Meet Elisa Castiglioni first place leather goods winner in this years Italy 2020/21 Student Design Competition. Elisa is currently studying at Accademia Costume & Moda di Roma for a First Level Academic Diploma in Costume and Fashion.
Tell us about your project?
In the handbag capsule collection “Lucky me’ the graphic signs of John Giorno and Mark Rothko became the vocabulary of an alternative aesthetic, both natural and industrial. The neutral colour of vegetable tanned leather contrasts with the brightness of metal and liveliness of colour. Rothko’s paintings, John Giorno’s rainbow and the natural nuance of flowers petals have inspired the projects colour palette and the dominant ‘shade effect’, The visual poerty of John Giorno is here reinterpreted with the world ‘lack’, which ‘lucks’ same pronunciation but a totally different meaning. All the project’s concept works around Giorno’s mindset: a continuous opposition of elements as the only way to catch life in its entirety.
What makes leather a great material to design with?
The decision of using leather was dictated by the infinite possibilities this material can offer, and by the exiting idea of matching different elements, such as the full-bodied hand of leather, the coolness of metal and the graphic signs of lettering and bright tinges of colour. Furthermore, the use of leather allows me to experiment with three dimensional shapes which doesn’t need a body or anything else to exist: objects that have a life of their own.
What makes leather sustainable?
The nature of the leather industry, is already based on recovering materials originated by the food industry and turning them into beautiful raw materials such as hides to use for leather making. The next challenge for the industry will be to ensure its own waste products don’t become another harmful new type of waste. By working wisely on cuts, patterns and manipulations and also by improving the chemical processes applied during the production I believe we can overcome this.
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