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Resonance of Solitude: Giovanni Caci's Ostracism-Inspired Collection

  • Nov 7, 2023
  • 5 min read

Design Process Interview: Exploring the Creative Journey of Giovanni Caci. Conducted by Danielle Medland and edited by Roxanne Ouellet-Bernier, this in-depth conversation is part of a series produced within the framework of a LIGNES DE FUITE short course titled "How to Interview Fashion Creatives and Frame Their Research and Ideas." The course aimed to unite aspiring writers with fashion students, providing them with a unique opportunity to learn the fundamentals of journalism.


LIGNES DE FUITE: Gio Caci Design Process

Giovanni Caci’s process begins in the dark: lights off, curtains drawn, and in near silence, he describes a state of meditation that can be found in the absence of light. By reducing external stimuli, one can connect to themselves deeply through forced introversion, and this is something deeply integrated into his design process. Giovanni’s research is born here, where in darkness, he brainstorms, working through ideas and concepts either new or old to him.


LIGNES DE FUITE: Gio Caci Design Process

Coming from an academic background, Giovanni is interested in literature and political science, which act as a framework for the concepts he explores through fashion. Through this lens, he is able to bring a rich design philosophy to his work. His values of freedom and individuality are deeply integrated into the topics he researches, and there is a profound thematic consistency throughout his portfolio. Self-reflection and strength of mind are two crucial elements of his ethos and these ideas are equally present in the work of those who inspire him.


Giovanni mentions two idols, who are vastly different at first glance, but share many of the same moral principles: political critic Christopher Hitchens, and musician Sven Erik Kristiansen, better known as Maniac of the Black Metal group Mayhem. These two individuals are quite different in mystique, but they both display a highly critical outlook on the world in which they live, while also maintaining impressive strength of character – two features essential to the themes he creates through his design work. While Hitchens’ writings inspire his conceptualization of the idea, Kristiansen acts as a literal muse for the designs, both in his appearance and talents as a performer.


Collecting information, through both thought and imagery, is the next step in his design research. From this, Giovanni builds categories of data based on elements such as physical location, emotion, symbolism, muse, and material. The organization of this data is integral to this beginning stage, as it allows him to draw parallels between concepts that start off as very separate. From here, he develops a central method, which acts as the essence of his concept.



During his final year as a student at LaSalle College, Giovanni entered the Arts of Fashion students

design competition. Given the word “Resonance” as a theme, his inspiration for the collection was this aforementioned state of silence and darkness, which he describes as his ideal habitat. He connects this desire for quiet and solitude to the concept of social ostracism, inspired by his own encounters with it. “It shaped me into a stronger, more confident person. You accept this independent position and reject others that can potentially be harmful or subversive to you and your ideas. It’s not about fearing ostracism, but embracing this introversion.” he explains. Deeply intertwined with his personal experience, this theme brings forward a rare emotion, which he describes as

“a dichotomy between pain and pleasure: specifically, selfinflicted pain and the ecstasy that is driven from it.”

These notions of ostracism, solitude, and voluntary discomfort are central to the collection’s ambiance, which is conveyed through shades of black, sharp lines, and religious symbolism. His style is minimalistic and clean-cut while referencing gothic subculture and often, opulent fashions of the past. While this combination of aesthetic elements seems paradoxical, the finesse with which he designs creates harmony between these contrasting inspirations. Giovanni’s ability to infuse his work with such dissonance creates a result that is unique to his personhood, as he explains with his design intentions


“The core element is to repel, to build your own confidence, to scare people. Because we’re living in a state in which a person’s opinion can be disregarded, rejected, and frowned upon. This can exclude them from social interaction because there’s this group-think mindset. The point of this collection is to say, ‘screw them’, to embrace your own ideas, to embrace your own will to power, and embrace the empowerment of yourself as an individual.”


LIGNES DE FUITE: Gio Caci Design Process


Once this concept was established, Giovanni began his secondary research, which consisted of a history of craft. Inspired by Catholic imagery, specifically the 11th-century Tristan Quilt, trapunto quilting became a point of inspiration. This fabric manipulation, invented in Sicily nearly a millennium ago, consists of quilting through stuffing: first, two layers of fabric are embroidered to form a pattern or image, and are then slashed, filled with cotton, and finally, resewn and assembled into a garment. Giovanni, who is himself Sicilian, took an interest in trapunto because of its rich history and timeless visual effect. In his graduate collection, titled ANATHEMA, an entire coat is decorated using this challenging technique, which through repetitive testing, he has become quite proficient at. The coat depicts imagery similar to that of a stained glass window that could be seen in a church, with characters and symbols that connect to this theme of ostracism. Because of its detailed nature, trapunto is a highly time-consuming manipulation, and he estimates that the realization of this coat could take him anywhere from two to three months, for a total of likely over one thousand hours. Giovanni connects his patience for this sort of detailed work to his affinity for quiet, and mentions that his state of mind when quilting is similar to the one he finds himself in during brainstorming sessions.




