Italian Creativity

Four fashion capitals in the world, four distinctive styles and creativity. New York is simple sportswear while London is edgy and avant-garde. Paris represents elegant and romantic french style. But how to describe Italian style? It's definitely more than one or two words.

Something over the top


I have never heard of Roberto Capucci before this trip and I was surprised when I was seeing his costume designs in Capucci museum in Florence. Totally over the top! Strongly contrast colors, complicated constructions, impressive silhouettes and countless pleats, etc. I felt some of his designs were very outdated with my first glimpse, however, when I saw them closely I was definitely shocked by his great construction and sewing technique. They were over the top, but gorgeous! If I am going on the stage, I would love to wear them, no matter in the 80's or in the future. I'm sure Lady Gaga feels the same way.

As I mentioned in 'Pierre Cardin, Avant- garde never died' http://ououma.blogspot.com/2011/07/pierre-cardin-avant-garde-never-died.html, designers have to go out of limitation. Maybe those designs were inappropriate for everyday women, but they were created for his brand and his disclosure of his creativity. 

I was very inspired by his designs that I wanted to use the idea into my own collection. I always wanted to create garments with outstanding shapes with complicated delicate details. It takes time but I think I will make it. In my upcoming fourth semester, I am going to design something based on a certain culture in the world for my exhibition theme. From this trip I got many inspirations that not only for a specific collection but also for the way of designing. I remember Alexander McQueen once said he always started designing from the side view, and Capucci used to design base on shapes of some objects, such as flowers and sculptures. 

Edge and Wedge

Of course I knew who is Salvatore Ferragamo! Every girl wants his wedges! But his creation was way more than wedge heel and cage heel. I really like this tiny Ferragamo museum which next to its shop in Florence, arranging his designs chronologically and also according to different inspirations and themes. My favorite room was the one showed about six collections based on different cultures. We saw how he interpreted the spirits of distinctive cultures into his own shoe designs. Those collections arranged from Chinese, Japanese, Indian,to South African and Native American. My favorite design was the one he inspired by rhinoceros which he took the shape of the unicorn of rhinoceros and applied it into tips of shoes. They were very cool and modern!

Besides shoes, he was also an millinery designer who had tons of creative hats in the exhibition. Coco Chanel started her career from hats design, and Pierre Cardin had a decent collection of hats as well. Their career paths were somewhat similar but their styles were totally distinctive. They were all great designers and my role models.

Also those shoe modes for Hollywood celebrities made everyone so excited. Marilyn Monroe，Audrey Hepburn，Greta Garbo，Sophia Loren, and Rite Hayworth were all his clients. Hand made shoes for those great women, I would die for it if I was him.

Start from the very beginning

I still felt hard to describe my feeling when I saw the students' work in display of Polimoda Florence. They were made by first semester fashion design students! I was shocked that those muslin works were amazing and also shamed that I didn't do the same thing for my own work. We always complaining that professors in FIT give us too many limitations and requirements. They asked us to design and then they picked the one they liked. Some professors encouraged us to do whatever we wanted while others told us not to take a risk if we were not 100% sure about our designs. I complained before but I also knew this should not be the excuse for not being creative. Honestly, some of those designs were not wearable and maybe were not sold well in fashion market but we also have some crazy designers who managed both the artistic and functional sides successfully. 

They started from designing for Barbie dolls, which was my design original point as well. I have never learned how to sew by machine, neither how to drape and how to construct garments, but I made those creative garments for my Barbies. Even now after studying three semesters in FIT I am still proud of my designs.

Students from Polimoda's design for Barbie dolls.

My designs for Barbie dolls in 2007.

Keep walking and never stop.