Growing Up
AC: When did you know that you wanted to go into fashion?
AB: Round about the age of 9. My parents are Italian (but we lived in England) so they would love to dress us up. One of my earliest memories was when I was having my photo taken at school. I came home at lunchtime and made the mistake of telling my mother. She made me wear a tie, jumper and a jacket when everybody else was wearing a T-shirt. But, it was interesting because there was five of us in the family. Each one of us was dressed individually. So, as a child I was very aware of clothes which sparked something in me to do something in fashion.
AC: It obviously was an influence on you and I know one of your sisters is also in fashion. Did it have an effect on any of your other brothers and sisters?
AB: It had an effect on all of us. But my sister Piera was the most influential.
She is the Press Office for Issey Miyake - London. She has an incredible amount of style and an eye for detail. She definitely is on the ball.
Studying at Central Martins
AC: It wasn't your first attempt to get into Central St Martins. It took several attempts.
AB: No, I got in on the third attempt. The first time I did a BTEC in fashion and they put me into the 2nd year which sounded like a good idea at the time but I had a very academic background - I went to an all boys school. When I went to see my careers master to tell him what I wanted to do, "Fashion", he asked me to leave the room. Getting into St Martins was a way of showing him that I had succeeded in my goal. I didn't learn too much only what I already knew and what I had learned from Piera. So I decided to apply to St Martins and they put me on the reserve list, which for me, was as though I had got in. They told me to persevere. For that year, I worked really hard on my portfolio. I went back the following year and I was rejected which was very hard, as it was something that I always wanted to do. Without telling anyone I applied again. At about that time Piera was working for John Galliano - as his PA - she told me about a job that was available. On the same day that I went for an interview at Central St Martins I applied for a job at John Galliano (as production assistant) and got both. So, it all worked out quite brilliantly.
AC:Did going to St Martins meet your expectations?
AB: Everyone who made it in Britain fashion came from St Martins. St Martins students were renown for being at every party and being what was British fashion. At that time, if you really wanted to study fashion you had to go to St Martins there was no other place you could go. The mixture of any thing and everything was possible and it being the place to go to if you wanted a career in fashion made people really want to go there despite what bad things they heard about.
AC: Whilst you were there what was your darkest and warmest memories?
AB:Even though it has a great history of producing great designers/artists if you like, what was fascinating about St Martins was that there was nothing for you to go by. There was no work on the walls. You couldn't see anybody's work. It was the kind of place where everything was kept under wraps everybody was secretive about what they did. The great thing about the place was that you set your own rules as long as they were feasible and disciplined.
AC: You say you have to be disciplined were you?
AB :In the first year I was. You were afraid of everyone being better than you.
AC: When you graduated I think you broke a lot of boundaries as the other shows were quite mad and conceptual where as yours was sleek, very beautiful. You had shoes from Manolo Blahnik, perfume made in your own name. For me, it was a complete turn around that students now behave more professionally and treat the graduation shows as a business. How difficult was it to battle against the conceptual side?
AB: St Martins was not only about designing and making clothes it was about looking amazing, a chance to be seen and be photographed. Every trick in the book was done to make people take notice. That was what St Martins was about. Before my finals, I had taken a year off to work for John in Paris and then I worked for Jasper so, when it finally came for me to do my degree show I thought it was really important to make people take notice. As a student it meant, to me, that it may be the last chance you get to do a show and everyone has to take notice. So, the reason behind me doing the perfume is in Paris, on the chairs, there was perfume. I think it was really about thinking "big". You wouldn't survive in St Martins if you didn't and you really couldn't survive anywhere else. Strangely enough, I am a very timid person but I channel myself through my clothes (even though they are not for me). People were using plaster on clothes, so to get people like Manolo and Stephen Jones was to show I too could be professional in an environment like St Martins. I wanted to go beyond being conceptual.
Entering the Real World
AC: Did you find it difficult repeating the same feat in the real world at London Fashion Week?
