When I was still living in my home country(I've lived in the UK for 5 years now) I worked as a designer for a large fashion chain. I designed so called 'heavy garment' - mainly jackets, coats and trousers. I worked in the women's department for a while, but personally I prefer minimalism, and this was reflected strongly in my designs, which were described as 'too raw'.
I asked to be transferred to the men's department - and there I felt immediately at home. Dusty, muted colours are definitely closer to my heart and aesthetic, and it worked out perfectly - they were also the most saleable. If you were to believe our sales statistics, you would think that men in central Europe (apart from Poland we had shops in Germany, Russia, Hungary, etc.) wear only navy blue, black and dark grey :D
One of my duties as a designer was to go to fashion fairs, mainly in Italy and Paris. Florence's Pitti Uomo is one of the most important events of its kind and that's where we went every year in search of inspiration, new materials and shapes.
What is exactly a Pitti Uomo?
Pitti Uomo, translated into English is simply Pitti Men. It's one of the worlds most important platforms for launching new projects in men's fashion and is held twice a year in Florence, at the Fortezza de Basso, with the first ever edition being held in 1972. For over 60 years, Pitti Uomo has served as one of the most important men's trade fairs, more specifically in Italy's main fashion sector, “ready-to-wear fashion.” Every year, for four days in January and four days in June, Florence becomes the capital of men's fashion.
Luckily, one year the graduate of the local fashion school - Martin, went with us. He knew Florence like the back of his hand and not only showed us places that are not crowded with tourists, but still extremely charming. And most importantly, he told us that during Pitti Uomo, in order to gain an even bigger audience (the city is jammed at this time with designers and artists and curators of all kinds) - there is a public defence of the 'Polimoda' fashin school's diplomas. When he mentioned the aspiring new designers to us - we were all excited, so we cleared a few hours of the fair to see the diploma defences.
I must admit that the whole event exceeded my expectations. The richness of designs, cuts, patterns, textures as well as the way they were presented - completely stunned me. Although I privately prefer very minimalist designs - I couldn't get enough of the lace, ruffles and hand-painted fabrics. The models presenting the outfits could be seen first in the beautiful building - and then there was the presentation of the individual artists and collections in front of the building. Each designers had to present five silhouettes.
I took hundreds of photos, but the whole place was very crowded, so not many of them are really suitable for presentation.
Still in the building - the models presenting the collections were fantastically 'exposed'. Everything felt more like an art presentation in a museum than the vibrant atmosphere of a fashion show. What do you think, will any of them achieve fame on the scale of Alexander McQueen?
In addition to the fantastic and utterly twisted designs, it is also worth noting the building itself, where the defence took place. Baroque frames, gold and crystal chandeliers paradoxically blended perfectly with the modern designs. If you are not particularly interested in fashion - it is still worth to check out the interior of the building itself, it is truly marvellous:)
Besides the diploma defences - you could also admire the fruits of the work of the best graduate of industrial design - handbags, shoes, etc.
Even though I was into fashion with both feet at the time, and watched fashion shows every day to keep up with trends - I was still surprised and amazed by many things. Unusual combinations, the rediscovery of forgotten fabrics, or the use of materials that we don't usually associate with clothes - all this was captured in many designs with extraordinary sensitivity.
I hope that you too will find these designs interesting - or at least - they make you smile:)
Have a lovely weekend!
Yours,
Strega Azure
P.S. I am trying to get badge for 'weekly author'. What do you think? How am I doing?
2 days to go! Wish me luck!
v
All pictures are my authorship if not stated otherwise.
All rights reserved @strega.azure ©
Posted via Ecency
All rights reserved @strega.azure ©