This passion for craftsmanship has been integral to Giovanni’s experience as a fashion student, during his time at LaSalle College, he has taken the initiative to learn as much about techniques and manipulations as possible. Over the course of his graduate year, he has worked with a variety of unconventional materials, including silicone, metal, and soundproofing fabric. This testing has allowed him to build a library of experience with various elements of craft, which is something he’s integrated not only into his portfolio but also into his graduate collection, where he displays this knowledge through the use of trapunto and metalwork. Giovanni describes his relationship with textiles as follows:

“Design comes first, color is predetermined, as I design almost exclusively in black, and the fabric comes from the techniques I research. Materials are heavily embedded in the research, as they are all true to their historical backgrounds.”

Linen, cotton, wool, and leather are some of his textiles of choice, which he explains as a design option: while subversion and alternative culture are core elements to his aesthetic, he tries to maintain an air of Italian sensibility through classic silhouettes and tailoring.



Credits

Text Dainelle Medland Images Gio Caci and Connory Ballantyne


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Originally published in LIGNES DE FUITE vol.3







Breaking Down Gender Norms: A Journey into William Crosson's Graduate Collection

  • Oct 8, 2023
  • 6 min read

A Deep Dive into William Crosson's Creative Journey: This extensive discussion, conducted by William Zhang and refined by Alexia Georgieva, is a component of a series created as part of the LIGNES DE FUITE short course called "How to Interview Fashion Creatives and Frame Their Research and Ideas." The course was designed to bring together budding writers and fashion enthusiasts, offering them an exclusive chance to grasp the essentials of journalism.



In a world that obstinately reinforces gender roles, William seeks to subvert unhealthy standards of toxic masculinity. His graduate collection, South Ontario Lovesong, is an ode to young Canadians who have been affected by traditional notions of gender. William aims to present a meaningful way for Canadians to embrace the importance of vulnerability and emotional awareness. After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and English Literature, and a rigorous two years in construction labour, William found himself drawn to the fashion industry. This, however, is not his first creative endeavour. He draws on past experience as a social media manager at HotNewHipHop, and his musical marksmanship in synths and production as one-third of the multitalented left-field pop (ambient hyperpop) group Province.


Sensing that fashion would ultimately enable him to produce the art and visuals that excited him the most, Will equipped himself with diploma in Fashion Design at LaSalle College. He took a particular interest in coats and jackets essential for the great outdoors, stereotypically worn by men in rugged conditions: lumberjacks, manual labourers, military men, and even the average camper. Will noticed that these clothes have traditionally also perpetuated an image of toxic masculinity. One way he subverts the intrinsic masculinity of outdoor clothing is through designing menswear, but with feminine silhouettes. Uniquely, Will creates traditional military –and outdoors– wear silhouettes that present themselves as delicate, but are able to stand up to the elements as effectively as their historic relatives. “I felt like the best way to challenge [toxic masculinity] was to essentially prove to people that you can create these very functional garments that are able to stand up to intense outdoor weather, but that actually appear and present themselves as being feminine or vulnerable,” he says.




The final pieces within Will’s unisex graduate collection are laden with meticulous and carefully selected references. From a lineup of nine looks, he constructed three: the blue and yellow rain dress, the white topo-puffer and the campfire wrap skirt. Will employed design techniques including intense primary research, as well as deep archival image research and referencing. Personal research was important for him. Will started by asking his mother to scan and send him every old photo that she could find of his family. These ranged from family photos in the 1960s to those taken during his own childhood. Many photos involved the Crosson family camping in Northern Ontario, with various colours within these pictures being referenced in his final graduate collection garments—a blue from the logo of his dad’s Grumman aluminium canoe, a yellow lifted from a lifejacket or a raincoat. Yellow was also the colour of a boat rope used to tie up canoes, his dad’s old dry sack, a 1970s Parks Canada pinback badge, grade school “cahiers”. The references to yellow were extensive in Will’s primary research and translated into clothing as yellow pocket accents and a yellow belt. Will attentively explored how conceptions of masculine behaviour within Canadian and military culture have harmfully affected generations of Canadian men—as well as generations of his own family. He recalls his father’s inability to admit his struggles with alcoholism and subsequent liver cirrhosis, from which he ultimately passed away without seeking help. His father also talked a lot about the emotional abuse he suffered at the hands of Will’s grandfather, a WWII veteran with symptoms of military PTSD. Neither of them were willing to discuss mental health or be vulnerable even in their worst conditions. Will elaborates: “I know this collection will inevitably address the passing of my father in 2009 due to his drinking problem... I believe this is a symptom of deeper problems that men face today, namely: depression and anxiety, lack of kinship or loneliness, and toxic masculinity.” In crux, Will witnessed that engrained expectations of masculinity incite men to act in extremely damaging ways. He describes this unwavering, masculine stoicism as something formative within his family history, but also something that he wishes to subvert as a concept within society and fashion.




