Up-and-coming Italian designer Daniele Gottastia talks about his Bauhaus inspired creations
TextAnna Battista
A year ago, after an earthquake destroyed the town where he was born, L’Aquila, Daniele Gottastia, a student from Rome’s Accademia di Costume e di Moda (Costume and Fashion Academy), sent his application to a fashion competition in Riccione, almost as a way to exorcise his fears and worries. His colourful collection helped him getting to the final stages of the competition and eventually won him the first prize. Since then he never stopped: he took part in a catwalk show in Africa and in a special event in L’Aquila with Italian fashion house Gattinoni, while his final year collection, inspired by the Bauhaus’s colours and materials, was presented during the Costume and Fashion Academy catwalk show at the AltaRoma AltaModa event in January.
Dazed Digital: What inspired your final year collection?
Daniele Gottastia: Before enrolling at the Fashion Academy in Rome I attended an art college, so it was only natural for me to take inspiration from an art movement like the Bauhaus. The main colours employed in the designs are meant to call to mind the Bauhaus’s colour schemes and correspondences, while the intrecciato motifs, recreated through a stratification of ropes, refer to the movement’s wickerwork. I also tried to create surface contrasts by juxtaposing raw wool inserts and smooth leather in the same designs.
DD: What’s your dissertation about?
Daniele Gottastia: It’s going to be about body transformations and how the lines of specific designs can radically alter the body shape and contours. I’ve just started working on it and on the collection that will accompany it.
DD: What are your working on at the moment?
Daniele Gottastia: I’m designing the shoes, hats and bags to complement my final year collection and take part in the Mittelmoda Fashion Award.
DD: Last November you took part in a catwalk show in Africa, did you enjoy it?
Daniele Gottastia: The trip to Burkina Faso was part of the final award of the Riccione Moda Italia competition. It was an incredible adventure since I ended up sleeping in a traditional hut and spent time with local people, so it was an absolutely unique event.
DD: Do you think it is hard to emerge for young designers in Italy, a country with such a well-established fashion history?
Daniele Gottastia: While this is a well-known problem in Italy that doesn’t seem to exist abroad where young people are offered more opportunities, I do feel things may change also thanks to the highly-qualified artists and designers coming out of the fashion institutions and universities we have in Italy, like Rome’s Fashion Academy.
DD: What would your dream job be like?
Daniele Gottastia: While I love designing both men and women’s wear, my dream is to become a footwear designer. When you design clothes you must somehow limit your creativity to avoid crossing the theatricality border and design a costume, but shoes can always be a little bit more original and quirky than clothes. Before launching into footwear I would like to do an internship with an established fashion house or designer. I would love to be able to work for somebody like Jean Paul Gaultier, but also with Gucci and, while I know that my vision wouldn’t maybe fit the aesthetics of more classic designers such as Armani or Valentino, I also think that I would be happy anywhere, as long as I’m able to draw and create fashion.
Dazed Digital: What inspired your final year collection?
Daniele Gottastia: Before enrolling at the Fashion Academy in Rome I attended an art college, so it was only natural for me to take inspiration from an art movement like the Bauhaus. The main colours employed in the designs are meant to call to mind the Bauhaus’s colour schemes and correspondences, while the intrecciato motifs, recreated through a stratification of ropes, refer to the movement’s wickerwork. I also tried to create surface contrasts by juxtaposing raw wool inserts and smooth leather in the same designs.
DD: What’s your dissertation about?
Daniele Gottastia: It’s going to be about body transformations and how the lines of specific designs can radically alter the body shape and contours. I’ve just started working on it and on the collection that will accompany it.
DD: What are your working on at the moment?
Daniele Gottastia: I’m designing the shoes, hats and bags to complement my final year collection and take part in the Mittelmoda Fashion Award.
DD: Last November you took part in a catwalk show in Africa, did you enjoy it?
Daniele Gottastia: The trip to Burkina Faso was part of the final award of the Riccione Moda Italia competition. It was an incredible adventure since I ended up sleeping in a traditional hut and spent time with local people, so it was an absolutely unique event.
DD: Do you think it is hard to emerge for young designers in Italy, a country with such a well-established fashion history?
Daniele Gottastia: While this is a well-known problem in Italy that doesn’t seem to exist abroad where young people are offered more opportunities, I do feel things may change also thanks to the highly-qualified artists and designers coming out of the fashion institutions and universities we have in Italy, like Rome’s Fashion Academy.
DD: What would your dream job be like?
Daniele Gottastia: While I love designing both men and women’s wear, my dream is to become a footwear designer. When you design clothes you must somehow limit your creativity to avoid crossing the theatricality border and design a costume, but shoes can always be a little bit more original and quirky than clothes. Before launching into footwear I would like to do an internship with an established fashion house or designer. I would love to be able to work for somebody like Jean Paul Gaultier, but also with Gucci and, while I know that my vision wouldn’t maybe fit the aesthetics of more classic designers such as Armani or Valentino, I also think that I would be happy anywhere, as long as I’m able to draw and create fashion.
