According to him, “reality could be the best dream possible” and it’s just by the real world that he is inspired. His are clear cloths, no frills. Created for the individual rather than the mass. We could define him as a fashion’s outsider, an intellectual, a modern Enlightenment’s follower. He has concrete ideas and knows very well what he wants to achieve. In his collections, that corporality which he speaks about is modeled, transformed, imprisoned and finally released to become it itself dreamlike, impalpable and yet present . Now, let’s know Lucio Vanotti better:
FY – Hello Lucio! How are you? Let’s start with our interview… What and how many were your experiences before founding the brand that bears your name and who is, today, Lucio Vanotti?
LV – I am very fine, I hope you are as well.
Personally, I have been working in fashion from the late 90’s. After school I started to work as a freelancer for different design studios and in 2004 I created “February”, a street advanced collection. This cohesive and rather pensive project grew year by year and in 2012 I decided: the moment to officially launch Lucio Vanotti had come.
FY – When and how was your passion for fashion born?
LV – When I was a little child, in the 80’s, fashion was everywhere, it simply was a beautiful period for Italy. I specially remember that one of our favourite games was to create dresses with blankets and sheets. In the middle of the 90’s minimalism movement, I decided to be a fashion designer. For me, this was a difficult decision, because I was also very interested in interior design.
FY – You attended the Istituto Marangoni in Milan, certainly one of the most prestigious in the world. Has this decision facilitated your future career?
LV – Ideally, I think it is very important studying in a fashion school, creating a good foundation. Nonetheless this also is correlated with the metaphor of the anteroom of a big building. In other words it is more important to follow who you are and what you want than education on its own.
FY – Last year you were one of the Who is on next? contest’s finalists. You modeled at Pitti with Francesco Alosi, Andrea Cammarosano and Erїk Bjerkesjo. What have that moment represented for you? Could we say it has been a turning point in your career?
LV – It was an interesting experience, for having both a big visibility and an exchange of experiences, and it was an absolute pleasure to be at Pitti. Personally, to me this was not a turning point, I do not feel completely at ease with competitions.
FY – In January you chose to present the new 2013-14 F/W in Paris and Milan. Why this choice? What is, in your opinion, the main difference between the French and the Italian market?
LV – I am present in Milan because I’m Milanese, I work in and remain true to Italy. Furthermore, I show in Paris because it boasts an international flair and accessibility in fashion. My wish is for Milan to return to its former fashion glory, to its profound love and support for young designers.
FY – You are a lover of clean lines, of geometric shapes, of what can be defined as a contemporary minimalism. Where do you get your inspiration?
LV – My inspiration can be found everywhere. From a Carl Andre’s work to the dashboard of an old Renault 5. To me, curiosity is the important and pivotal element. I aim to search my personal beauty everytime and everywhere.
FY – What does fashion need right now, and not only the Italian one?
LV – In my opinion, we need a more real and pensive approach to fashion design. Now fashion is contaminated by too much show, flashy styles and low quality garments. It is time for: Less and Better. And it is time for new concepts. Will humanity be reigned by large conglomerates such as Luis Vuitton and Moncler forever? I surely hope not.
FY – I think 2013 S/S and winter collections are linked by a subtle leitmotiv… Together they represent the transition from one absolutely dreamlike dimension trying to go over the dream’s boundaries to a concrete, real one placing the modern metropolitan man, disillusioned and dreamer yet ,at the heart of the world,. Told us about them…
LV – I call this : Magic Realism. A realism belonging to reason, but which is not produced by it, rather by its magic. Reality can be the best dream of all.
FY – Focusing on your last collection, which are the most representative cloths, those which contain your vision’s essence?
LV – For this collection: sky-blue shirt and sleek soft black woolen turtleneck.
FY – Which is the style of Lucio Vanotti the designer and which, instead, that of Lucio Vanotti the man?
LV – For me it’s just the same, I design exactly what I would like to wear. Because I think that what I desire, can be the same many people similar to me desire. Fashion is an acquired collective desire of beauty. Nobody invents anything, a designer’s ability is to translate such a collective desire.
FY – What would be the ideal, the perfect model for either your photographical shooting or a fashion show, and how is, on the other hand, the standard man wearing Lucio Vanotti’s?
LV – I don’t have an ideal model for shooting. For me it is all about the feeling of the moment, which changes collection after collection. Sometimes I start with an idea and then, when I see personalities, whilst casting models, this can change completely. Models, in my philosophy, are not to be considered as dummies; in fact in the past I liked to use real people, but then I realized that models are real too. I do not catalog who shall and may buy my collection. It can be an architect or a student. I think my collection is very wide, because it does not attract those who want to belong to a group, but those who aspired to be individuals. Dressing very clean leaves the individual in the foreground, rather than the garments.
FY – Is therea stylist who you feel most closely related to or who has, to some extent, influenced your art?
LV – I like to work and confront my visions with people close to me. Such as Anna Carraro of Hunter Magazine or Mara Corsino, the photographer.
FY – What about your future projects?
LV – I want to continue to work freely. In particular I would like to deepen and further explore the shoes collection.
Thanks a lot!
Below: Lucio Vanotti Spring/Summer ’13 Men Collection
