year at Polimoda. Linda Loppa, the director of my course, suggested me to try a new experience in a place I’d never been before, so that I could make my best. I was frightened at the beginning, Japan was for me a far away land, even though I liked its culture and art. I’m glad I went there in the end, because it really changed my life. -A far away journey in search of your true self, far from your family and your country. Do you think this is a necessary experience for someone to grow up, also professionally?I think it ’s an important experience that everyone should do- being far from our comfortable routine, with no reference points helps us finding the strength and the survival instinct that are essential in our life. In Japan I learnt to be orderly and independent, two essential feature that helped me through it.-You like to try new techniques and stylistic forms. What’s the link between them all?The line is a distinctive element in my work. In Japan I learnt the importance of the linear elements while studying the ink techniques. Lines are painted on kimonos, on prints, architectures are linear. In Europe we have more colours. The line is what I do, be it the line of a pencil, a brush or a thread, it is what conveys the meaning. My work has distinctive features, I like neutral colours like black, white, grey, beige and dove-grey. I think these express my innermost at best.-After your second collection, you decided to turn to painting and minor ar ts. Why did you decide to do so?I did a stage in an art gallery in Florence where I learnt much about how to organize displays and events and to deal with clients and other artists- I learnt about the world I felt I belonged

FASHION AS ARTDaniele Davitti speaks of himself

33

ATLANTE

to. Minor arts are everywhere to be found, they can be found in very ordinary objects and as a designer I love making art out of a piece of furniture or a pillow not just out of a piece of clothing.-The figure of the artisan that personally follows every step in the creation of his work clashes with the market logic. How can this profession defend itself?I wonder together with other Florentine artisans if the handicraft represents the past or the future. Nowadays, with so many fast growing markets like China, India and Russia and a great gap between the rich and the poor, there are great differences in what the market offers, too. Handicraft is surely something unique and exclusive. It’s a tradition that should be supported because in Italy it is still great and active and the foreign countries are very interested in our skills and the raw materials we use. -You’ve taught “Graphic drawing and fashion aesthetics” at Polimoda since 2011. How do you spread the passion for this work through your teachings?When I started working I was 24, the same age as my pupils. The director Linda Loppa gave me the chance to give a beginner’s course and I gladly accepted. I like teaching because I see my same passion in the eyes of my students, who are curious and enthusiastic. Their interpretations are precious feedbacks for me and teaching is a chance to foster their interest.-In your works you represent different kinds of women. In some ways they look time-worn, but they are women that express dignity and elegance despite the look, social standing and appearance. Who inspired you?As a line-lover I love painting elderly people because technically it’s more interesting to do. I can work with expression marks. From a conceptual point of view, elderly people are more interesting because they carry the history inside. They represent experience better than a child. Among the personalities that attract me the most there’s the Marchioness Casati, a unique person, very famous in fashion. She made of her ugliness a distinctive mark, almost a beauty. Then Bette Davies, Hollywood actress that got more charming with aging. Another inspiring woman is surely Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini, an eccentric lady and a vintage collector. I wish I could meet her because I was struck when I first saw her in picture and I’d like to portrait her.

-What do you like the most in the fashion system, and what you like the less?I like the extent of fashion, it gets into every aspects of our life, in the cinema, in the theatre. This is a great characteristic because when you work for fashion you get acquainted with many personalities, photographers, actors, writers, models, director and this is very stimulating. What I like the less is probably the fact that in a world so productive and so preoccupied with money there’s not enough space for innovation and creativity.-Grotesque is one the themes in your work, like a feature that describes today’s society, decadent and with no values. What do you think art can do to improve our society?I still hope that art can be regarded as a vehicle for a change and a new awakening. Artists and creative people can prove, with their work, what art is still able to do, like for example telling something about the human being, exposing the faults of our society and giving positive impulses. Art and culture are witnesses of our past and should be supported and valued as source of knowledge for the younger ones. -What is your advice to a beginner?If you want to be part of this world, you should be really aware of the choice you’re making because it may be easy to get in, but it’s very difficult to stay. It may be a steep path with scarcely paid jobs, unkept promises, frustrating jobs and unpleasant people. You might have to face a real devil but if your passion is so strong that you can go on, then you’re halfway through it. You should choose with your soul and not with your mind, because soul is what will give you the strength to overcome the obstacles to come. Don’t keep money as a goal- it is a common mistake. People approach fashion hoping to enjoy its wealthy and rich lifestyle. Studying is important and it doesn’t end with school years. It should mix with work experience. Read autobiographies, go and see shows, get informed. Be yourself and try to develop your own personality, don’t try to emulate anyone. And finally live your job with passion and determination because it’s a job that takes over you completely, and doesn’t stop at the end of your eight-hour workday.

