Meet International Catwalk Award Winner, Filippo Matteo Paolo Barbagallo, a graduate from Istituto Marangoni Firenze. Filippo’s final major project is a collection called Entity, which looks to explore how we convey inner identity through external decisions, like clothing. Read on to learn more about his work!
How do you feel about winning an award at GFW21?
It was a really strong emotion, after so many sacrifices and reaching such a prestigious goal, it filled me with immense joy and stimulus for my future career in the world of fashion. Thinking about that again, I see all the effort and fears in the creation and development of this project, but now I am over the moon for the result achieved.
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
The academic career at Istituto Marangoni Firenze allowed me to reach unexpected goals, spurred me on to curiosity, to research and not to stop in front of obstacles. My awareness of today is the result of a path of goals achieved and failures, which allowed me to analyze myself to reach the goal with greater safety.
What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?
The ENTITY collection was born from inner research of mine that focused everything on the possibility of how each of us could express our identity, giving space to volumes and shapes. The whole concept is based on ways of being and not of appearing, each ENTITY garment can be combined in various ways without ever overwhelming its identity and initial mood.
What form does your FMP take?
I would like it to be as if it took the form of augmented reality, like becoming part of an atmosphere to be completely overturned and that the dystopian and surreal nature arrived in everyday life, that it lives inside each of us.
What materials have you used and how did you source them?
My textile research starts from the study of tailoring, using raw materials of the highest quality, combining them with technical materials of recycling and sustainability. My idea is to maintain the status of my product in a reality of Italian made to measure traditions. Lastly, the prints I create are intermittently made in an artisanal way, giving that effect of uniqueness to each garment.
How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
What my tutors have passed on to me along my path is method and discipline. The cultural and didactic background has given me the opportunity to deepen my gaps, giving me the opportunity to arrive with more awareness in the study of and my future projects.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
I wish that equality and personality were not the basis of social inequalities, but as Siemmel says "we can all be individuals by inspiring each other".
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I would like to get in touch with the technical world of fashion, from pure sportsmanship to the deconstruction of conceptual brands, to get to assume a personality that is able to navigate in environments that create something new and innovative.
Now that you have finished your degree, what's your plan?
I would like to continue to have the opportunity to explore and create projects that make me feel emotions like this one just happened and to have my consumer market ready to be reflected in my stylistic thinking, but also have the opportunity to experiment and browse inside existing brands and get involved to learn also different systems and markets. I bring my work experience to a level of knowledge and training to get to the day where I will be ready to sell my stylistic identity.