Matteo Carlomusto presents MURCIELAGO

Photography: Enrico Berni

Matteo Carlomusto is an Italian menswear designer. In his first  capsule-collection, exhibited in a show and in a presentation during Pitti Uomo, he experimented a mix between sportswear and traditional female costume of the Islamic culture, the burqa. Further in his work he has brought together the conservative world of Islam and the sexual practice of Bondage. The aesthetics of his new collection, MURCIELAGO SS19, builds upon this concept, however merging it with a fresh and rude taste. The collection is a claim and exaltation of erotic charge, arrogantly riding the road like a green Lamborghini Murcielago.

MURCIELAGO SS19 will be presented at the Show Program on Saturday the 16th of June at the SAM-Decorfabriek. Get your tickets here.

What are your sources of inspiration?
 My work is constantly evolving. At this moment of my creative process I can say that my greatest source of inspiration is photography, I’m in love with Joel Peter Witkin, Antoine D’Agata and Nan Goldin’s tales . Through their images I can my mind travels. I am very attracted to bodies: from the animal world to the human figure in all its forms, I love to see them together as a single body that gives life to something new. For this reason I love the raw part of every simple thing, but at the same time I’m fascinated by the human mind, which is able to give life to something unique that is not found in nature. I hate the social impositions ... and it is precisely for this reason the reading of my projects is interpreted in the best way by subcultures and denigrated communities, like the young queer who made a new image, that nature has not given them and the society tries to hide , but actually exists. And it has always existed. I find my inspiration in the submerged world that I love to shape with my personal taste.

Why did you decide to participate in FASHIONCLASH FESTIVAL 2018? What are your expectations?
My biggest expectation is to grow my brand. It’s very stimulating to work on my own projects, because even if there is a common thread between them, each collection is a different world and each collection is a film that deals with different themes. Every film has its time and its space, and I think this new route is perfect to be represented here. FASHIONCLASH is the biggest springboard in Europe today and I'm honored to be part of it this year. It is an amazing feeling, to look at your own creations on the catwalk, but the most important goal to achieve in your career, or at least at the beginning of this process, is to look at people’s reactions and appreciations and then finally see people wearing your clothes.

What do you love most about (fashion) design? What are the biggest struggles faced by young designers?
I think that a Designer is not just a fanatic self-centered who gives voice to his ego through the clothes he offers. Fashion is not frivolous as many people think. I love to dig deep into what I do and everything I do pretends to make sense. I think that a great Designer has a great responsibility, like a singer, a writer, a director: to teach, or in any case to deal with topics, which are often uncomfortable.

How would you define fashion?
I see Fashion in a completely different key.

How do you think fashion contributes to society, can it contribute to a better world?
We are spokesmen, we are masters who carry a message. Through my work I deal with themes that society often does not want to face cause they’re fearful, cause they’re uncomfortable, cause they’re repressed, cause they’re not so bold. However, you should be able to keep an aesthetic value, because Fashion, in my view, is a container. First you look at it and later you look into to it

What challenges do you face in the design process? What are your favorite parts of the process? 
I really like thinking about the collection, giving it a context and then realizing the idea. One of my favorite parts is also to assign an image and an aesthetic, according to a trend logic, through the styling of every single piece I have designed.

Describe your design process in one word.
Transformer.

Photography: Enrico Berni

How would you describe the concept behind your project (for FASHIONCLASH)? What inspired you?
The new aesthetics of Matteo Carlomusto do not abandon completely the image of bondage and the Arabic concept, but it merges with a fresh and rude taste. It's bizarre, but the thing that inspired me a lot, in this new project, is the aesthetics of the four wheels world. I would like the final result to be an ambiguous compendium between a human body, a machine and a reptile. MURCIELAGO SS 19 is a claim and an exaltation of the erotic charge, that arrogantly rides the road like a green Lamborghini Murcielago.

How would you describe your project in three words?
Arrogant. Vicious. Insane.

What projects are you involved in at the moment? What are your next steps? 
I hope that my next step will be to formalize my brand, starting with a real production, in order to be able to sell it and live on this. In the last year I have been able to understood, I could do it and I would like to take the risk of doing this important first step in my career.

What are your thoughts regarding fashion and religion?
Religion certainly has a strong influence in the fashion industry because it affects the culture, history and customs of each individual, but it also causes discussion because it concerns fundamental issues such as the condition of man. In my creations there is a strong recall to my personal attraction for Islamic culture. The Iranian artist Shirin Neshat was the basic element of inspiration for my first collection. As the artist launches her message through her works, I have also reported through my clothes my disappointment towards the extreme hardness of Islam, which requires women to veil themselves behind a traditional costume and prohibits rights that men have. This interpretation was told by upsetting the use of the typical costume andre-assigning a male identity on the catwalk. For this reason the burqa remains the main element that characterizes my brand, every time used differently.

What does your day look like during the design process? 
Agitated and anxious. Lol.

Who is your favorite artist?
Undoubtedly my favorite artist is Anja Franziska Plaschg, aka Soap&Skin, an introspective Austrian singer and composer, exponent of a musical trend that I prefer as SadCore. Her poignant and rare voice gives me wonderful emotions and she represents me a lot with her drama and gloom vision of things. But at the same time I’m really fascinated by the extroverted musician Alejandro Ghersi, aka Arca, from whom I take much inspiration because he makes Art with his body by throwing a strong image of himself, and his mind. In his message, I find so much hope and desire for progress, which is manifested by his boldness and masculinity brought in a very feminine way with pride and light heartedness.

Who is your favorite designer?
 In the last few years I have really enjoyed the work that Shayne Oliver did for Hood By Air and now what he is doing for Helmut Lang.

For more information visit https://matteocarlomusto.jimdo.com/