Today I am really happy and pleased to present you
Claudia Ligari, a fashion designer whose work I simply adore and I am following from 2011, when she established her eponymous brand, characterized by an unconventional triumph of femininity and inspired by a strong woman, non-conformism and androgynous vibe.
"The soul of a garment can only be expressed from the person that is wearing it. The right person makes the garments alive; the wrong person makes them simply garments." these are the words that describe perfectly her design manifesto.
In the last few months she presented her seventh collection, the S/S 2014 that I am showing you here, she left London, moved her production and now talking to me, sincerely, directly and open as she is. Let´s start from the beginning…
Who is Claudia Ligari?
Italian born fashion designer, adopted by London since 2004. Graduated from Istittuto Marangoni in Milan in 2004, after quite few painful years of random jobs in retail and a pretty good career as a senior designer for most of the well-known British high street brands I’ve finally launched my very first collection in SS11. I have a strong personality, stubborn but not so difficult to deal with, always hungry for newness and bored of things too quickly. I love my job but not so much the fashion world in general and when I create my mind is a mess!
What is your current state of mind?
Up and down, excited but scared at the same time. I just moved back to Italy after 9 years in London and it’s a pretty big challenge!
What is your motto?
If you want something done properly do it by yourself!
What is your obsession?
Not sure, I guess I’m obsessed by the fact of asking constantly to myself if I am happy or not
Your last dream (during sleeping :) )?
Really weird! I was like an actor in my own movie/dream. I was presenting my latest collection in London but everything was going wrong and we didn’t have drinks or music…and then, when we finally managed to sort everything out and started dancing all of the sudden the war exploded around us!! Some random people where shooting us and I kept running around from one room to the other but what was also weird was the fact the in one room everyone seemed to be pretty happy and relaxed and kept having fun when in the other room everyone was about to die or shooting someone else!! Horrible!…I guess it reflects the state of my mind at the moment…a bit shook up.
What is your best quality and what is your biggest weakness?
I am very tenacious but too impulsive
Which talent would you most like to have?
I’d love to be an amazing seamstress but I just don’t have the patience…
What would you change about yourself?
As I mentioned above I’d love to be less impulsive and more rational sometimes.
What the word freedom means to you?
Everything. If I don’t feel free I can’t live happily. I’m a very independent person and I hate when situations or people come my way and hold me back from what I have to do.
Best and worst memory?
Best memories are about the first few years that I lived in London, is when I finally found myself and friends who truly understood me. Worst memory is when my sister had an accident and she was badly injured…in those moments you stop leaving and just hanging in a parallel world, horrible.
In what occasion do you lie?
When I know it’s best for everyone not to know the truth, we call it “white lies” right?
Which smell remembers you your childhood?
My parents’ house by the sea, every time I go there all the smells take me back in time.
As a child what you thought you will become when growing up?
A Fashion Designer, never changed my mind
What turns you into become a fashion designer?
Not sure, just always wanted to do it even thought I was born in a small village and nobody knew anything or was even remotely interested about fashion
What inspires you and what distracts you (turn you off) creatively?
Just been few days in Barcelona and that was very inspiring, just seeing different things makes my mind fantasizing. Rules or absence of freedom in life are killing my creativity.
How much does intuition play a part in the way that you work?
I would say 50/50. It helps to design something that people will want to wear and buy but I believe it’s better to do what you love always, regardless of what is going on out there.
What do you think of the fashion system?
Bla bla bla….fashion should look more at substance and not on surface. There are so many amazing designers out there that never get noticed and so many more who are overrated or get their way in just because they have money but no talent.
Top 3 designers?
What about new way of communication, like blogging?
I don’t mind it, but unfortunately it’s more about surface…
Do you follow any blog?
Not really, I look at few people from time to time but don’t follow constantly
Top 3 magazines?
Don’t know, I don’t buy many magazines, sometimes I don’t buy them for ages! I don’t like to be too aware of what is going on around me, especially when I create. I like to stay true to myself as much as possible. But I always loved Numéro for the graphics
Best movie, track, album, exhibition or event?
What is your personal style and who do you mostly wear?
I tend to always wear the same things and actually my wardrobe it’s pretty small. I like to get rid of things from time to time as it makes me feel better and gives me a good vibe, new start! I always wear black because it makes me feel comfortable with myself . Lately I have been wearing loads of my stuff mixed with Acne’s. I love what they do (not everything!!) I think they are the “new fashion”, tasteful, clean, comfortable and still quite affordable.
