” I’d like to be one who never tried to follow the trends by changing his identity. The one who design because this is part of his identity. ” – Alessandro Biasi, designer A-LAB MILANO
Both the A-LAB MILANO brand and its designer Alessandro Biasi can be regarded as a lexicon of modernity: the collections reflect a constant fascination and curiosity towards the contemporary world.. While inspiration always comes from the future, sartorial customs are never forgotten and emphasis is always on construction, cut and fabric.
The pieces become sculptural and luxurious, like shimmering buildings constructed upon the body. Contemporary materials establish a harmonious relationship with printed silks, often in a delicate balance, between full color and transparency. The natural and the artificial coexist in the juxtaposition of flowers and graphics, as well as the “digitally enhanced” forests and urban landscapes.
A-LAB MILANO is positioned in a new Made in Italy modernity, through the digital patterns design, the continually updated graphic language study, the sculpted forms of new or traditional fabrics. A-LAB MILANO is very well recognized for various creative and sustainable projects like ECONYL x A-LAB MILANO or THE TOKYO BAG. For more, please visit: https://www.a-labmilano.com/projects
A TALK WITH ALESSANDRO BIASI
33: A-LAB MILANO positions itself as a sustainable brand. What do you think of fast fashion?
It is still difficult to define A-LAB MILANO as a sustainable brand. However, I can certainly say that A-LAB MILANO is currently an Eco-friendly brand. After this essential premise, to answer the question, for a long time I had doubt about fast fashion because I considered above all the aspect linked to the homologation that this system brings between the new generations (and not only). Only later I started to analyze the impact that the big quantities of product placed on the market by fast fashion companies cause to our planet. Not to mention the exploitation of the workforce and the ease with which the large companies bypass the laws of the production countries. I think that when fast fashion appeared on the market, it gave many people the opportunity to wear products with together a good design and affordable price and this was a revolution. Now, however, these same companies that have made people with many new clothes dream about, should take care of protecting the environment in which the same people and their sons will have to live in the future. I am a professor at NABA (The New Academy of Fine Arts) in Milan and year after year I try to push all my students to a personal and conscious approach to fashion, encouraging them to create their own clothes or find special pieces in flea markets or in second-hand stores.
33: You want to make long-lasting fashion. How do you want to achieve that?
The ways to create a lasting garment are different. As for me, instead of creating basic garments with evergreen lines, I prefer to think of clothes so rich in content that they are always special, beyond trends.
33: How do you determine what is durable design?
For me “creativity” is always the right answer: when behind a dress there is an idea, a message, a story, one should not fear the passing of time.
33: Your collections are very colorful. How does that suit long-lasting designs?
Color is my central communicative ingredient. For this reason, I prefer to develop palettes that are not too linked to trends and I try to respect the A-LAB MILANO DNA. This is why I realized in recent time that although I have precise and different themes, within my collections you can find a common thread that makes it possible to mix them together. This has become my long-term concept.
33: What happens to that part of a collection that does not get sold?
Every season there are clothes with a central role for the collection image or to which we are particularly fond. In these cases the samples become archive pieces constituting an important trace of the creative processes and the brand history. For all others, as for production surpluses or unsold garments we often organize private sales or donations, always trying to personally control the routes taken by our creations.
33: How far do you go in terms of sustainability?
In my work I try to give each piece the role of something that occupies an extra place in the world, a world that is so full of clothes that it should only be enriched by truly special items. To reinforce this belief, in the last few seasons, I have formed an important synergy with Aquafil, the Italian company producer of ECONYL®, a regenerated and infinitely regenerable nylon yarn that has a technical aspect perfectly in line with my aesthetic. With this yarn I made a capsule collection inside my FW19 collection in order to bring the brand, but also our customers, closer to the issue of sustainability.
Furthermore we collaborate above all with companies placed in our regional area, making our productions really local. Another theme that fascinates me and that I think it’s perhaps the first step towards sustainability is the re-use. A theme that was the starting point for the next A-LAB MILANO SS20 collection.
33: Where could you serve as a role model for others?
I don’t think I can be considered as a model but I can say that my commitment to sustainability is a daily goal. Often we don’t notice that simple gestures like turning off the light or closing the water tap while we are brushing our teeth, are small signs of respect for our planet. Let’s start together.
Interview by: Myra Postolache | Exclusive for #33magazine
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