Barbara Bologna, the most rebellious designer in the industry, tells her story
Barbara Bologna, the most rebellious designer in the industry, tells her story
Barbara Bologna, the most rebellious designer in the industry, tells her story On the occasion of the brand's “Favst Me - ne sors pas” campaign for Fall 22, BB talks about its creative process and the community that orbits its universe. Facebook Twitter Few brands are as punk as Barbara Bologna. The designer of the same name, in fact, uses her di lei independent brand di lei as a device to stage her di lei most authentic, subversive and radical visions-words that we can rarely associate with the luxury and fashion industry. And this time too, on the occasion of the campaign for the brand's Fall 2022 collection, Favst Me - ne sors pas , we are faced with an expanded and restarted project, a fashion idea that draws as much from the universe of the designer as from the imagination of the community that, over the years, has been created around the brand. To celebrate this new chapter of the brand, we report below an intimate interview between the designer and the creative Ylenia Bonora, the mind who thought and wrote most of the questions you find below, also collecting them among models, MUA and all the Barbara community . Spoler: after answering the questions, at the end of the interviews the designer decided to overturn her roles di lei, asking her a question to the “Family” you talk about in the interview: why Barbara Bologna? Who is Barbara Bologna and how does she describe herself today? BB: Never defeated, only older. How do you adapt your creative process to the rhythms of the fashion system? BB: At the beginning of my career it was very difficult to navigate within a time marked by fashion - I came from art and theater where time has no rules, if not creative. Now I find it inspiring to have precise timing, my creativity has adapted but without actually being stifled by it - complexity isn't lack of ideas, it's tiredness from lack of time . Manfred: You have created a real family around you, people who are 100% involved in everything that revolves around your work. How important and how much does this community affect your collections?BB: My close family is the lifeblood of many of my emotions, thoughts and reflections. Having these people around is special, at every meeting they inspire me, they open my mind to their places, I love to be welcomed into their experiences, dreams, and I always hope to give them at least double what they give me. FAVST ME - ne sors pas, your new Fall 2022 collection, brings with it a multitude of references and meanings. What challenge have you been called to face?BB: The new challenge was to clean up the superfluous and the excess, I focused in the past months on how I could keep the strength and character of Barbara Bologna leaving behind what I no longer needed and that I no longer loved. This necessity has led me to focus all energy and efforts only on myself, I could not have done otherwise, how can one instruct a new path before having lived it? As with Goethe's Faust, the protagonist of this collection, your nature is that of never complete satisfaction. Are there other similarities between you and this literary character?BB: The dedication and infinite tenacity in carrying out one's works - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took over sixty years to write Faust. And also the versatility of talents to which we are attracted, not only for what is our first and highest . The choice to divide the collection into several moods is recurrent in Barbara Bologna's vision, however the link between them is what diversifies the process from time to time. How, then, can we read these four archetypes?BB: PINK (WHATEVER): the feeling of this superficiality that often somehow amuses us. RUST (BESTIE): the arrogance of ambivalence and the fear of the consequence, the English slang which translated means "best friend" and the violence of the term in Italian that describes its brutality. GRAY (NO EMOTIONAL PEOPLE REQUIRED): the apathy of a social state, the search to anesthetize emotions as a life choice. BLACK (SIMPLE IS ENOUGH): black that seeks the necessary simplicity of him. If you had to trace each of the four moods to olfactory and gustatory stimuli how could you describe them?BB: PINK is the smell of condoms and diapers, the taste of fizzy candy. RUST is the scent of a mountain refuge, and the taste of coffee on an empty stomach. GRAY is cigarette smoke and the taste of freshly caught fish. BLACK is pepper and charcoal and a pure licorice flavor. Chiara: Is there a particular look to which you feel more connected?BB: For now there isn't one look that I feel more connected to than the others, each look is part of what I love right now. I never feel connected to the past in a creative way, experimenting with materials and prints always pushes me violently into the future - I love that feeling, I think it's absolutely necessary to evolve. Federico: In a private conversation, (Barbara NdA) you confessed to me that you have wanted to experiment with pink for years and that thanks to a small sign you understood it was the right time to do it. What is the nature of "that little sign"?BB: I wake up one morning and Andrea (my partner) who was gardening unearths a pink toy pig. The next day, when I go to the studio, the daughter of a neighbor gives birth to a girl and in the way to get there, which is completely closed, I find myself in front of my eyes a giant pink ribbon affixed to the gate . I couldn't wait any longer. Margot: What is the meaning of “erasing everything” as the conclusion of the creative process? What role does time play that separates the end of a production path from the rebirth of inspirations and feelings for new creations?BB: The pain of having to let go and the emptiness of having to wait. The need to free and create anew is indispensable, painful and complex. For its speed, but also for the devastating wait, time becomes the resolution to start over. Barbara and Barbara Bologna have lived together in the same individual since the birth of the brand. Are there moments in your life when you split the two individualities?BB: I don't think I really need to split myself, they are a collection of emotions, desires and aspirations that coexist - not always perfectly, but that would never lead me to want to be split into two MEs. Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Ylenia: Barbara lives in a house without doors and without mirrors - superfine similitude of her way of being di lei. She often makes me move not only for the beauty of what she creates, but also for the skill with which she knows how to blend the hypersensitive soul to the eternal echo of punk. She taught me that there is no single way of feeling, but that perceiving the fragility of the things that touch us is a privilege and not a condemnation. Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Manfred: Because I love Barbara, because Barbara loves me. Because Barbara is the wind that moves and keeps my fire high. Because Barbara is pure strength, strong enough to instill it in those around her and in every creation of her di lei. Because she showed me true beauty. Because she showed me what it means to be an artist. Because Barbara is one of the last bastions of art in a world, that of fashion, which is increasingly gray. Because Barbara truly has something to say and she will never stop as long as she is able to scream at the world. Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Margot: Barbara Bologna is the emotion of a flower that grows from concrete, it is the passion of movement, of becoming. Barbara Bologna is the awareness of being able to fall and the strength to know how to get up. It is Art and art consciousness. It is love, strong enough to be deafening in a muffled world. Barbara Bologna is mind and soul, in the energy and strength of their cohesion. Barbara Bologna is an irreducible part of me, of us. Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Leijh: I think you are like a magical portal that catapults you into a completely exclusive vision. It is also like wearing magic glasses with which I can see things that others cannot see normally. Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Andrew: Because Barbara is beautiful, she is wonderful, because she is deeply authentic and always faithful to herself and to her incessant desire to bring something better, more evolved and evolving to the world around her. Because she does not accept compromises, never even when this could be very convenient for her. Because in her di lei incessant desire di lei to improve herself as a person and as an artist, she improves, without even wanting to, everything that surrounds her. Because she she constantly needs stimuli, love, sweetness, eroticism, protection and support and for this reason she is tremendously demanding even in small daily events.And I challenge anyone, with a minimum of sensitivity and intelligence, who is faced with all this, not to vote their life, or at least try to raise it even more, Barbara Bologna: Why Barbara Bologna?Veronica: Barbara is art and instinct, what she does is what she herself is. A moment that impressed me was seeing her really get excited in front of her work di lei and in that moment I realized how much she really puts all her soul di lei into her creations di lei and the actual value they have. Barbara is an inspiration to me because she is not afraid to show who she is, to express her emotionality of her, but also her strength of her. She trusted me, she made me feel free and she passed on so much in such a short time. "Why Barbara Bologna?" Because Barbara is a world to discover and this is only the beginning. Follow iD on Instagram and Facebook Credits Text: Ylenia BonoraArt Director: Barbara BolognaPhotos: Daniele GoliaModell3: Mariagrazia Rossello and Manfred Vannucci , Chiara Magni and Federico Alessandro Biancardi Stylist: Barbara BolognaFirst assistant stylist: Veronica BelliSecond assistant stylist: Ylenia BonoraFirst MUA: Cristina CalanceaSecond MUA : Virginia MantelliHairstylist: Beatrice RavennaMusa: Leijh Akhel, Germana stella Find out more about Barbara Bologna on the brand's website and on the Instagram profile . Read also: Facebook Twitter tagged: interview barbara bologna f / w 22 See also FASHION | By Editorial staff iD | April 12, 2022, 5:33 am The definitive guide to the flea markets and vintage shops of Italy The advice of 11 vintage buyers to plan your next "thrift diving" sessions. Facebook Twitter Images and artwork by Elisa Paiardi With the surge in the digitization process in recent years, the practice of clothing shopping and digging has also moved online, seeing platforms and apps such as Depop, Vestiaire Collective , Vinted rise to the fore. The success of these etailers is a positive symptom of the consolidation of consumption habits increasingly oriented towards eco- sustainability , recycling and, why not, saving. But that's nothing new: they've simply made purchasing garments and accessories easier and fastersecond-hand for those who do not have the opportunity to spend the weekend digging among mountains of clothes or, simply, for those who do not have the desire, also facilitating the spread of garments that perhaps would not have found the right way for your neighborhood stand (yes, like those Tabi you just put on your wishlist). However, this digital evolution of the resale format has not affected the culture of the IRL market , which continues to maintain its almost ritualistic value in spending whole days diving among the stalls, a practice that has become an integral part of the shopping experience, especially of the Gen Z. Whether it's to create nostalgic looks, try thrift flipping , upcycling or finally find a Halloween costume that is not the usual trashata, these places become like a space-time portal in the fashion of the past decades, from which to draw clothes and accessories for give them a new life and put them back in the present. Between vintage stores, thrift shops, kilo shops and flea markets, it is very difficult to find your way around. Thus, we have created a mapping of the best used car companies in all of Italy , from Turin to Bari, from Verona to Bologna , to give you a (non-exhaustive) overview of the places to do your next thrift diving session. To help us, the cool hunters Matilde Sofia Falorni , Poorasfuckstreetwear , Sofia (aka @briciolaaa ), Annalena Biotti , Francesca Flavia Roson ; the Mercatiny Cariny profile;the buyers and shop ownersGiorgia Pelorosso and Gina Pagnella ; Maria Laura Buoninfante , Elisa Paiardi and Carolina Micella from the editorial staff of iD Italy.
