Dear Shaded Viewers,
I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvio with Diane Pernet in Paris during his Fall Winter presentation. Sharp and tender, sleek and strong, soft and embracing. Sylvio Giardina perfectly blends his Italian and French origins with a sartorial know-how for challenging conventional shapes, all to celebrate innovation, classicism and elegance. Mr Giardina is a creative professional with a dual identity. He was born in Paris and educated in Rome. After studying at the Academy of Costume and Fashion until1996, he worked in for Rome for the prestigious Maison Gattinoni. Then in 1998, he paired together with Antonio Grimaldi to create Grimaldi Giardina Haute Couture, whose success in Italy gained an invitation from the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to show in Paris, where they presented for three seasons. Though it wasn’t until January in 2011 that Sylvio created his own namesake. Allowing him to constantly search for dynamic silhouettes, Sylvio’s work does not, however, lose touch with reality; he is adamant to keep his clothes wearable.
The fall/winter collection named ‘Black Mirror’ looks once again at how art comes to play an important role in Mr Giardina’s style. A small, dark, slightly convex object with a black tinted surface fascinated him. It was the ‘Claude Glass’, which distorts and abstracts landscape sceneries, whilts blurring details and so in a way, unifies shape and line. The collection began with this vision, where different fabrics and shapes blend in a constant tension between past and future, reality and fiction. Polished and mirroring fabrics create optical and vibrant sci-fi effects, giving way to pure geometric shapes defined by brown, navy blue and hazel hues set in velvet. He also shows good variation as a designer, with the little black dresses made of pleated leather, long neoprene evening gowns, and exaggerated bomber jackets made from glitter jersey (that looks like leather), as well as silk and tulle pieces that almost wear as nude, but always chic. These looks that could please the likes of Rachel from Blade Runner also have a retro twist with the Plexiglass and tortoiseshell necklaces and earrings (Beth Ditto is a brand new fan) reminiscent of the 60s. It’s all a little wardrobe of dreams made from a futuristic, stylish and innovative collection.
Later,
Giorgia
