Milan Fashion Week designers recall their first-ever designs
56 views · Published 15 October 2018 · 6:46 · Indexed 7 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · Entertainment
(10 Oct 2018) MILAN FASHION WEEK DESIGNERS RECALL THEIR FIRST-EVER DESIGNS Angela Missoni grew up in the world of fashion. The creative director of fashion house Missoni took over the family business from her parents Rosita and Ottavio in 1997, after years of working alongside them. While she can't recall her first-ever design, she remembers a dress she was proud of, which was made on a "special machine" at the family's workshop in Sumirago - a commune about 40 miles from Milan. "It belonged to "a series with little stretch bustier," explains Missoni. "And with teals curl skirt with a print of roses. Yeah, that was mine... and I did the whole collection basically, based on those two body bathing suit and many other pieces.'' Veronica Etro also followed in her family's footsteps. In 2000 she became creative designer of the Donna line at Italian fashion house Etro, which was started by her father Gerolamo Etro in 1968. "I think I was five-years-old and I used to come to the office to visit my father and I remember he always kept on asking me, 'What do you like? This print? This other?' It wasn't really a design. I was good in being manual, in touching the fabrics. And I remember I was washing with the watercolors and trying gluing features, swatches of fabrics, and I did a collage that I still have. So it's really about... for me going to the office at the beginning was all about a playground.'' British designer Paul Andrew, who is part of the Salvatore Ferragamo design team, remembers his first design idea didn't go exactly as planned. ""It was actually a gold beaded sandal that I then tried to make because my father was the upholsterer at Windsor Castle and I was allowed to use some of his machinery. But it was a big disaster, I nearly sewed my finger off. But that didn't stop me from wanting to be a shoe designer nonetheless," says Andrew. Byblos artistic director Manuel Facchini recalled the first dress he designed for a fashion show, which "was like 10 years ago." "(It) was in a jacquard with sparkling details and there were some 3D shapes that, you know, follow one to the other ones. It was really, really peculiar, really different as a whole. It was like 10 years ago." Model Bianca Balti is a relative newcomer to the world of fashion design, setting up her own brand in 2017. While known primarily for her work as a model with companies like L'Oreal and Dolce and Gabbana, Balti says designing is "a long time dream and passion." "Actually my first clothes that I sewed was when I was in high school, actually. I'd love to use the sewing machine of my mom's and just make myself clothes," recalls Balti. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a334bb9c495d7d51834061b8dd164f57
