Fashion is an endless journey – an interview with Alviero Martini

We often hear about Alviero Martini’s ‘travels’. Where did it all begin?

My story began in the province of Cuneo, as a young boy who lived in the country and dreamed of travelling. When they asked me ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I always replied ‘I want to be an astronaut, a painter, an airline pilot’, anything, as long as there was travel involved.
And I succeeded.

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You dreamed of having a passport covered in stamps. A story of many journeys that we can definitely trace in your collections and especially in your choice of textiles. Do these fabrics also carry the stories of people who in some way played an important role in your life and career?

My stylistic paths are one thing and my human relationships are another. In my fabrics there are definitely traces of some of the paths I have taken. My new Passport collection, in fact, actually features stamps from my passports, all of them, from some 96 countries in the world. As for human relationships, that’s another matter and that’s to be found in my acronym, which is about travelling fra, but also about loving life.

I collect all my human experiences, that revolve around intentional families, which are my closest relationships, and which I cultivate all over the world – and I am fortunate enough to get plenty of love in return from so many different places. Wherever I have a family, I nurture feelings and relationships that go far beyond fashion.

What journey are you describing with this new collection? Are you taking us on a completely new adventure?

With this new collection, Al by Alviero Martini, we are trying to tell a new story – even though its launch was undermined by so many events: first Covid, then the war and now the skyrocketing price of energy, which obviously complicates matters because we were ready to complete the project and it fell apart. I’m not just talking about me, but about the whole fashion industry. As a result, we have to redefine things every day, because every day there is something new in our path.

Obviously, I focus mainly on travellers, people who casually cross cities, and can just as easily hop on a plane to find themselves on another continent, having packed practically, choosing sustainable clothing. Sustainable also in that you can just hang it up without having to have it dry-cleaned or ironed, because it’s just ready to go. My travellers like comfort. But they also wants to stand out, with a brand that reflects their personality.

During this edition of the Fashion Week there has been much talk about concepts such as inclusiveness, diversity, the democratisation of fashion, and sustainability, as well as live performances that involve the contamination of different arts. How does your collection fit into this scenario?

All the adjectives and buzzwords that have been used for this edition of Milan Fashion Week, such as inclusivity and fluidity, are mostly marketing.

In reality, people wear cotton, silk, Kashmir, they wear linen in summer, and consequently, this sustainability that we are all looking for is very hard to achieve because the end customer is the one who needs to be
be educated into purchasing truly sustainable products. But this is going to take a long time. Because obviously with today’s price increases many projects are put on hold, but it is good to talk about it, because we should be able to stay ahead of the curve, and so it is good that we discuss these things, even if, up to this point, it is still just marketing.

Last but not least, how did your like working with Smart Eventi?

Our collaboration with Smart Eventi was an altogether positive experience, because we found a comprehensive, high-stanard service and we will definitely be working with you again.

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