Meanwhile, William’s secondary research played a big role in his silhouette and detail research. In his early stages of ideation, he studied online government sources in detail, such as Library and Archives Canada. He describes referencing from a vast electronic database of old articles, newspapers, and an extensive image collection. Some pieces that stood out to William were a 1943 Canadian Army Snow Camo Sniper Smock, as well as a World War II R.C.A.F Type E-1 Deacon Flight Suit. Resemblances can be recognized between these, and his rain dress and topo-puffer. More importantly, the Archive gave him a robust sense of how the Canadian government understood militarism, and that there was little room for nuance in what it meant to be an outdoors person. The pictures that William found were of a singular understanding, such as


“a dude in a plaid shirt with a bear on his shoulder... but obviously that’s hyperbolic.”

As William’s main goal was to subvert standards of stereotypical masculinity, he juxtaposed modern technical fabric elements and traditional Canadian textiles. His white topo-puffer is a prime example. Staying true to military-specific materials and silhouettes, he modelled the puffer after a WWII Canadian flight jacket, even including the diagonal zipper. He explains that this topo-puffer was incredibly difficult to construct because it was made from deadstock military parachute material, which is light, soft, almost sheer; but waterproof and strong. Through this material, William wanted to evoke a sense of vulnerability. Moreover, the couched topography-looking threads on the puffer were stitched to replicate a map of Simcoe County, where he grew up in Southern Ontario. Additionally, the silhouette research for this puffer was pulled mostly from womenswear, becoming another way for William to subvert the typical military

mens’ silhouette.





With fabric manipulation being at the heart of William’s design technique, he says: “I find practicality in clothing design to be a major source of inspiration. Clothes are made to be worn and should first and foremost allow the wearer to do whatever it is they’re required to do. But it also provides a source of limitation, which I think is necessary for good design work.''





Regarding the blue and yellow rain dress, Will contrasts the practicality of a classic rainshell jacket with the addition of a half-circle skirt. Another technical piece, he recalls that this dress took more than 40 pattern pieces alone. With the insertion of a two-way separating zipper, the wearer can unzip from the bottom-up. Double-facing adhesives were used to create pockets, the contrast between form and function here epitomises the concept of his graduate collection.


Another design metaphor was used in the plaid-woven campfire wrap skirt, made functional from repurposed Scouts Canada camping blankets. Paired with this skirt is a giant hoodie resembling a Canadian military flight jacket. Will explains that he used pads to create a layering effect, making it seem like the wearer had on a hoodie underneath another hoodie.





Many men, like Will’s father, were “proud Canadians” in a way that was harmful. Nonetheless, he describes himself as a Canadian designer first and foremost. He states, “There’s no aesthetic to comfortably rely upon. There’s a huge void to fill, which to me is super exciting.” Having just finished his studies at LaSalle College, Will feels even more prepared to work in the industry. He reflects on how he surmounted learning an impossible amount of work that comes with studying fashion design, from 14-hour work days to exhausting minutiae at the cutting room table. This education reaffirmed his capabilities

and sparked his interest in slow fashion. In the future, his goal is to develop his reputation as a fashion designer, and eventually build his own brand.


Credits:

Text William Zhang Images William Crosson

Originally published in LIGNES DE FUITE vol.3

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AUDREY BÉDARD

  • Apr 26, 2023
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jul 30, 2023

Design Process Interview Written by Christine Mesrobian Edited by Roxanne Ouellet-Bernier


She was laughing and conversing with two of her closest friends when I first saw her at a recent LIGNES DE FUITE event; My process is bigger than yours. Bédard was presenting the extensive research behind her upcoming collection Vie? Ou Theatre? that she had worked on for months as part of a Fashion Design class at École Supérieure de Mode de l’ESG-UQAM. However, that isn’t where she started her journey in the fashion industry.