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Masterpieces to wearWHEN ART

INSPIRES FASHION

STUDIO STREET LIFE.COMdesigner fashion & house

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Fa s h i o n & A r t

Masterpieces to wearWHEN ART

INSPIRES FASHION

Fashion has long being considered an authentic form of art for its creative, imaginative and attractive characteristics. Year after year it changes trend, taking inspiration from the world surrounding it,

like it happens with art. It’s easy to find dresses, skirts, t-shirts, trousers and also accessories with prints that reproduce the works of great artists. The bond between art and fashion manages to bring to the attention of the public forgotten masterpieces or works that are considered difficult for the common understanding.Yves Saint Laurent, most fond of modern and contemporary art, was the first, back in the 60s, to give life to one of his favourite paintings by Piet Mondrian. Since then, other stylists tried the same with positive results. Dior, for example, took inspiration from masters of pop art like Andy Warhol, printing famous works on bags and long dresses. Alexander McQueen, recently deceased, was inspired by Bosch and redesigned the well-known “Garden of Earthly Delights”. Others are inspired by folklore, which encloses the culture of a community. Dolce & Gabbana and their beloved Sicily provide a good example- surprisingly, great mosaics of Palermo and Catania become ornaments for sheath dresses and robes with a folkloristic taste. The French fashion house Givenchy carried out a similar project using sacred images on hi-tech fabrics and robes with a futuristic taste. Tom Wesselman’s famous pop nudes and his women’s faces are given new life by fashion and they get a soft and dynamic plasticity thanks to the fabrics and the bodies on which they are worn. Rodarte proposes Van Gogh’s most famous “Sunflowers” on different dresses. An authentic obsession for him and his sisters, the Mulleavys, who choose to turn towards the past creating a whole collection inspired by the painting “The Starry Night”. For his last collection for Jil Sander, the designer Raf Simons recovered some drawings that Picasso made on vases and that took inspiration from African art. Printed on t-shirts, these drawings get a soft plasticity. 45

By Enza VolpeSelena Magni

I n f e s t a n d o

I n f e s t a n d o

Year after year the chances are dropping for all the artists to distinguish themselves and show their talent. In a hard time like this,

Italy should rely domestic resources and national talents, giving them the change to express themselves. INFESTADO was conceived starting from these ideas, it is a Festival that focuses on the creativity of new talents in all fields- music, street-art, writing, photography, sculpture, painting and videos.The event started in 2006 from the idea of a group of young people from Trescore Balneario. In some time it developed thanks to the collaboration of many people working to promote culture in the area, like various city mayors, pub-owners, theatre managers.Once they have collected all the suggestions, the organizers will consider them together with their sponsors in order to organize the event in the best way. The event will be held in Bergamo and surroundings, stretching out to Milan and further for the music bands, so they can play on even more stages.

