But you mold and create anything, or were it through a company in the sector?
LP: It was all done and executed by me. It was all done by hand. I carved like a sculpture with a spatula. Elaborated the design process.
How many hours did you invested in this process?
LP: Long hours. The drying process was slower, because it took many layers of latex. Each corset took about four days to be completed. Off the fabric part, it's all standard bodices, which took about one day and a half. The latex was then working on the tissue.
The color palette is very dark, why?
LP: I chose the darker of the blacks, because the presentation demanded a more sober tone, more chromatic. As the theme is recycling, the tone you get to work from recycled materials also happens to be black. Black, on the other hand, is associated with a more formal dress and that too this kind of thinking was associated with the concept.
What was the result of this presentation in Milan?
LP: It was very positive, I have projects in hand for some customers. I cannot say much, because I am still in negotiations, but the feedback was very positive and if all goes well, I'll be in Venice in February.
What is the professional training you have for this new adventure?
LP: In fashion the only formal training comes from what I have learned from my mother. She has worked with many designers and known tailors, then all the monitoring that I had since I was born I learn through her. I started from a very young age, she had me and my sisters always in the studio. Our children's natural curiosity led us to develop and monitor the entire process of making a garment. We learn to do all kinds of molds to fabricate all kinds of clothes and from these bases to create and transform. It was a school of life. Also, have a background in arts, studied product design. Even did a course in organization and management of events, make-up and marketing that is valuable to grow within the business. I try to do constantly recycle and keep me updated.
Yes, because I noticed that everything is a complement. There is an inherent theatricality. You create the clothes, makeup and scenery.
LP: They are all complements of the various phases that I've been collecting throughout my life. I also did theater that helps. The choice of colors also has the theatrical aspect, because a palette of colors has a meaning, other one has a completely different interpretation.
Tell me a little bit now about your experience in Portugal Fashion?
LP: I consider a PF prêt-à-porter, shows a more casual, more elegant, easier and more affordable design, but not as complete as can be seen abroad in terms of fashion designers like Mugler, Valentino and Versace. They are more wearable collections, although the word does not exist, are pieces that can be used in a day-to-day base than actually couture. I attended this event as a reporter photograph, but this year I hope to participate as a young designer.
There are differences in terms of a PF and a fashion week in Milan?
LP: There are many. The main difference is in terms of clothing and the people who live for this type of events. Here are more conventional in the way of dressing, more simplicity and more sober. In Milan it has a visible side, we notice the look, a little more flamboyant. They live this very theatrical side, also because of the creators involved, Alexander Mac Queen, Thierry Mugler that are very different in terms of presentations of its collections, are very visual. They feel the need to dress the clothes of these creators, while here is a more prêt-à-porter. Abroad are presented more unusual collections rather than normal.
In the future you want to keep these two sides in parallel?
LP: Yes, I always want to do both in parallel. One completes the other. The opportunity to show my work in fashion, came quickly. I'm growing more in this area than in the photograph. Or I grew up in the world of image that I do not notice the development. But I want to keep these two aspects, together or separately, always, because they are something I've always liked. They reflect my dream, my passion for doing much in the fashion, also with the picture. The two are intertwined. I imagine the graphic design of a collection within a photographic environment and hence the two complement each other and cannot disconnect them.
You approach your work many times as an enchanted world can you define that?
LP: It's a parallel world, which may be more unusual than is normal for people, where clothes are different. We live more inland. Further expand the inside out. Today people avoid the fantasy, it remains within normal limits. It's a bit of Tolkien's world and a mixture of various tales and fables. I mixed all this and externalized. I looked at the nature which in itself is so diverse and so beautiful and we keep that side so simplistic and remain clinging to basic things, to normative rule. Nature is so diverse and divergent, even the animal and human limits it all. I try to make it all the more charming, more beautiful perhaps, other than the common gray.
But, you already have your own studio?
LP: Yes, I have one where I create, manufacture and ship to the customer. They drive to town, where do all the measurements and the final presentation. I do not pretend to have a shop, I do not pretend to have mass market items. I like to present collections in which each item is unique.
