Fashion week is now running its course in Milan, where apparently there is a, “fashion for the people movement” underway - designers bringing the goods closer to the end user by staging their shows in public venues. “Roberto Cavalli and Frankie Morello will strut their creations in public venues, including a transparent hall built in the central Duomo cathedral square”. So, fashion week is being marketed as a more transparent, all-inclusive event aimed to dazzle tourists and followers of fashion alike. But remember that there is still a wall there, even if you can see through it. In Milan there are much more intimate experiences to be had, such as visiting Selene Giorgi’s workshop where there are no barriers to separate you from the designer and her clothes.

Selene Giorgi in her atelier.

For Giorgi, designing clothes begins and ends as an entirely three-dimensional process. She sculpts rather than sketches. “I create by instinct; there is no established design. I give shape to the fabric as if it is a solid material.”

Giorgi’s transparent garments might be compared to sea creatures since they seem to float in suspended gravity:

What is of great interest to me is Giorgi’s use of felting to achieve unconventional volumes. “The potential of felt is something endless. It is the first fabric made by man and is natural, light, warm, strong and water-proof. Its malleability surprises me, and creating a layer of felt on a base of silk organza is exciting.”

Giorgi’s felting up close:

A felt garment by Selene Giorgi.

Instinct-driven volumes are a significant aspect of Selene Giorgi’s work.

If you can’t make it to Milan to visit Giorgi’s Giuseppe Amato-designed atelier, her clothes can be found elsewhere in Italy as well as in Japan, Switzerland, Portugal and soon the U.S. Please contact the atelier for details.

Many thanks to Renato Sacheli for translating!