The main event starts in June, from Friday the 6th to Sunday the 8th, at the Oratorio in Trescore Balneario and here there will be a presentation of the other initiatives. Here, in detail, time and place of the various concerts: - Live Club in Trezzo Sull’Adda -MI- (from February): opening act for italian or foreign bands-Edonè, Bergamo: (29 March 2014) INFESTADO ELECTRIC NIGHT- Café de la Paix - Polaresco, Bergamo: (10 May 2014) INFESTADO ACOUSTIC NIGHT – four unplugged concerts-Infestado Festival per “Gli Altri Siamo Noi” at the Oratorio S. Giovanni Bosco di Trescore Balneario (BG): from Friday 6th to Sunday 8th June three days of music, exhibitions, meetings and more-Music for Emergency, Cenate Sotto -BG- (July): The stage management promises a quality show-Bum Bum Festival 2014, Trescore Balneario -BG- (from Thursday 21th to Sunday 31th August): at least 4 bands will play the opening act for other bands of national fame.INFESTADO is a well structure event in which the chosen artists will be able to distinguish themselves for their creativity, quality and passion giving them a chance to confront and improve.For further information:https://myspace.com/infestadofestivalhttps://www.facebook.com/infestado.page

Contact: infestadofestival@gmail.com

I n f e s t a n d oA F E S T I V A L T H A T

P R O M O T E S A R T

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By Cristina GianniniSelena Magni

Make upJust think of the 50s pin-up fashion, that changed into an exaggerated one in the 60s and 70s, and then again became colourful in the 80s. In the new millennium, the most famous catwalks saw the contribution of Pat McGrath, who gives texture to her make-ups using the same materials of the collection, like fabric, beads or microcrystals. Sometimes, she emphasizes the eyes with rectangular shapes, or she applies lipstick in a way that makes the lips look like they are not in the centre of the face. The make-up world is drawing more and more inspiration from the painting world, for example in Body Painting. The colours used for this art have always been similar to watercolours. Indeed, the most famous brand is called Aquacolor, because the colour takes a creamy texture when moistened, just like M.A.C.’s Chromacakes do. As a matter of fact, M.A.C., one of the leader brands in the make-up industry, has just come out with a new line of Pro products called Acrylic Paint. These colours can be used for Face & Body Painting and have just the same texture as real acrylics. With these pigments, “palettes” will become even more useful. Make-up artists already use palettes to mix various shades of products, for example foundation, to get the perfect match.A still fairly new invention, which is slowly winning over the great makeup aficionados, is the so-called Airbrush, similar to the airbrush used by artsits. This tool works with compressed air and it is used to spray liquid colours. It is used to apply foundations, blushes and bronzers in a more uniform way and it blends the various shades more easily than a brush. This tool has long been used in painting. Make-up and painting only differ in the canvas they use, but they influence each other and are part of the same world: art.

Arte & Make up T W O F A C E S O F

C R E A T I V I T Y

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To an inexpert eye, Art and Make-up might seem two completely different worlds, but those who work in the Fashion industry know perfectly well that they are two sides of the same coin. Indeed, they are both based on Creativity.You just have to watch professional Make-up artists at work to see how much dedication lies beneath every one of their creations. Each Make-up artist spends days, sometimes even weeks, designing every make-up for the models down to the finest detail.The creative process starts with a Face Chart, the image of a face on paper on which Make-up artists draw a sketch of their make-up, just like an artist on its sketch pad. Then the execution begins and the sketch takes shape on a real face, these artists’ canvas.The aim of a MUA (Make-Up Artist) is changing the models’ features, using the techniques of contouring and shading, giving a more three-dimensional effect to the face, illuminating the skin and bringing out the best features – like you would do for a commissioned painting.Another reason why the art of make-up is also similar to painting is that both use brushes. Eye shadows and face powders have always been applied with soft and silky brushes. Make-up style also evolved with art movements, fashion changed completely over few decades.

By Serena Secco-Anna Crippa

Vito Nesta D E S I G N E R

Vito Nesta is a young designer and illustrator known for his home-design project “Sartoria”, a collection with a strong link to fashion. Vito is an artist

with a determined and sensitive personality.Born in Puglia, Vito grew up in Caracas. Thanks to his travels and the masters that inspire him, he understood the creative and humorous traits of objects, which he often recycles, putting them together in peculiar ways.His pieces are authentic works of art. The project is a sum of all these experiences blended together, born from a fugacious idea, like a quick sketch on a sheet of paper drawn before it fades away.Emotion is the key word, the final goal of every designer.

