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Tiziano Guardini

Designer
Label - Tiziano Guardini

Wear something that makes you smile

Italy-based eponymous label by the designer Tiziano Guardini who loves fashion combined with nature – two anti-ethical contexts but in perfect harmony in his creations. He has been repeatedly cited by fashion magazines and newspapers like the NYTimes, Vogue, and Corriere della Sera who called him the “Designer of Nature”. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, the designer talks about his latest collection, walks us through the design process, and suggests some style tips to slay a basic day.

Fibre2Fashion: What attracted you towards the fashion industry and what motivated you to start your eponymous label?

Tiziano Guardini:

I don’t know how it came about exactly but when I was a teenager, I found myself with a pad of blank sheets of paper, a pencil, and listening to my favourite compilation I started drawing entire collections. Being a fashion designer is something instinctual for me. Just like an old wise man, I found acceptance in my feeling of creating garments that are the pathway to reconnecting ourselves with nature. As long as we need to awaken to this ‘we are nature’ I will continue to design and create garments to reconnect us.

 

F2F: How would you define the aesthetic and vibe of your collection?

TG:

We work on different aspects, both aesthetic and process/material.

Thinking about the latest collection ‘La Fiaba’, I wanted to tell the story of our strength to be able to change society. We can create a new world like a fairy tale... why not? The patchwork illustrations telling of Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Wonderland, etc were created with regenerated wool and archive fabrics.

On materials, we wanted to return to nature where the concept of waste does not exist, but everything produced has an infinite (circular) value. This is what generates life on our planet and so why do otherwise... I choose life! So, I want to give other people called ‘end consumers’ the chance to choose the same.

F2F: Where do you get your creative nutrition from and what fashion do you follow?

TG:

It depends. I can’t give a formula that I pursue. My work as a designer is somewhere between creative and inspirational work. The sum of several emotions is the result you see.

F2F: It depends. I can’t give a formula that I pursue. My work as a designer is somewhere between creative and inspirational work. The sum of several emotions is the result you see.

TG:

We don’t have much time for the whole process. I say this because it is a long path and sometimes it is made up of endless repetitions until you find the shape, the colour, the texture, the reflection of light on the fabric, the size of the pattern, etc that is in ‘harmony’.

The work done to create the wearable paintings comes from the emotion or story we want to share (sometimes it takes shape and definition in progress, like a journey in which the destination is not clear until the end). Then the journey through the archives is made up of weeks of research and evaluation, and finally there is the assembly so that the colours and all the various elements can ‘vibrate’.

Then the big vibration is in the heart that is in the creation. Once a colleague of mine, a designer, asked me what I had done to the models because they had changed emotion, they were joyful, after they had worn my clothes during the rehearsals. I think it is ‘just’ a matter of the heart.

F2F: Since you are known as “designer of nature”, how do you ensure sustainability in your creations?

TG:

It is a very serious and meticulous process. The basis is the respect for life in the broadest sense and the constant listening to nature. I am honing this relationship with nature a lot and I like the formula ‘learning from nature and designing as nature’.

F2F: With so many sustainable brands coming into the picture, what makes your label stand out?

TG:

When I started having this approach of respecting life in nature, the term ‘sustainable’ had an extremely sad concept. For me, sustainability (or respect for life) is an undisputed value that does not have to take anything away from the creative aspect, but rather it should add value.

To be truly attentive to this is not something you do by reading manuals, but in feeling that it is necessary to have a connection with nature and consequently with life in an absolute sense.

F2F: Sustainable pieces come with a price. What is your comment?

TG:

It depends. Some materials such as ahimsa silk is much more expensive than conventional silk. In other cases, the difference is minimal like with regenerated nylon, and we are often used to seeing increased costs, but these are more a result of marketing aspects than a real mark-up for the cost of the raw material.

F2F: Which celebrity slay in your collection the best?

TG:

I would talk about people instead of celebrities, and I would say those who perceive their value. In chronological order they are Elisa Toffoli and Margot Sikabonyi.

F2F: Can you suggest five styling tips to slay a basic day

TG:

  1. A scented flower in your hair to smell every now and then.
  2. Wear something that makes you smile because happiness, like joy, is something we have to learn to practice throughout the day.
  3. Knotting, or creatively buttoning our T-shirt or shirt to remind us that we are free to create new rules and that we are living beings who build and not destroy.
  4. The smile because as the Buddhist master Daisaku Ikeda says “the smile is not the result but the cause of happiness”.
  5. Anything by Tiziano Guardini... can I say it? Hah hah!

F2F: Who is your style icon?

TG:

He doesn’t have a name. There are people who inspire me for certain aspects, for a certain character or physicality or for the way they walk or the work they do or the strength of their smile... It’s a mix of many style icons from Tilda Swinton to Beyonce, via Eleonora Abbagnato, Elaine Welteroth and my mother. That’s actually the hardest question you’ve asked me.

Who is your style icon?

Interviewer: Kiran Sahija
Published on: 22/07/2022
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