Interview with Aurora de Matteis, emerging fashion designer with a thousand souls

A new fashion idea. Sustainable, bold, with character.

We are talking about the emerging brand of the fashion designer Aurora de Matteis. The young girl of Turin origins has given life to a new idea of Urban Couture with the creation of collections in which the constant contrast of different elements and the essential quality of the materials stand out. Are you curious to enter a little bit into her world? We decided to have a chat with her.

Hello Aurora! Would you like to tell us how your passion for fashion was born and how did you approach this world?

There has not been a specific moment or episode in my life that led me to approach fashion, it is simply a passion that was born with me, I never wanted to do anything else and I never even thought of doing anything else. I have always loved fashion because I see it as a tool of personal expression, something that never defines you but allows you to reinvent yourself every day. Since I was a child, I had clear ideas about what I wanted to do and what my dream was and today I am lucky to be able to say that I work every day to make it happen.

How did you manage to bring your own brand to life?

Well it wasn’t easy, I’m actually still at the beginning so I still have a long way to go. I’ll be very honest, I started a little with my eyes closed, one day I simply decided to try and throw myself into this project that I have always wanted. At the beginning it was not easy, even now it is not, because I did not have any kind of experience, I did not know what the right steps were to take and I did not have a reference figure who had experience in the fashion world. It was a long process, made up of right and wrong choices, uncertainties, I had to re-evaluate some things, make changes also because the last year and a half hasn’t been easy at all, especially for someone like me who has just started. I think it is also for this reason that in reality I do not feel that I have fully realized my brand yet because I still have many things to do that obviously I have not been able to do before so it is a path that still requires some time but in which I believe a lot.

Did you encounter any difficulties in passing the creative process of the collections to the production one?

In reality it was not difficult for me, I experience it as a normal process because it is the working method that was imparted to me in my three years of study. I studied at the Istituto Secoli in Milan and the way in which the learning work is set up is just that, so work on everything related to the development of a collection, the creative process and then move on to actual production. This was fundamental for me in making myself independent in my work and in offering me the necessary foundations to be able to face, at the level of production rather than model development, even situations in which I was more in difficulty because I was doing many things for the first time, some I had never used materials before and obviously being only at the beginning I still have a lot to learn. Surely the fact of having immediately started working following the complete process behind the creation of a collection or even of a single garment helped me a lot to see the work of the creative part and of the production as a single thing, indeed sometimes I can’t wait to finish working on a collection to be able to start making garments and see them no longer just in my head but in “flesh and blood”.

In your collections you can see the search for an original style, which mixes urban streetwear with the elegance of tailoring. How important is this to you?

It is one of the most important aspects because I have always sought an original and innovative style. The aspect of quality in a garment has always been of fundamental importance to me because I think it is what makes the difference but on the other hand, as a designer, the aesthetic factor has the same importance. The fact of mixing these two opposite worlds has allowed me to create high quality garments, with a strong and impactful image that seeks a new aesthetic of luxury, which is no longer linked to the concept that once was.

In my collections, the idea of luxury is perceived by the preciousness of the fabrics and the accuracy in the realization of the tailoring details in those timeless but contemporary style garments.

Are there any great designers you admire and who have particularly influenced you?

100% Balenciaga. He was a designer who revolutionized fashion and most of all the image of women, freeing her from the constraints of the clothes of the past by playing with new silhouettes and avant-garde shapes, much softer that are still current and contemporary today. It is certainly the designer who has influenced me the most precisely because her has always been an innovative fashion and this is the characteristic that prompted me to seek an original style in my collections and helped me to shape my identity as a designer.

Trying to change the fashion point of view, in this case a woman, doesn’t have to be easy. Do you think there have been small steps forward?

Yes, it is certainly not an easy process, above all because for a long time we have been linked to a certain type of image of a woman, often far from reality and this also brought a feeling of detachment in women from the fashion world because if you did not have a certain type of image you were “wrong” because you did not fall within the beauty standards that have been imposed on us for too long.

Today this is changing, we are certainly making progress in fact even in the most important catwalks a much more real, authentic woman is proposed and this creates that sense of inclusiveness that was missing before. I think it is a process that does not only concern fashion, because even on social networks, which today have an important role in our society and have become a fundamental tool even for those who work in the fashion world, we are talking more and more about these issues, of to propose a more authentic image of themselves and I think it is because we are all a bit tired of being part of a society that enhances “fiction”.

How much does the contrast present in the idea of Urban Couture expressed through the collections reflect the personality of Aurora de Matteis?

This is what represents me 100%. I have often defined myself as a designer with a thousand souls and this was born from the fact that, during my years of study in which I started developing my first collections, I noticed that they were always very different from each other in terms of shapes, materials and also from a stylistic point of view.

I have always loved the elegance of refined fabrics but at the same time I wanted to have a strong, impactful image that was sought after and recognizable for this reason I looked for a way to make these two opposing visions coexist by creating collections that unite the classic elegance of refined fabrics more linked to the couture world with the most contemporary and strong image of the urban world.

You are very close to the theme of sustainability with your collections and I know that at the same time you care a lot about the quality of the materials you use. In your opinion, what is the way to be sustainable and have a luxurious style at the same time?

Today, more than ever, there are many companies that offer sustainable materials of the highest quality both in terms of textiles and accessories, allowing the creation of luxury products that have a low environmental impact. The characteristic of my brand is the fact of mixing a classic style with a more modern, urban one so my choice in terms of materials is to use natural fabrics such as silk or wool combined with technical fabrics that are all recycled and sustainable, this is my made it possible to create products with a luxurious style but without sacrificing the aspect of sustainability.

What can you tell us about the Main Collection? From what or where does the initial inspiration come from?

The Main Collection is my collection made up of Seasonless garments, that is, without seasonality. It was a choice born from the fact of not wanting to follow the increasingly crazy rhythms of the market, in which numerous collections are proposed during the year especially due to the birth of many fast fashion brands that only look at quantity and very little at quality. of the product. Furthermore this also allows me to have a more sustainable approach in terms of work and also production because each garment is available to order and this significantly reduces textile waste and offers a high quality approach to the design process while also giving that sense of exclusivity. of the head.

What are your future projects?

There is still a long way to go, my short-term goal is to start making my work known to as many people as possible and tell what my brand is and above all the vision behind it. I have always wanted to approach the foreign market for this reason I will be present on a showcase site that, will go online this month, promotes luxury Made in Italy abroad and in November, in conjunction with Expo, I will participate in an event in Dubai for emerging brands sustainable.

Info and contacts:

Website: www.auroradematteis.com

Instagram: auroradematteis.adm

Posted By

Armida Manna

Laureata in Fashion Design presso la NABA di Milano. Affascinata dal mondo dello streetwear ,dalle contaminazioni di diversi stili capaci di generare ogni volta qualcosa di unico e dalla grafica. Credo che, nel mondo della moda come della scrittura, siano i dettagli a fare la differenza.