HOW DO YOU GET THE IDEA
FOR A NEW COLLECTION?
It may come from anywhere: some detail in the
street, a shop window that might even be displaying
objects, furniture… That’s how some inspirations
and moods come to you: from real life, from
watching ordinary people. I once read a beautiful
poem by a little Brazilian boy who tried to describe
an emotion by comparing it to a flash of colour
he caught sight of as it passed by the window: he
couldn’t make out what it was, but he grasped the
essence of the thing.
What makes one creation better than another?
It’s hard to come up with a specific answer to that;
you might say that there are two ways that a design
can be good: from a commercial standpoint and
from a creative one, but the two things often clash.
The perfect design is one that manages to embrace
them both.
How do you manage to separate the purely
emotional aspect from the commercial one when
you’re creating a product?
You start with the purely stylistic idea, which
aspires to be innovative, then move on to a more
useful concept. The product has to be refocused,
and I always tell my team that it’s like a bouquet of
flowers. Once you get it home and want to arrange it
in a vase, you get rid of everything you don’t need:
the wrapping paper, the tape, the extra leaves… In
a similar way, we try to adapt the product to the
market, fine-tuning its “legibility”, so that the target
audience it’s meant to capture will immediately grasp its substance.
“A collection is like a honeycomb, where
every cell has its own place…”
HOW DO YOU PUT TOGETHER THE “PERFECT
COLLECTION”?
The perfect collection is one that will stand up to scrutiny both of experts
and of the end consumer. It’s like a good romance novel: everyone will
interpret it based on their own experience.
What are the guiding themes behind Fabi’s Spring/Summer 2012 for
Women?
We were inspired by the idea of jewel-like elements in the sandals, which
manage to express richness and a sense of luxury, of refinement. In terms of
an evolution from the last collection, we wanted to introduce an architectural
feeling, with greater height, more rigid shapes, but without sacrificing
femininity and grace.
WHAT KIND OF WOMAN IS IT INSPIRED BY?
The Fabi woman is very spirited and dynamic, a woman who even at her most elegant always
holds on to her intensity and personality.
Could you list a few celebrities whose style is akin to the FABI woman?
It’s not that easy to pin down… if I were to look at the more elegant part of the collection I
would associate it with the beautiful, sophisticated Nicole Kidman. For the more everyday
section, I’d envision a friendly, down-to-earth woman like the radiant, natural Cameron Diaz.
If I were to imagine it worn in a very sexy way, I’d definitely choose Halle Berry: the most
seductive Cat Woman in Hollywood!
.
“A collection is like a honeycomb, where
every cell has its own place…”
FRANCESCO D’AUTILIO
Style Office Director, Fabi for Women
