Dear Shaded Viewers,
Each summer, AltaRoma collaborates with Vogue Italia on a project to discover and nurture Italy’s most promising new talents in women’s wear and accessories—and to reinforce the traditional values of Made in Italy craftsmanship. This edition of Who Is On Next? was the first since the untimely passing of Italian Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief, Franca Sozzani. (Three years ago, Franca organized a terrific exhibition and party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Who Is On Next? You can view my report here.)
This edition saw the debut of Vogue Italia’s new Editor-in-Chief, Emanuele Farneti, on the jury of industry experts, which also included Godfrey Deeny (my old pal from the raucous Fashion Rio days!), now Editor-in-Chief of FashionNetwork.com, Suzy Menkes, Vanity Fair Fashion Director Jessica Diehl, AltaRoma president Silvia Venturini Fendi, designer Marco De Vincenzo and many others.
Buongiorno! My friend the journalist Rebecca Voight encountered four of the Who Is On Next? competitors at the Rome Times Hotel on the morning of the runway show. From left and clockwise: Marco Rambaldi, Taller Marmo duo Yago Goicoechea and Riccardo Audisio, and Davide Grillo. “The future of Italian fashion, four young designers with great ideas and the spirit to build their own brands, having breakfast at my hotel this morning,” wrote Rebecca on her social media feed. I wonder what they talked about? Maybe it’s time for a Who Is on Next? reality show…there’s definitely enough photogenic eye candy.
Marco Rambaldi
Born in Bologna in 1990, Marco Rambaldi studied fashion at the Università Iuav di Venezia where he graduated in 2013. He launched his first women’s wear collection in early 2014 and moved to Milan. This collection he showed in Rome (my favorite from the competition) had a few pieces that quite reminded me of the hippie clothes from the “Counter-Couture” exhibition at the Museum of Arts & Design, which I covered for ASVOF back in March.
Marco Rambaldi
Marco Rambaldi
Marco Rambaldi
Marco Rambaldi
Marco Rambaldi has good taste in music.
Act N°1
The winners of this year’s competition, designers Luca Lin and Galib Gasanov founded Act N°1 in Reggio Emilia last year. The name of the brand refers to their infancy, the so-called first act of their lives. The story they want to tell is of their multicultural backgrounds: their childhood, their homes, ancient Chinese art and Azerbaijani craftsmanship.
Their clothes, according to the designers, are about fusing “naive memories, innocent constructions, playful prints, eye-catching materials and handmade embroidery.” And perhaps they are destined for pop-culture notoriety: After the show, W Magazine proclaimed, “Listen up, Rihanna: Act N°1 Is the Newest Award-Winning Fashion Label and It’s Right Up Your Alley.”
Act N°1
Act N°1
Act N°1
Galib Gasanov and Luca Lin of Act N°1 eschew sneakers.
Davide Grillo
Last January, I was delighted to discover for the first time the enchanting clothes of Davide Grillo at A.I. Artisanal Intelligence’s “Studio” exhibition at AltaRoma. His inclusion in this year’s Who Is On Next? is well-deserved. Only 24-years-old, Davide started his fashion career at the Isituto per l’Arigianato della Moda in Parma and continued his studies at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design in London, and Nafa Fur Studio in Toronto. His hands-on experience comes from working for various artisans and workshops in Parma.
Davide Grillo
Davide Grillo
Davide Grillo
Davide Grillo
Davide Grillo is adorable.
Cora
After graduating from the Politecnico in Milan, Cora designer Clara Giaquinto spent several years working in the fashion industry in Australia, Bali and New York. This collection’s prints reflect her interest in Italian art and culture, while her exclusive fabrics and meticulous embroidery demonstrate her dedication to quality. File this one under ‘Luxury.’
Cora’s Clara Giaquinto has found her prints charming.
Taller Marmo
The clothes designed by the design duo of Taller Marmo (taller is Spanish for “workshop”; marmo is Italian for “marble”) are produced exclusively in Italy be skilled craftswomen. Who else but women could help transform Zorro into a female hero? Fond of nostalgic touches, designers Riccardo Audisio and Yago Goicoechea merged Sergio Leone romanticism with eye-popping prints. (And yes, Quentin Tarantino, if you are reading this: There was Ennio Morricone on the soundtrack.)
Taller Marmo
Taller Marmo
Taller Marmo
Taller Marmo
Taller Marmo
Yago Goicoechea and Riccardo Audisio of Taller Marmo bring new panache to the untucked shirt.
Minimal To
Founded in Turin in 2011 by Elisa Mazza, Danila Olivieri and Stefano Sberze, Minimal To makes clothes inspired by the designers’ “multi-faceted experiences and observations of today’s rapidly changing society.” Each piece in this collection, meticulously handmade and screen-printed, is the result of in-depth research on techno and natural fabrics. For me, it was elegance with an edge.
Minimal To
Minimal To
Minimal To’s Elisa Mazza, Danila Olivieri and Stefano Sberze are not interested in synchronizing their post-show bows.
Thank you for reading.
Baci,
Glenn Belverio
