IN A NUTSHELL:
- IED Roma
- Fashion Design - 2007
- Founder and Creative Director at Benedetta Bruzziches
YOU NOW:
I design bags or, as my best friend is used to saying, I use them to guard my big questions. In 2009 I launched my brand with my brother Agostino, and we opened a research and production unit in Caprarola, our motherland. Here we are, making things we like, involving people we love, now busy in the making of our new working space, an "opificio" into a beautiful chestnut forest.
CREATIVITY:
We are what we are as a consequence also of the culture in which we have been immersed, I think. As Italians, we have the privilege of breathing history and beauty from the first breath, unknowingly. Being aware of it allows us to broaden our perspectives and welcome the boost that creatively comes from the world. I feel extreme about the relationship with my land. IED gave me the chance to have my first experience with the genius Romeo Gigli, through Lara Aragno, IED director during the same period I attend IED. Meeting them totally influenced my vision and my way to intend fashion. Lara was a living portrait of how fashion could be great. I would never forget the moment she was entering the school bringing in her skin and her unique grace, creating an atmosphere that is still impressed in my vision.
IED LOCATIONS:
I attend courses in Rome, and it was brilliant.
CHALLENGES OF OUR TIMES:
As an independent brand, we started without funds or experience and each step was the result of a challenge. Honestly, it has always been a challenging time from the moment we started with our brand; the question is how this affected my personal life! These times fix me at the deckchair, but they also open a period of deep creative renovation. I was used to travelling a lot, meeting people, and going inside the factories… but the habit of working together with "my artisans" has allowed me to overcome the first period of lockdown and resume production with a new impetus. Obviously, the exposure on the web has increased, just to try to bridge some physical distances.
SUSTAINABILITY:
We follow up on design and production in a natural and relaxed environment going more in-depth in sustainability's several meanings. I take great care of the quality of the materials, of course. In our company, there is continuous research to integrate more and more ecological materials into every process: today, for example, the satin we put inside 80% of our bags is entirely ecological. However, the word 'sustainability' alone doesn't make much sense to me, and it certainly doesn't just mean 'ecology'. What is important is that there is real “sustainable development”. The company must be able to give voice to the social, cultural and economic aspects of the community in which it lives. A company is sustainable not only if it uses ecological materials, but above all when its interest coincides with the well-being of the whole community to which it belongs.
ADVICE:
Who you are, that unique combination is the greatest key you have to make the difference. My only recommendation is to look inside and take care of your unique perspective.
MORE ABOUT YOU:
You can follow my website: www.benedettabruzziches.com; or my Instagram profile @benedettabruzziches.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST:
The relationship we created during that period, between classmates and some of the teachers, and (sure!) the meeting with Lara made the difference. My Thesis was a great moment in my life. From my hometown came so many people to see me that they had to rent a bus to come all together, just to be there for me (there was also the nun that was my kindergarten teacher!!) and after that, we had a great lunch in Testaccio square: it was big fun.