A chat with the designer Aurora De Matteis

Hard work, strong values and a great passion for her job, are probably the most important features of the young Italian fashion designer Aurora De Matteis, transpiring from every single piece of her collections. Her style is very recognizable, characterized by bold colors alternating black and white, sustainable or precious natural fabrics, a decidedly contemporary appeal that she defines as “Urban Couture”.

All things that are clearly visible just looking at the collections. But the work of a designer is something more than making clothes. It’s an entire world of suggestions and inspirations, of big visions and aesthetic decisions. It’s about the personality of the designer herself. And there’s nothing better than having an informal chat with Aurora to understand her fantastic world and discover something more about her life.

When I was a child I always said to my parents “when I grow up, I’ll live in Japan and I’ll be a fashion designer famous across the globe and everybody will wear my creations”…I don’t know why, but I can say that I had already clear in my mind what to do in my life. I always say to myself that I’ve not chosen this path. It chose me, because there was nothing else I wanted to do. Even if I have many other passions, no one is comparable to those I have for fashion and especially for the idea of creating with such commitment and dedication clothes that people could love, in which they could feel good and beautiful, in which they can all identify. I never had doubts or second thoughts, I have not a plan B. I want to live with this job. Working hard every single day, I live to make this job my life. My sensation is that everything was already planned, that I’ve just to follow the route.

All the choices I made were always related to what I wanted to do in my future. Before attending a fashion academy, I studied at the language high school, because since I was a child I imagined my future abroad and I wanted to be able to communicate and interact with people coming from all over the world, to enrich myself and open my mind through the influence of different cultures. I always wanted to evolve and to grow up as a person and as a fashion designer. That’s why today I can say that I have more friends outside Italy, who enriched and helped me to become who I am right now.

In 2014 I started my educational training at Istituto Secoli in Milan. A path that began a bit blindly, because I knew it could be challenging, but I didn’t know exactly what to expect. It’s a very long and arduous path that requests such dedication and efforts. As a self-thought creator of fashion sketches and starting from scratch in modelling and tailoring, for my personal experience I can say I made the best choice. Even if I have so much to learn being just at the beginning of my career and if probably I will never stop to study in this field, thanks to what I learned at the fashion school and the excellent technical knowledges acquired in the 3-years-course of patternmaking and womenswear fashion design, now I’m capable to manage a collection at 360°, in every single aspect of the process. From all the conceptual study behind the creation of a fashion collection passing through the graphic realization of fashion sketches, the making of patterns, the study of measurements up to the sartorial tailoring of the clothes, that is the final part of the fashion design and productive process. Besides the educational training, I really think that the fashion school made me grow up in my personal life. I learned how to become responsible, I understood that if you want to reach your goals you have to work hard, making sacrifices and applying a lot of dedication. From my point of view that fashion school was both a technical and personal training path.

For me fashion is fun, freedom and a way to communicate feelings. I always looked at fashion as the instrument for personal expression that perfectly fits with our entire cycle of life. Sometimes you cannot note it. Looking into a mirror everyday, the small changes are not so visible. But during our life, fashion allows us to reinvent ourselves, every time following the many phases of youth, when we experiment, of growth when we learn to better know us and then maturity, the period in which we find full self-awareness. Fashion should always leave us the freedom of not being defined by itself. We should use it as an instrument that helps us to express who we are and how we feel in that particular moment.

For me they are both essential and they became the fundamental basis of my brand since the beginning. Today we are used to having a throwaway culture practically for everything, we are more focused on quantity instead of quality. And this regards in the first place the world of fashion. With the birth of so many fast fashion brands, we have lost the sight of what fashion is. It goes beyond the simple image of an outfit. Now we are no more looking to the world behind the scene, to what the making of a garment is. My personal goal is that of having again a special regard for the clothes’ quality, so researching only high-quality materials and fabrics, taking care of the clothes I make in every single aspect and in all details. That’s what makes the difference.

During the years of study at fashion school, having to draw and project many various types of collections for the exams, I had the possibility to understand which kind of designer I am, and to find today my own way. During those years, I understood that every collection was different from the previous in the stylistic concept, in the choice of materials and fabrics, even in the shapes of clothes. I always prefered the classic elegance of refined textiles, but at the same time I was looking for a stronger, contemporary and young vision. That’s allowed me to understand that I had contrasting tastes very different from each other and that I had to conjugate these two or more souls for defining myself as a real and distinguishable fashion designer, recognised by people for my personal approach to fashion. That’s why today my collections are featured by the refinery of classic high-quality fabrics combined with the modernity of recycled techno textiles, mashed up with the more classic pieces of clothing reviewed through the contemporary taste of street style.

During the years of study at fashion school, having to draw and project many various types of collections for the exams, I had the possibility to understand which kind of designer I am, and to find today my own way. During those years, I understood that every collection was different from the previous in the stylistic concept, in the choice of materials and fabrics, even in the shapes of clothes. I always prefered the classic elegance of refined textiles, but at the same time I was looking for a stronger, contemporary and young vision. That’s allowed me to understand that I had contrasting tastes very different from each other and that I had to conjugate these two or more souls for defining myself as a real and distinguishable fashion designer, recognised by people for my personal approach to fashion. That’s why today my collections are featured by the refinery of classic high-quality fabrics combined with the modernity of recycled techno textiles, mashed up with the more classic pieces of clothing reviewed through the contemporary taste of street style.

Every time I design a collection there’s always a sort of inspirational “Muse” in my mind. She doesn’t have a precise physical aspect, because I always think to a woman I want to dress starting from the point of view of her character. The woman who inspires me and for whom I create my collections is a strong, dynamic and sporty woman who doesn’t want to renounce to her femininity. A woman who’s not afraid to express her ideas and especially to be herself.

Sincerely I don’t believe to have some particular secret wish, I only ever wanted to transform my passion into my future, to build something only mine, something really important to me. I’m very demanding with myself and what I do is never enough. I never limitated myself in terms of goals to reach and challenges to win, that’s why every day I work for growing up and learn as much as possible, to be always better and reach excellence.

You’ll soon reveal your next steps, maybe in the next blog’s articles….