*Interview
Giorgia Giannotta
interview + written Chidozie Obasi
“Tradition promotes the birth of art without any particular means: it comes naturally and can spring from nothing.”
Giorgia Giannotta
As Polimoda announces the “Best Collection of 2023” after its Summer show held during the last edition of PITTI UOMO, LE MILE caught up with the designer Giorgia Giannotta, to unpack all-things inspiration, craftsmanship and future hopes. Read away.
How do you think Italy has defined you as a designer?
What certainly marks out Italy is that you can do fashion here by identifying with a tradition. My grandfather was a tailor in southern Italy. He started learning the trade at 14, in a shop, and then moved North, where he opened his own tailor’s space, at home, eventually making clothes for famous people of the day. This is what Italy has rendered onto me. Tradition promotes the birth of art without any particular means, it comes naturally and can spring from nothing. In my own small way, I created my collection in a home measuring 15 square metres, and I feel great about it.
Where do you go for inspiration?
I always try to have not one but many sources of inspiration. What I try to do is integrate these inspirations to give me the tools to tell a three-dimensional and human story. So normally my inspirations aren’t tied to a particular place. I try to filter them through people, stories and events and then integrate them as organically and naturally as possible.
How do you construct your pieces?
I try to start by transferring the constructions perceived by my inspirations to the structure of the garments. At this point, I find a basic silhouette and from that I develop the real forms, changing them and producing as many variations as possible using sketches and collages. In any case, I always try to follow that special something I only realise I’ve found when I see it, often after many attempts and lots of work. I try to listen to both the garment and the concepts as they tell me which way to go.
There seems to be a lot of craftsmanship and engineering in your work. What are the techniques and processes that you use in your practice?
Manipulations are often a key aspect of my work and I tend to approach them as if they were an alchemical process whose purpose is to modulate the vibrations produced by the garments. I always experiment a lot, on both the fabrics and the material I apply to them, most of the time using the characteristic properties of organic substrates. In the case of leather, for example, I tried to exploit its reaction to heat and cold, combining the whole with different paints and in various stages. For a single manipulation, I once had to use everything from dry ice to boiling water and all kinds of synthetic and recycled materials. I’ve used plaster, paper torn and pressed onto felted wool, and much else besides.
Tell me about how you go from concept to finished product?
Because I have many sources of inspiration, I often have too many ideas, and having too many ideas means I’m then forced to discard a lot of them to be able to find the right way to connect what I’m doing to what I’m thinking about.
What’s next for you?
At the moment I’m really happy with the results I’ve had and hope that in the future too I’ll be able to enjoy my present. Maybe by working for a brand that’s seriously open to art.