Vito NestaThe Art of Reinvent ing

By Angelica Grittani-Selena Magni

I L D E S I G N E Rs p e a k s o f

h i m s e l f-Did the environment you grew up in affect you in some ways?My mother was born in Caracas, in Venezuela, from an Italian family that moved there in the 60s. My grandmother was a tailor and ran a fashion atelier. I’ve been many times in Caracas, a place that is totally different from anywhere in Europe, and I have a lovely memory of it. -You travelled much abroad and you visited many countries with a very different culture, how did this experience educate you?I love travelling and I did it many times, I believe that a good artist needs to absorb new cultures, discover and study things that no book or research can teach you. When I design, I think about the colours, images and smells of the places I’ve been to, they belong to my cultural baggage and they reappear on the surface like oil stains, memories of places or objects that caught my attention.-Where did you study and in what did you specialized?I have a deeply artistic soul, so I’ve always had clear ideas about what I wanted to study. I attended an Art School and from 2000 to 2006 I was a pupil of the great Pasquale Guastamacchia, who left a mark in the art of the 60s and who was pupil of Venanzo Crocetti, famous Italian sculptor. I was one of his favourites and I learned the art of observing and creating- I started with the recycling of objects. Then I attended university in Florence and studied Industrial Design, a bachelor degree, very useful to get acquainted with other artists, architects and important personalities like Simone Micheli and Gianni Veneziano, who are teachers at the University. After my graduation I started travelling and I spent two years in London but I wanted to come back to Italy with a “Made in Italy” project. I came to Milan, where I started working on personal projects until I finally got to “Sartoria”.

-Your collection “Sartoria” presents some objects tied to the folklore and to your childhood. What did it mean to you to reinterpret them?After the first publication on Marieclaire, some people contacted me to buy the collection. A lady even told me that she had cut out the picture of a thimble and put it in her drawer because it reminded her of the thimble her grandmother used to sew. I knew I had achieved my goal: to get to people’s heart with an emotion. The elements of the collection (thimble, buttons, bundles, needles and thread) besides being objects of design to use as plates, vases, salt and pepper holders and so on, are also related to the world of fashion and were much appreciated by people working in that field. The pop colour gives that playful feeling bound to childhood memories that I want my works to convey.-Is there someone or something that is particularly inspiring for you?Traditions, flavours, people, places, travels and memories. In “Sartoria” the memory of my grandmother is very strong, in other works I wanted to underline my being from Puglia. There is a person I admire greatly and who I follow with passion: Paola Navone, an international designer whose talent is something I aspire to reach, even just partially.-What, in your opinion, is really important in an object? The functional or the emotional side?The use is important in an object, it is necessary, but it differs from the original purpose. Very few objects move us and keep their value despite the time passing. Personally, I adore the Dar chair (made by Vitra) whose legs look like the base of the Eiffel Tower. I think it’s a unique seat because, besides being the first ever to be made of plastic, it’s the only one among the millions on sale that really gives me an emotion.-What are the essential tools in your job?Drawing is a great passion of mine, I am also a drawer. I can’t be without paper and black Bic pen, with pastels is even better. It is essential to me to sketch an idea on paper as soon as it comes to my mind, as far as this is cthat strikes my attention, I feel the need55

