Modic Interview: Emilio Bonadio, the story of a young designer
Meet Emilio Bonadio, a rising young designer that took over the world of fashion. The power of diversity, the crystal of gender equality, and the sword of knowledge are some subjects that he speaks about through his designs. He creates for the ones who don’t want to pass unnoticed and are constantly looking for a better and funnier world. Get a cup of tea or coffee, make yourself comfortable and enter into Emilio’s creative mind.
-
Emilio, what’s your story? Why did you choose to dedicate your life to fashion and design?
Emilio: I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, descending from a Venetian origin family. I’ve grown up in a middle-class family in the largest metropolitan center of the American continent. My relationship with fashion started in my childhood, because both my grandmothers were seamstresses that worked for professional tailors. Besides that, during my whole education journey, my parents always supported my passion for art and design. They have motivated my creative side as much as possible and wanted me to become an artist. In the end, somehow, I like to think that working in fashion, designing the type of garments I do, is also a kind of art.
-
How about the years spent studying fashion? Which is your biggest achievement of that period?
Emilio: I’ve graduated Fashion Design at Faculdade Santa Marcelina in São Paulo, winning at the same time two design contests that have brought me back to my ancestor’s country, Italy. Later I’ve completed my studies, attending the Master’s course of Fashion & Texile Design at Nuova Accademia Di Belle arti – Milano. I might say that representing my country and exhibiting my creations at the international contest “Touch The Fabric”, which took place in Florence and Milan, promoted by Regione Toscana and Milano Unica fair, was a highlight of that period.
-
Who is your muse and why?
Emilio: I don’t think I actually have a muse, if you’re only considering the fashion icons of our times, but I’ve recently been inspired by the stories of women of the past who have changed the history. So it’s not like a style icon, but like an ideological icon. For example, recently I was inspired by women like the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, who was the first woman to rule a country without a man at her side. I also admire the activist Patricia Galvão, who was the first woman in the American continent to go to prison for political reasons, arrested several times for fighting for equal rights among genders and social classes. In fact, my latest collection is an homage to Brazilian female national heroines who have changed history by fighting for their beliefs. It is a message of equality and female empowerment to these contemporary generations.
Check out: Modic Fashion Editorial – Off to the market by Santiago Neyra
4. Tell us about the fabrics that you use. What should we know about them? Are you interested in creating sustainable collections? What do you think about this new direction of fashion?
Emilio: Besides the printed fabrics that are all new and original hand drawn pieces, all the other materials I use, are collected from the leftovers of Italian traditional mills. These are up-cycled, but still high quality, unique fabrics, and some of them are also vintage pieces, which gained a new life over my creations. I have a real interest in creating single unique garments, so I use rare fabrics combined with plastic pieces made in Milanese Design Labs reusing the plastic left from product designers, but in my case, with a fashion language.
5. What’s new about your latest collection and what’s the message that it is sending to the world?
Emilio: As I was explaining before, my latest collection aims to tell the story of these amazing revolutionary women that changed the world and somehow sometimes are neglected when we are reading about our country’s history. As I took references from women that lived in the beginning of the 16th century until contemporary icons, I’ve used a retro-futuristic language, which have uniformed all these different aesthetics. This research about past merging with future was very important in this season to convey the idea of a timeless collection and represent the spirit of these women that were beyond their time. That’s why at the same time, you see innovative product design technologies, you also find traditional workmanships, sartorial finishings and a lot of embroidery. The message I want to send to people is that feminism and the participation of women in history is something that is very contemporary, something we owe to the pioneers from the past and also will be always important in the future.
-
Do you have a piece of advice for the women and the men that wear your design?
Emilio: People who choose to wear my creations, surely don’t want to go unnoticed, so my advice to them is to show off and have fun. My clothes were created for special moments of joy and self-confident attitude.
Modic Interview: Emilio Bonadio, the story of a young designer
-
Who is the designer that you admire the most and you would like to work with? Why?
Emilio: More than a specific designer I would say I would really appreciate to create costumes for movies and performances. Working with the cinema and theatre artists would give me the opportunity to create imaginary reality, different from ours, and that’s really interesting.
-
Can you give us a spoiler about your next line? How is it going to surprise us?
Emilio: Sure! You must be prepared for bright colors, sartorial sensuality and folkore references.
Modic Interview: Emilio Bonadio, the story of a young designer
