FOCUS ON: LUDOVICO LOFFREDA - MINIMALISM, SPORTWEAR AND URBAN INSPIRATION

06/01/2012

Ludovico Loffreda is one of the young talent which - after winning NEXT GENERATION, the competition sponsored by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana - presented his first women’s wear collection in the frame of Castello Sforzesco during the Milan Moda Donna Autumn/Winter 2012-2013. In June of 2011 he graduated in Fashion Design at IED in Milan with a men's collection, but his training has not neglected the women's fashion, so within the Collision project he had the opportunity to create a capsule collection for Herno, the historical firm of Made in Italy, for which he reinterpreted in minimal streetwear key four iconic pieces, one of which was exposed in the shop-windows of the Rinascente in Milan.

Ludovico, so young (born in '88), was also the Italian winner of the Triumph Inspiration Award in 2010 and was ranked third in the international final in Londo; in September 2011 he was selected by the fashion editor Sara Maino for the section Vogue Talents of the site Vogue.it. For Ludovico, fashion is a chance for freedom, a tool that renders unique and which represents the persons, for these reasons in his accomplishments there is a strong bond with those who are his stylistic references, like Miuccia Prada, Giuliano Fujiwara, Hedi Slimane and Raf Simons; but there is also a strong link with the urban landscape, Antwerp and Berlin, among all, are his iconographic references: the lines of buildings, roads, even pedestrian crossings inspire him - as he stated several times - and lead him to a rigorous formal purity.

The silhouette winks at Japan and the games of proportions, the sartorial tradition lives on in a complexity that lies behind the simplicity with which Loffreda revisits the classic garments with a sporty adjustment. His collection A/W 2012-2013 reserves a great attention to materials - such as laminated fabrics - which give a new character to pleated skirts, stiff leather inserts that interrupt dresses and outerwear, nylon jogging pants. But - faced with innovation - we also look for a contrast, not only in volume, but also in style: the mannish shirts, creepers to the feet and bags in the shape of a vintage rigid suitcase. An interesting debut that makes Ludovico Loffreda a talent to keep an eye on, while he diligently continues his studies with an internship at the man office-style of Jil Sander.