Designer Profile: Antonio Berardi Pt. 1
“The Berardi woman is a woman who is aware of her sexuality, sensuality, and who appreciates the meticulous nature of what I do.”
History- The son of Sicilian emigrants, Antonio’s parents moved to Britain in the 50’s, where he developed an interest in fashion early on. Even at the age of nine, he would save up his money to buy designer clothes. As he got older, her decided he wanted to be a designer and went to college at Lincoln College of Art and Design and applied to the fashion Bachelor of Arts program at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design at the University of the Arts London but his application was denied. He went on to work for John Galliano and in 1990, he applied again for the third time and was accepted. He graduated from the college in 1993, and in 1994 created his graduate collection which caught the attention of Angela Quaintrell, a buyer for London fashion holding group Liberty. He produced his first collection in Fashion Week ‘95 with financial backing from Liberty. In 1998, he became the head designer for Ruffo Research, while maintaining his own label. The following year he negotiated a partnership with Italian label Extè. He became the label’s head designer, and Extè also produced his own line but left Extè in 2001.
Style- Antonio is known for designing very body conscious dresses that hug the body and having inimitably feminine approach to tailoring. His looks have been described as sensual, striking, classical, and dressed-up. His clothes also feature advanced fabrics and manufacturing techniques not seen on many runways.
Antonio has named many points of influence including music, independent film, post-modern art, Catholic symbolism, Italian art and culture, urban street style, lingerie, and the female form. Berardi credits many design influences to his Italian roots: hourglass figures are his preferred silhouette and he constantly references Catholic symbolism.
Designer Profile: Rad Hourani Pt. 1
It’s been a while. I’m sorry I kept you waiting. But I’m here now. Sorry, it’s a Britney reference. Unfortunately this Designer Profile is fairly short since he’s still relatively unknown. But the image I use as my icon is his. And he’s attractive!
“I started imagining clothes the same way I started creating images: with a sense of curiosity and innocence driven by my no-background background.”
History- Rad was born in 1982 in Jordan to a Jordanian father and a Syrian mother. When he was 16 years old, he moved with his family to Montreal where he completed his high school studies.
Shortly after his graduation, he began a career at a modelling agency as a model scout and eventually worked full time as a stylist. In 2005, he moved to Paris where he designed his first clothing collection and shortly thereafter, he created his namesake label- RAD by Rad Hourani. Hourani forgoes the biannual, seasonal fashion calendar with collections identified only by their sequential number.
Style- While the Rad Hourani line experiments with new shapes and fabrics in a couture-like approach, the RAD by Rad Hourani collection focuses on styles and silhouettes of the same unisex signature look offered in different materials and a more casual transformable fit. He designs his clothes to be able to be interchanged between the genders, focusing on black and white as a color palette mainly.
The shapes of his garments are sharp and layered, emphasizing angles and proportions.
