The fashion show. A magic moment in which a designer reveals his creativity to the world. Months of preparation and hard work finally concretized in a few minutes of beauty and visual aesthetic. To better understand how effectively works a fashion show, we’ve been in the backstage of the latest show by Bartolotta & Martorana, the new talents of Italian style who tell us their experience on catwalk and behind the scenes of the presentation of their spring/summer 2020 collection.
If you ask to a young aspiring designer what is his greatest aspiration, probably the first thing he should say is to see my collection on runway. Not only because, for a fashion designer, the catwalk represents the arrival point of a long period of hard work, the event during which he can finally present to the public and mass media his concept of style and creativity.
But also because the fashion show is a magic moment that includes any emotion, any idea, any desire he may have had in the four months preceding the date of the show. A condesate of joy, fear, satisfaction, tiredness, excitement, sleepless nights, laugh, work in team and cooperation, friendship and decision. A mix and match of sensations that unleash the adrenaline.
This is especially true if we are speaking of a young fashion designer or an emerging brand. In this case the fashion show means also a concrete possibility of success, in a world like fashion in which the competitiveness is very high and the market and the favour of the public are hard to get.
To better understand the importance of achieving the perfection in a fashion show, we asked some questions to Simone Bartolotta and Salvatore Martorana, who recently presented their spring/summer 2020 collection in the amazing set of Palazzo Parigi during the latest edition of Milan Fashion Week. With their guide we can take a look behind the scenes of the gorgeus and elegant show, inspired by candies and sweets, organized by BARTOLOTTA & MARTORANA.
Two emergent designers like you invest on the fashion show to promote their creativity with mass media and public. How much is important an event like this?
The fashion show is surely the most awaited event. For us it represent the moment in which we can unleash our fantasy without any inhibition. In preview are presented the new collections, that will be then in the boutiques the next season. To this we like to integrate a part dedicated to Haute Couture , with very important dresses the exasperate the mood of the collection, making the show more spectacular and immersive. We like to surprise and to create dreams through our dresses. The fashion show is a sacred moment. It’s magic. The moment in which the work of many months takes form, like a dream that becomes finally true.
A rich and refined collection like yours deserves to be presented in an equally elegant place. How did you choose the perfect location to better express the inspiration of your collection?
The location is certainly one of the fundamental points for a fashion show. A proper scenery can better narrate the collection and managing to create the right atmosphere. In this choice we are supported by our belowed Bali Lawall , fashion expert and important figure for our company. She works very close to us and she deals with the organization of the event, curating every single aspect. Bali, who perfectly knows the concept of our collection, makes always an accurate research to find the most suitable location. After a serious selection, she proposes us the potential choices. Palazzo Parigi was love at first sight, the perfect location. A sophisticated and dreamy framework.
The casting of the models is always a fundamental step for every fashion show. Your woman is self-confident and yet sweet, like the theme of your collection. Which kind of beauty do you look for in a fashion model?
The casting is one of the more complex parts, but also very interesting. The goal is to find or to be able of representing an ideal of woman, as much as possible close to the concept of the collection and of the brand. The models give life to the collection, their is one of the most important roles. A self-confident and sweet woman is surely the right interpretation. But is very difficult to determinate the value of beauty, it’s a too subjective parameter. What we are looking for in a model is certainly simplicity and naturalness, but the most important thing is the confident attitude never too much exuberant, better if elegant. The model for us is an ethereal creature.
The make-up and hair style of your models were very feminine and simple. Why this choice?
When we imagine the show in its totality, we always look for elegance and perfect harmony. We always choose a look almost minimal but very feminine, because this allows us to give more emphasis to the collection and at the same time to make the models as much natural as possible. A few details are more than enough. As in the case of the gold applications included in the simple models’ hair style. For the make-up instead we opted for a very cool pastel colored beauty.
The day of the show is a very particular moment. How do you prepare yourselves at the emotive and organisational level so that everything works out?
The day of the fashion show is rich of chaos, panic and tension, but also of exhilarant moments. We try to stay calm as much as possible, but that’s almost impossible. We check every aspect, until the end we never stop. The fear is that something can go wrong, but that’s part of the game. The moment in which we can breathe a sigh of relief is only when the show is finished and we go out for the final applauses. That is a very liberatory moment.
In the backstage of a fashion show everything must be perfectly synchronized with the exit time of the models. In your backstage how many people helped you and how did you managed the chaos typical of these events?
The color is one of the dominating elements of your collection. How much is important in a fashion show to make understand to the public your personal interpretation of color?
The color is always a basic element, especially in this collection in which it is the protagonist together with the volumes. Thanks to this element is possible to express at the best the concept of the collection. The recall to a world connected to the childhood and the fairy is clear. Pastel colors and delicate sorbet tones give life to sweet shades, like soft clouds in the sky, the same clouds that everybody can observe with curiosity when he is a child, that sketched bizarre and fancy shapes through his imagination.
In your collection there are evening dresses, cocktail dresses, but also jumpsuits and elegant suits. With what criteria do you choose them for the exit on catwalk?
Usually we don’t like to present the outfits on the basis of their use, but rather we look for a chromatic harmony that follows the various shades as the color spectrum. A kind of chromotherapy for the viewer, with a color that follows another one. We like that everything could be a shade of colors.
A Couture fashion show like yours has always some beautiful surprise. Your “grand soirée” outfits made in tulle were surely the most scenic and eye-catching, the most photographed. We will soon see them in some red carpet?
The enornous clouds of tulle which captured the attention of the public and have made the photographer crazy, were been loved also by many important celebrities. You’ll certainly see in some red carpet or even in some magazine’s covers, but obviously we can yet reveal anything.
Among the guests in the front row of your fashion show there were many fashion journalists. How was the response of mass media about your collection?
In the public there were many personalities of fashion system, like journalists. They were really a lot and the response was very positive, especially among those who follow us for a long time appreciated a lot the evolution of our product. The news media that spoke about us were many and we are very proud of this. So we can say that we had a response rather than positive. Now we are working for preparing the next fashion show.
Thank you Simone and Salvatore for your interesting story! I can’t wait for looking the next collection!
