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Relationships, never mind family, are not something many people like to talk about, particularly within the fashion world. But, this is not something that bothers young Italian designers Luca and Michele Castrezzati, who are not only brothers but creative partners behind the emerging label Luca Michele.
Opened in 2013, Luca Michele brings a unique, sporty aesthetic to modern womenswear, one that seems both fresh and smart given the huge uptake in the luxury sportswear market over the past few years. While still quite young, the Castrezzati brothers each possess impressive credentials. After receiving a degree at Kingston University, Luca Castrezzati interned for Aminaka Wilmont, Topshop and Emilio De La Morena before joining forces with his brother. Michele, on the other hand, studied in Italy and eventually moved to London where he worked as a pattern cutter, interning for Marios Schwab and later Corrie Nielsen.
On the occasion of the launch of the Luca Michele Spring/Summer 2014 collection, Glass had a chance to chat with the brothers about their new collection, their perspective on womenswear and the give-and-take and fraternal pressures of working together in a creative field.
Your designs bring a fresh, modern take to women’s luxe sportswear. Tell us about your design aesthetic and who you see wearing your clothes?
We work for creating garments of exceptional quality, versatile and with an interesting design.
We would like to see Luca Michele worn by strong, fashion conscious, modern women, who are powerful and confident, sporty and glamorous all at the same time.
Your work uses a lot of oversized fabrics and layering but somehow still manages to be highly flattering. What is your secret? What types of fabrics and techniques do you use?
We are trying to reach sophistication through a process of deconstruction. Layers create fascinating designs. Rather than a secret, it’s just about experimenting with shapes and dimensions and striving to create unique designs with exploring the textures of fabrics.
We like to work with high quality fabrics, often mixing soft and draping fabric against thicker and more rigid materials.
How did you get your start in design? Did one of you learn to sew before the other?
Luca: I think it just came naturally. I always liked to modify my own clothing and make my own things since I was a teenager. At that time I was studying fine arts and I was fascinated by the different styles that people were wearing at the time. When I was at University in Italy I was studying graphic design and I realised I would like to explore design further. I then worked for a year in a boutique that was selling the most important fashion labels where I started to think about moving to London to study fashion. I realised that I would be most satisfied working within fashion.
Michele: We have always been fascinated by the fashion industry and our background started with creative and artistic interests, which is why the fashion industry attracts us to be part of the ever-changing evolution of society and ideas. I decided to work in fashion in my early 20s, after that it has been a natural process enrolling in a fashion university and opening my brand. Also I like every aspect of the industry from the fabric research to dealing with the shops.We started the first sewing course together.
Where is your studio? Do you do all of your creative work together?
We are based in Whitechapel, east London.
We are actively involved in every step of the creation process from start to finish. These tasks consist of combining our research, ideas, sourcing fabric, design techniques to the smallest detail. Having both our creative ideas fused together keeps the ideas fresh and new.
Working together as brothers must bring a level of competition. How easily do you work together? How easy/difficult is it to collaborate creatively with someone to whom you’re related?
It is quite easy. For us it is natural, we grew up together and we have always been close. We are like-minded, sharing a strong interest and understanding in business and combining this with our mutual passion in designing, our loyalty to our work and each other has been the foundation for our label.
We work well as a team because we work closely along side each other with all aspects of the design process with complete trust in each other’s influence in every step of the label. Fusing our design ideas to become one keeps the ideas of our style fresh and interesting.
Do you ever feel that you need to get away from one another?
We work hard together and also enjoy our own time. When we are in the studio we are always focused on prioritising our work. Then after the studio hours we have our own interests
Finally, from where do you get inspiration for your work?
Luca: I have always been obsessed by technology. In our SS14 we were inspired by technology that often reflects on the changes occurring in recent years with the rise of consumerism, which leads people to seek an ephemeral happiness in objects combined with materialistic spiral of obtaining new and best is fascinating of the environment we now live in.
Michele: We change always inspiration for the collections and personally I get inspiration almost from anything really, from people in the street to a painting in a museum.
by Jessica Quillin