What leather should you buy and how?
Sourcing the right leather for your design can be quite intimidating when you first start crafting - so here’s a little bit of guidance.
Meet 23 year old Lorenzo Castano student at ACM (Academia Costume & Moda University) in Rome and participant in the Italy Student Design Competition.
Lorenzo’s designs consist of a collection of leather bags inspired by natural and organic materials featuring wood and autumnal tones such as browns, reds and yellows.
What first attracted you to use leather for your designs?
The fact that leather acquires charm over time. Today, it is important for a designer to create something that does not just last a season. I also like the fact that leather is a versatile material and there is an infinite number of types, colours, finishes and possibilities. Leather-working is very similar to oil paint: the raw material is always the same but the end result changes every time, thanks to the effects given by the hands of a painter.
Do you have any design inspirations that influence your work?
Yes, I find inspiration from different things. I like to take a lot of pictures which become an excellent basis for my work. I am also very interested in contemporary art and I cannot resist an open museum. I am a massive collector of fashion’s, illustration’s, art’s books of the present and the past. I am fond of flea markets, I like to find little treasures in the thrift shops and sometimes I find inspiration from unexpected things.
What do you think using leather allows you to do with your designs that another material or medium would not?
I really appreciate the resistance and the malleability of leather. For this project, I had the opportunity to experiment with new shapes, which I could not design with another kind of material. The final product with this material is visually stronger. Finally, I prefer to use something that comes from nature against creating something with virgin plastic.
Who do you think was the most iconic wearer of leather in fashion history?
Marlon Brando in “The wild one”. He was so iconic in his leather outfit as a motorcyclist. That outfit is still a reference in the fashion world. In my opinion, another reference is Diana Vreeland with her red snakeskin effect boots.
To check out entries from other students and more on the Student Design Competition click here!
Photo credits:
Print: ph. Tommaso Tancredi
Fb: @timmotokkinen
Ig: @tommaso_tancredi
Sourcing the right leather for your design can be quite intimidating when you first start crafting - so here’s a little bit of guidance.
A few years back, it looked like super sports brand Adidas was flirting with veganism after releasing ‘alternative leather’ versions of two of its classic shoe designs, the Continental 80 and the Samba. Now, it seems, they are firmly back in the leather
Cate Havstad-Casad, the founder and creator of Oregon-based regenerative accessories brand Range Revolution, is someone who knows that every aspect of the supply chain is crucial when it comes to ethical leather production.
Meet Lin Ting-Yu, this year's Accessory Gold Winner in the 2021 Taiwan Student Design Competition.
Subscribe to our newsletter!
Stay different with our monthly roundup, which includes the latest on leather fashion and sustainable features, competition news and more.