School had never been something that sparked joy for Audrey Bédard. Yet, at 16, when she decided to take sewing classes in Montréal; it alleviated the redundancy of those high school years, and gave her a new purpose. She then went onto study fashion design at Cégep Marie-Victorin, dropping out six months later, slightly appalled at how time consuming it turned out to be. After a few years of enjoying her youth, modelling, and partying, she went back to school, resolute to refine her sewing skills at École des métiers des Faubourgs-de-Montréal—a professional school that specialised in training seamstresses in ready-to-wear and sur-mesure.


If this brought her the skills she was looking for, Audrey felt like she lacked the knowledge and experience in designing and researching concepts. After a unique educational journey, she began her BA in fashion design, where she now finds herself more focused and more driven than ever.


“For the past year I’ve never worked so much in my entire life. I’m really into what I’m doing and it’s such a great feeling,” she expresses.

Contemplating the process of Vie? Ou théâtre?— named after the book of Charlotte Salomon, Leben

Oder Theater, a collection of gouaches that reads like a graphic autofiction novel—one gets the sense of an extensive design research, culminating in an ode to art itself. When Audrey brings out the massive book, she flips reverently through the pages and refers to instances that inspired her the most. With every painting, there is prose written by Salomon about her own life, and the imminence of the Second World War, where she died in Auschwitz. Audrey used those passages, selecting the words that stood out to her, to then create connections, which then evolved into her concept. This book came at an important turning point in her research process, and encompasses both Audrey’s passions for art and literature.


“Wir winden dir den Jungfernkranz mit veilchenblauer Seide. We twine for thee the maiden’s wreath with violet blue silk”


The title of Salomon’s book sparked Audrey into also researching theatre and some of its most prominent movements. It is the performances of La Belle Époque, most particularly the iconic dances of Loïe Fuller, that interested her the most. She studied a series of photographs of Fuller, where her ample costumes, supported with wood structure, would create hypnotic moving forms while she danced. Once captured onto the negative, the Serpentine Dance appears stuck in time; almost like sculptures. This inspired Audrey with the idea of moving sculptures, where the fabric seems to be constantly sucked in by the wind.


To represent this concept of the motion stopped in time, Audrey studied different small-scale structures that she made by twisting metal wires. She laughs, as she recollects that the idea of creating these shapes came at a party, when she was haphazardly contorting a champagne bottle’s cage. It was the malleability of the metal that Audrey connected to the constant movement of life. “Life is always in motion, it is everywhere, and is felt from all sides and all senses. Life is intuitive and in constant movement.” These experiments culminate in a centerpiece of her presentation, where she showcases pictures of a sculpture she made intuitively with diverse objects she had around her house.




Audrey went on to translate these concepts of motion by diverse draping exercises and multimedia art like sculptures and painting. As she mentions her slight aversion to drawing, she felt like these manipulations were a more genuine way for her to express her designs, while also permitting her to find new possible shapes. This led her to study movement through texture, inspired by the bronze sculptures of Rodin and the lamps of Raoül Larche. To translate these results into her potential garments, Audrey delved more into draping, experimenting on a live model to get a sense of her silhouettes, while manipulating fabric to create volumes and movements.

Throughout her sketchbook, cut pages of old encyclopaedias, interlaced with the gouaches of Charlotte Salomon, have inspired the colour palette for Vie? Ou Théâtre?. While seeking her fabrics, she expressed wanting colours that are reminiscent of an old book, with yellowed pages, as well as beige, black, and white. Soft pinks and burgundy, for their part, are symbolic of the dresses worn during La Belle Époque.


Audrey was interested in the dissonance between reality and what people are like with others. “This discrepancy is even stronger between real life and social media. We have a constant desire to fantasize. There is a clear difference between the real person and what they project, life or theatre.” Audrey thought of her friends who affirm themselves in their lives, or their theatres, with a confidence and a brilliance that could sometimes pass for performance. But are they really what they project? She wanted to represent the lives that are tangled with theatre, where they become lost in their performances.


“Fashion drawing teacher: ‘Yes, drawing is a difficult art. One has to have some talent for it - and unfortunately you haven’t. Charlotte: ‘No, I refuse to stay here with this stupid old cow, where through the dirty window even the sun’s bright ray can only dimly play... Only he who dares can win. Only he who dares

can begin.’” — Words painted with a brush in Vie? Ou théâtre?, Charlotte Salomon, around 1941-1943.

An interview series realized in the context of a LIGNES DE FUITE short course titled “How to interview Fashion Creatives and Frame Their Research and Ideas”. The goal was to bring together aspiring writers

with fashion students to learn the basics of journalism through conducting a design process interview.

Originally published in LIGNES DE FUITE vol.3

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