to transfer it on paper, to tell about it. I don’t care about the shape, it ’s just a sketch, a simple pen stroke.-How does a project come to life? Is there any link between the drawings and the projects you fulfil? If I have to draw and design glasses, I’ll draw glasses. It ’s a translation of the idea that came into my mind. Other drawings are just exercises, with no designing purpose, fantasies more similar to art. I keep my drawings in a filer and I wait to see what happens: I might give them away, sell them, maybe lose them. I might decide to make a display. Abandoned projects can become something completely different. Sometimes the drawing materializes thanks to a revision of its measures, proportions and materials and it becomes the final object.-What about your relationship with technology? How useful it is and how does it influence your work?I think that artistic skills are unlikely to match technologic skills. I’m very fond of paper and pen and therefore I’m not very used to the computer because it ’s distant from my working attitude, distant from my way to conceive a project. Anyway, to finish a project you need both the first draft and the technical drawing. If you have to show it to a firm you’ll obviously need a computer rendering to explain the project in the best way. When I show my drawings to a craftsman in his workshop I simply use my own words to explain what I’d like to obtain. -You are called “the wizard of upcycling”- do you agree with this name?Before “Sartoria” I made some objects using the spring of a shock absorber and a ploughshare that I had found by chance in a car wrecker in Puglia while looking for things to inspire me. I fixed and polished them and I turned them into design objects by soldering them together. For example there is “Mollino”, a stool with a spring, or “Medusa”, born from a ploughshare and some insulators from the power line poles, topped with glasses. Upcycling is a sort of recycling thanks to which objects that are at the end of their life can get a new one.

-In a recent interview artist Jeff Koons declared: “The greatest wish of an artist is to understand how everything works. Art is an exercise of freedom.” What do you think?Art is actually very important. There’s no future without art. We live on emotions, sensations, surprises. If all these things didn’t exist, we would only perform ordinary actions like getting up in the morning, washing, going to work and then going to sleep. I believe that art in all its aspects, being it fashion, design, painting or poetry, is something we need to go on living and the better we know what art can give us, the closer we get to freedom. -What advice would you give to a beginner?It is about fighting for a dream and unfortunately the designer’s life is not an easy one.It is a very complex job. Conceiving a project is not enough, you need to be economically self-sufficient, to know how to promote your project in the best way and also you’d better be able to do many different jobs in alternative. My advice is to keep your feet on the ground and never be reckless- don’t be eager to be quickly famous because it takes nothing to lose fame. You get famous thanks to long-term choices. It is better to show yourselves through a project that is really worth making, something that rewards you and allows you some freedom. Among the difficulties there is an inversion of tendency: some time ago the companies were in search for new projects and creativity and looked for artists and designers, now the same companies have lots of projects available, lots of people who want to design something for them, so they make a strict selection and choose a famous name instead of a newcomer.-What is, in your opinion, the best showcase? Displays, exhibitions, magazines or the internet?I think that magazines and publications provide good feedbacks. On a magazine the object describes itself and information starts to spread. Obviously, a good portfolio is essential to introduce yourself. Through the internet it is possible to attract the interest, sharing your work and getting people involved. Exhibitions are best for selling- they mostly have commercial purposes.

“Creativity is without any doubt the most important of the human resources. Without

creativity, there would be no progress and we would always repeat the same schemes.”

Edward De Bono

In this period of recession that our country is facing together with the rest of Europe, one might think that the creativity sector is undermined but actually is one of the sectors that is still in development, because it acts as an incentive to overcome the difficulties. In Italy, every artists’ conditions are made worse by two main reasons.On one hand, the internal structure of the art market is divided into many different professions and this makes it difficult to have a proper representation in the trade unions. On the other hand, a problem that almost all the professions are facing today derives from the need to economize and avoid any possible expense. Nevertheless, creativity in Italy has not quenched yet, in fact, it is still an excellence that our country can be proud of. Made in Italy is regarded and praised all over the world for its ability to create products that only the Italian heritage could possibly design, and it’s the only one that is capable of respecting rigorous standards of quality that other countries envy. According to a 2013 report by Unioncamere-Fondazione Symbola, two millions Italians are active in the creative sector and they produce 5,8% of the national GDP in the cultural industry, valued 80,8 billions of Euro.In such a great market with so many difficulties, how can artists distinguish themselves? 2.0 web is only one of the many means that established new market relationships in the past few years, and today these means are essential to stand out. Showing here one’s works is the first step towards success. No one ever said it was easy, but it’s surely worth trying.

Creativity is still alive

C r e a t i v i t y

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