Being one of the global leaders of the fashion-design industry, and always associated with several major luxury houses, Italy has only recently become one of the world’s rapidly-expanding emerging talent pools. This latest exciting development was only the starting point for the team behind Ob-Fashion, who quickly grasped the opportunity to build a platform that would promote the next generation of Italian fashion, providing young creatives visibility and promotion through different channels and initiatives. Today, Ob-Fashion has become the one-stop destination for everything we want to know about what has been shaking the Italian fashion scene currently – news, trends, designer reports – offering their readers a fresh yet sophisticated view of contemporary Italian fashion. Read on as we discuss promoting emerging talent worldwide, alonside the latest happenings and the hottest names of the Italian design industry.
How did you decide to start a website to showcase emerging Italian designers?
Ob-Fashion can be defined as an obsession with fashion; that’s where the name actually comes from. It is a space created to promote those who stand out, who swim against the tide, who avoid imposed imitation mechanisms, and are not victims of conformism. It springs from the need for freedom and independence. Ob-Fashion offers the young talented generation of “Made in Italy” exposure and promotion through different channels, and offers its followers a chance to experience fashion in a new and sophisticated way.
To you, what is so interesting about fashion?
Fashion is art that generates art. Designers create, and it is us who transform their creations in visual expressions. The concept of fashion is constantly evolving – once defined as the mirror of society, and nowadays as the expression of one’s own individual style. What we choose to wear, the way we combine different items, colors and shapes reveals the special aesthetic which makes each of us unique, and which, in some way, represents us to the world. Fashion is art in continuous motion, art we can constantly shape and share.
Where do emerging Italian designers seem to excel – ready-to-wear or accessories?
Honestly, there are amazing young designers in both ready-to-wear and accessories. We will say that the designers who stand out are those who focus from the start on one product category, and stick with it until they reach perfection.
Milan is known as a high-fashion capital. Are new designers following in the same style or taking a more contemporary approach?
New designers are living in an era in which there’s so much more exposure thanks to social networks and new methods of communication. This is why those who decide to follow already established fashion trends will go unnoticed. In order to differ from others, it is necessary to adopt a unique approach, to be anti-conformist, to amaze people without falling into easy excesses.
Lately, we have noticed interesting new trends based on the use of unusual materials.
Do you think that Italian designers follow successfully in the “Made in Italy” tradition of constant innovation, superior craftsmanship and premium materials?
Young Italian designers pay a lot of attention to the “Made in Italy” tradition. While in the creative process, they follow strict rules, they are very precise, remain faithful to handicraft and look for valuable fabrics and materials. Nonetheless, they offer a new vision of aesthetics which leaves behind classic elegance to create modern silhouettes, strange cuts, mix of genres, overlapping materials and unusual color combinations. All this produces an eclectic, sophisticated, contemporary style which can be defined as a new “Made in Italy.”
Admittedly, it is not easy for young designers to partake in Milan Fashion Week, which is known to support primarily big houses. Is this status changing anytime soon?
Taking part in fashion week is very hard for emerging talents, also from a budget point of view. Nevertheless, the attention given to young designers is changing. White Milano is a fashion hall which exposes contemporary brands during fashion week, and it is definitely a very interesting showcase. Furthermore, Giorgio Armani has had this much-appreciated idea of allowing one emerging designer to take over his Teatro during fashion week, and organize their own show in this marvelous setting. We really hope that many more such encouraging initiatives are taken to help young designers promote their art. This is what we at OB-Fashion are trying to do!
Do you think that emerging designers get the support they need in Italy, like in the UK and the USA?
Lately, more interest has been shown to young designers, and there are several contests, among which the most important is “Who Is On Next,” organized by Altaromain collaboration with Vogue Italia, which acts as a springboard for emerging talents. Prominent fashion websites now make space for young designers, and through their social networks one can sometimes reach more exposure and reputation than through an advertising campaign.
Are there any designers you think will soon become the next-best-thing in fashion internationally?
Without doubt the first name that comes to our minds is that of Giannico, a footwear brand established by Nicolo Beretta who is only 19 years old, and won the last “Who Is On Next” contest;
for Ready-to-Wear, we are big fans of the contemporary and underground style of MSGM, and their kaleidoscopic aesthetic that stands out immediately; when it comes to handbags, we would say Elena Ghisellini, and her unique and unmistakable style made up of unexpected details.
But we truthfully love all the designers we promote on Ob-Fashion! After accurate research and following our personal taste, we decide to give exposure to what really strikes us. And no, we receive no retribution in exchange for our promotion; we find this to be unjust and deceptive, yet unfortunately common to many fashion bloggers nowadays.
What is next for your website? Do you wish to only continue writing about Italian designers or expand in other services as well?
Ob-Fashion is a website that promotes the most interesting Italian emerging designers. It is a fairly new website, and in a way we too are emerging. There will naturally be evolution and some changes ahead, but always aiming to the promotion and exposure of “Made in Italy.”
ob-fashion.com
Images via Ob-Fashion Pinterest account
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