Your Top 5 essentials?
Chunky shoes
black long vest
comfortable trousers
a leather bag
Let´s talk ybout your professional part and how everything started. You told once, that when you moved to Milan, to study fashion, you actually didn´t know a lot about fashion. How then you knew that this is the right study to go, that this is something you would like to work (let´s just say) for the rest of your life? What made you that decision?
As I mentioned before I didn’t know if it was the right decision, I just felt that was a passion I really wanted to discover. Sometimes I still don’t know if I took the right decision but when I see all the support coming from all of you, than is when I know it was totally worth it.
Your very first work in fashion was an internship for Missoni, then you worked as an assistant for Giorgio Armani (when he still was at Erreuno, a brand that he established before becoming what he is today) and then when you decided to move to London, you were accepted as an intern for Alexander McQueen. Three big names, but three totally different aesthetics. Could you describe these experiences and how these experiences influenced on your future work and aesthetic?
You are right, three completely different aesthetics. With Missoni it was a truly beautiful experience: first of all the studio was based in a forest in the outskirts of Varese, near Milan. The most wonderful thing about Missoni was the fact the everything was made there. Their famous colorful fabrics where entirely knitted at the studio, faraway from indiscrete eyes so you felt privileged to be able to see and learn that. Also all the production was done there.. it’s a proper family business and it makes you feel part of something very special. The design studio could only have one intern and this is why everything was amazing, you could learn and help and see things from very close by and be involved in every different aspect. It was a 24/7 job, very tiring but worth the pain.
With Erreuno was a completely different story. By that time I’ve graduated and my taste was already taking a quite “minimalistic” direction but unfortunately the company was producing for a target woman that wasn’t really my cup of tea!! But nothing negative as it was still really good to have the opportunity to work alongside the creative director Sonia Speciale and assist her on every aspect of the creation of a collection, from sketching to final product. The fact that was Armani who found it made the whole story more interesting as even after so many years you could still see his signature. I respect him very much as he changed to way to perceive and wear fashion.
When I than landed and internship at McQueen I was the happiest person on heart but also a bit shook up as the way of working there was completely different from Italy.
See, in Italy design studios are more selective and can only have a small amount of interns whether in London each studio tend to have a massive amount of students so it can be quite dispersive and sometimes frustrating as you are working on a piece of jigsaw puzzle but not quite sure on how the all picture will look like or what are they trying to achieve. On the other side it was actually really nice to work with so many students from all over the world as we were also teaching things to each other and supporting each other though sleepless night! It was interesting to see the different approach to fashion and different way of working, it was mainly manual and I love to work manually, I’m not a computer person.
I am not sure if any of those influenced who I am now as a designer but certainly thought me what good fashion is made of.
You established your brand in 2011, when you presented your S/S 2011 collection. What was the turning point to make you to take a decision to establish your own brand? I guess it is really risky and you have to be brave, especially what is happening in last years. Describe, please, the process of making a brand. How to start, especially if you maybe don´t have a strong financial background?
Actually, it all started with my mum suggesting me I should enter this competition in Spain…to enter, you needed to present at least 2 collections and at that time I only had my graduate collection. It was 2 weeks to the deadline and so in one night I’ve designed a small capsule collection of 10 outfits and produced it all in 2 weeks including all the material requested such as sketch books, spec sheets, look book and so and so. It was absolutely insane!!!!! I was working for someone else during the day and working on my stuff at night. I think I’ve never been so tired in my entire life!!
At the end, I didn’t even pass the first selection but I’ve got noticed from Blow PR, one the most famous and well known PR agencies in London who offered to present me to the market and took good care of me for the first few seasons….and so here I am. It’s been a great journey so far but I am glad you mentioned the financial side of it. I used to have a full time job designing for another company and I was the only person financing the label and I still am…. It’s been super hard as doing collections it’s like feeding a baby constantly and so I was broke all the time and my life changed completely. But I was happier and I still am, it’s still hard, especially now that I left my job to look after my label full time but things are working out and I am positive it can only get better. You have good and bad times but you can’t let go on something you have been spitting blood for so long and especially on something that despite all the negative side it’s all yours. Sometimes I can’t believe how fortunate I am to be doing something I love every day…
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