Francesca Marchisio is an Italian designer and owner of an atelier in Reggio Emilia.

In 2018 she launched Francesca Marchisio’s brand with the aim of transforming clothes into timeless objects with functionality and expertly worked materials. Francesca combines ready-to-wear fashion with the industrial design method to create authentic objects.

I had the opportunity to meet her at the Fashion Hub Market in Milan last year and I was really impressed by the quality, the creativity and the project behind her collections.

This is the interview with Francesca talking about her fashion vision

Q.: Have you always wanted to be a fashion designer? Why? When I was a child I drew women with very detailed clothes, but also the houses of my dreams. I have always been open to many paths, I would have  studied  philosophy or architecture, fashion happened almost by chance, I have never been a fashion addict. I continued this work believing  in fashion as a spiritual need, not a material one.

Q.: One of the main characteristics of your garments is the versatility, could you tell us more about this concept? I like “the change” because it is always an opportunity to evolve. I strongly believe in the circularity that unites opposites because it is the essence of every concept, so proposing changing garments and giving the possibility to change the point of view is a “state of mind”.

Q.: Upcycling, conscious fashion, sustainability, can they really help to change the fashion system? I believe the system can change if people develop a more conscious way of buying clothes, furniture, food, … everything. Unfortunately, there is still a tendency to stimulate compulsive buying under the guise of certified labels. Sustainability is a necessity, but the key is to change our action to reduce the negative impact on the climate.

Q.: Where do you take inspiration for your collections? My inspiration usually starts with a concept, something I need to communicate to others. It is a thought that I hear and process after a chat with a special person, from a film, from a music, from a ride … In the beginning there is my brain, so I start studying and looking for information everywhere. Then it’s my heart that continues so I create a collection following my instinct.

Q.: The best advice ever received.. Choose few things you believe in and then do your best to realize them.

Q.: What does Made in Italy mean for you? We have to carry on our sartorial tradition, but we need also to contaminate it with contemporary culture according to the humanistic vision that has formed our culture. In social terms, I believe that it is necessary to give greater dignity to the work of sewing which is essential to translate creativity into something concrete.

Q.: You said “fashion becomes functional, garments become design objects”, so what is the message behind your fashion? A garment to wear is like a piece of furniture: it must be functional to something in a simple, beautiful and intuitive way, so it is essential that at the base of the project there are philosophy and aesthetics. Design details are therefore the result of function + thought.

Q.: What is the most important value you always keep in mind? Deep lightness or complex simplicity.

Q.: You like to transform clothes into timeless objects, how do you achieve this? At the beginning I collect many inputs, inspirations, many messages. Then the real and difficult work is to achieve the “Less” while maintaining the “More”, in my opinion when this result is achieved an object goes beyond time.

Francesca just showcases during the February edition of AltaRoma with her collection called #weareallinfinite.

“Weareallinfinite” remains the theme and inspiration for Fall / Winter 2021. The Spring-Summer started from Vitangelo Moscarda’s final reflection, into “One, no one and one hundred thousand”, about the never ending rebirth of everyone in search for identity and for the infinite possibilities that surround us.

For the autumn-winter season, the concept of “infinite possibilities” was also put into practice in the structure of the collection.

To demonstrate her commitment to creating new proposals with a sustainable spirit facing the current economic, social and environmental crisis, Francesca Marchisio has created new models matching archive items and stock fabrics with carry-over elements and new details. The limit of commitment to reducing waste involves a difficult, creative, but challenging effort.

According to the slogan “Reduce, Reuse and Repair”, reversible and up-cycled garments decline the double wool in a “timeless” palette that ranges from black to navy, from gray to camel, from dark green to burgundy and pink, all UNITED with touches of primary colors Yellow, Red and Blue.

Starting from the awareness that clothing is a necessary message for humans to communicate their identity and share values, the three primary colors come together in infinite circular geometries embroidered on the models with the aim of UNIFORM apparently different elements.

The reversible and genderless coats have reassuring volumes and they are combined with trousers and apron-dresses in linen-wool, a comfortable material, seasonless and easy-care.

Some feminine notes are the no-size dress tunics made in Naia Acetate georgette and organic silk or in Biella virgin wool crêpe, each one with up-cycled embroidered details.

These new design elements evolve the Waste Couture capsule made with the scraps of the cut of the various collections, divided by color, and then cut, positioned and sewn by hand with the collaboration of local seamstresses and embroiderers.

The result is a unique piece, despite the possibility of being reproducible.

The come back to the Essence also inspires the series of hand-designed graphics in collaboration with the former Marangoni colleague Nicoletta Piatti. Inspired by the spiral and the circle, archetypes widespread in all cultures as symbol of regeneration, the monochrome graphics on a dark background were printed with the transfer technique (a process that saves considerable quantities of water and that has no minimum production) on a very comfortable double polyamide jersey. The SKIN t-shirt is also reversible and easy to wear on the plain black side, minimal and timeless.

A constantly evolving, never ending, versatile and comfortable collection, created by people who share the same values, each one  passionate about his own work that connects them inside the same supply chain.  Each model would like to convey a piece of this story.

For more info visit francescamarchisio.it