AB: I think it was strange. Having the perfume annoyed an incredible amount of people. But what I thought was if you didn't ask you didn't get. I thought, why not try? The more you involve people the more they want to do. So when it came to doing the first show you were safe as a student as you had somebody there but going it alone you were worried that people wouldn't turn up, or people would hate the show. I became completely paranoid, as I had nothing to go by. It was like starting college again. It was the kind of thing you just didn't want to go through again as it was like going through the dark with no one to guide you. It was amazing experience but it was a frightening experience as it was about techniques and beading and fine fabrics that people were not using at a time when everybody was conceptual and using technology. It was very different for that time possibly that helped because it was a break from the norm.
Techniques
AC: A lot of British designers/Internationals designers are noted for a particular area. Alexander McQueen tailoring, Clements Ribeiro for their prints what do you think you are strong at/are particularly good at?
AB: My tailoring. As it looks really simple but in fact it isn't. My philosophy is I feel things should not look laborious; they should contain the soul of the designer but speak about the person. The closer you look the more interesting they become. My clothes are not showy, for the sake of being showy, they have more substance to them. If they are perceived as showy then that is great but definitely my tailoring. As time has gone on I have worked closely with my tailors.
AC: Your style is very diverse. You are very good at strong tailoring, as well as being very feminine.
AB: Sometimes I think I am not very good at dresses but some people say: "you are but you express yourself in a different way". Sometimes the softness gives a balance to the sharpness of the tailoring reflecting my idea of a woman.
Moving to Milan
AC: Where London Fashion Week was concerned, there was you, Chalayan and Alexander at the top of the ladder. When you moved to Milan, what was the response to that? (Using the London Fashion Council as a pointer).
AB: Well I must admit, the London Fashion Council were never that nice to me cumulating when they issued me with an award then took it back, then gave it to me again. That wasn't the reason why I went to Milan. It was simply because I was having my clothes produced in Italy and my backers, at that time, said it would be a great time for you to show in Milan. The thought of working in London was fine because I lived here but Milan was frightening thought to contemplate at the time. Milan was international were as London had reached its peak it was beginning to peter. It was like people were saying we have seen the source, now the emphasis was starting to shift to different cities too.
AC: Did anybody recognise you?
AB: Some did and some didn't. In the beginning it was a frightening experience. The old brigand runs it, so it is very difficult for a young person to have a voice in Milan as other designers dictate it. However, I think they liked the idea of a British designer taking a different path and going to Italy rather than Paris.
Designing for other Labels
AC: You followed a lot of other British designers by designing for different labels like Exté how many seasons have you been doing it for now?
AB: It is only the womenswear. I have done it for three seasons.
AC: And what a lot of people do not know is that you designed for Pucci seasons before that. Do you think you got a different reaction when you designed for Pucci as it was kept very hush hush compared with when you designed for Exté which received a lot of publicity?
AB: Absolutely. What was interesting with Pucci is that they saw it for what it was. It wasn't attributed to me. When it is your own collection people were much more critical. The great thing about it was people appreciated it for being Pucci. It didn't have the Antonio Berardi scenario.
AC: Did work the other way round?
AB: Yes. I saw a friend in Milan and she said to me: "I just went to Pucci and it was awful." And I said: "Do you know who is designing it then?" She replied: "No."
If I do a collection for anyone, it is for them. I do not do it to rub my own ego it is working with their philosophy.
Final Word
AC: You have a very historical influence in your work. You tend not to go for pieces that get you column inches but, produce items which are specialist pieces that seem to be a personal goal to you to push yourself to the limit, to perfection. How difficult does it make your life?
AB: Very difficult. Some of my pieces verge on couture. Totally handmade. Show pieces have to have a reason to it. It has to have wearability.
AC: Is there something you want to be remembered for, what would it be?
AB: I don't really. Maybe I haven't done it yet. There are pieces that were right at the time there has been various things that to me has been personal triumphs to other people they might look quite ordinary but to me, personally, having that knowledge is enough. |
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