Creative chats with: Maela Leporati

Maela Leporati is Stylist and Creative Director based in Milan and founder and fashion editor of Aurevoir Magazine.

She also teaches Fashion Styling (I was also a student of her) at the Istituto Marangoni.

I can assure you personally, but you will understand it by reading this beautiful interview, that you can learn a lot from her, from her deep love for work to creativity without limits and rules.

“Hi Maela, thank you so much for accepting our invitation! Would you like to tell us your story and your path? “

“Hello and thanks to you! I was born in Casale Monferrato, a provincial town, but thanks to the work of my parents and the fact that my mother was born and raised in Australia, I have always traveled a lot, receiving many creative and intellectual stimuli. the first year of university in Bologna (I had enrolled in Art at the DAMS) I learned about a styling course at Marangoni and the following year I threw myself into it. ”

“Why did you choose styling among all the fashion professions?”

“Fashion has always been part of my life somehow, my grandparents had a shoe shop and as a child I spent the weekends in the shop with them, helping them and trying on all the collections. During high school I started to get passionate about fashion magazines. fashion and I was really obsessed, at the age of 15. I bought my first pair of Prada shoes, much desired. Styling came later, with Marangoni in fact, and during the 3 years of the course I realized that it was really the profession for me. ”

“Often our job is difficult to understand, especially in Italy, why do you think?”

“In reality I understand that for those who are not in the sector it is difficult to understand 100% this complex and multifaceted work. The stylist develops aesthetics, visions, helps to create the identity of a brand and to interpret the many languages of fashion. . It’s not easily definable.”

“How would you define your aesthetic?”

“The hardest question. I think there is an unconscious mix of things I like, I tend to tell very little glamorous women, always a little dreamy and edgy without falling into romanticism. But I repeat it is almost impossible for me to define my aesthetic. “

“How was your magazine, AuRevoir born?”

“AuRevoir was born from the need to express myself more on a creative level, trying to involve interesting artists with points of view close to the world of the magazine. At the moment we are a bit stuck, but it is very complex to carry out an editorial project along with everything else.”

“What are your sources of inspiration?”

“Many, I am obsessed with photographers such as Nan Goldin, N.Araki, Corinne Day, Fumiko Imano, I madly love the publishing and fashion of the nineties, right now I’m a big fan of Thomas De Kluyver who I find has revolutionized the world of makeup and that inspires me a lot. “

“What is the job that represents you the most?”

“All or perhaps none, I have a love hate relationship towards my works, the first day I love them the second I already struggle to look at them.”

“How difficult is it to reconcile private life with the often hectic and timeless working life?”

“It’s crazy at times but this job is everything to me, it makes me feel alive, it encourages me to never stay still and gives me the opportunity to give life to my fantasies.”

“Do you have any future projects you can tell us about?”

“In 2020 I learned to live day by day, I do not plan anything for the future, being everything so uncertain I prefer not to look too far. I want to shoot many new stories … but we’ll see.”

“What were the most satisfying successes you have achieved?”

“Collaborating with brands like The Attico, shooting for Nylon Japan, but in general I would say being able to turn my passion into a real job.”

“Being also a lecturer at the Istituto Marangoni, what would you recommend to the new generation of stylists?”

“What I always tell my students is to work hard, today there are many people who dream of working as a stylist, the competition is very high but with dedication, passion and trying to work on their own creative identity you can assert yourself.”

Thanks Maela, we hope to see your new works soon!