I dress the individual, not the gender. Meeting with Niccolò Pasqualetti

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The shyness tinged with fragility that fascinates when you meet Niccolò Pasqualetti is in reality a veil that screens, without hiding too much, strength, determination and a precise vision of what his fashion should be and what his thoughts on the system are.

Born in 1994 in San Miniato, in the province of Pisa, he trained at the Iuav in Venice and at Central St Martins in London, through work experiences in Belgium, in New York at The Row and in Paris at Loewe, with Jonathan Anderson, now at Dior as creative director of all lines, with a highly acclaimed debut in menswear. In 2021, Pasqualetti founded his own brand, with a debut that was anything but quiet and subdued: in the same year he received the Franca Sozzani Prize, then the Grant from the Camera Moda Fashion Trust in 2023 and in 2024 he was nominated as a finalist for the LVMH Prize. Although this interview takes place in Milan, today the designer lives between Paris and Tuscany, where he continues to refine his aesthetic language with the contribution of local artisans. “It was all very fast, for sure. The collection grows and develops together with me, but the important thing is that it is always a mirror of what happens to me. For this reason it is not always a straight line, but curved depending on my exchange with reality” .

In fact, his fashion has never changed, but it has evolved a lot. From the first presentations in small Parisian “studios” transformed into showrooms and ateliers to his last show in the cavea of ​​the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, guest designer of the 108th edition of Pitti Uomo and of the superintendent Carlo Fuortes, where he confronted himself for the first time with a men's collection, the essence of Pasqualetti has remained unchanged, although and fortunately it is increasingly mature. The playfulness of his style, which was initially preponderant, has now become subtle, a sign of recognition.

Although the brand that bears his name is only four years old, I ask him what advice he would give to those who are just starting out in the sector, because advice from someone his age certainly has more emotional value. “At the beginning of my career, which is still in its infancy of course, I didn’t have the idea, not even the goal, of launching my own line. Having other experiences, I understood when the right time had come,” he explains . “So, to the guys who are embarking on this journey, I say to try different paths to focus on what is most in line with their abilities, their desires, needs and aspirations. We often fall into the mistake of thinking we are already ready to launch a brand, but sometimes this isn’t the case due to a series of complexities that are discovered by trying other areas as well,” he adds. “Working for other companies, I understood the value of the team, I saw that often if there is no harmony in the group, the rest doesn’t work either. In my atelier we are five people, active in every aspect, committed on every front, and it’s all very intense. Luckily, we also have the support of the professionals I work with for production; without them I wouldn’t have done anything”.

Everything is made locally and for the designer, who has traveled the world, Made in Italy and Italy remain a stylistic and cultural point of reference, so I ask him what “Niccolò’s touch” is, the element that makes one of his garments immediately recognizable without reading the label. “The genesis happens instinctively. I start from a universe made of vague and abstract sensations and images that materialize through research and design that, transposed into the three-dimensionality of the garments, makes everything more real. I try not to be too classic because classicism does not belong to me, but what defines me is inserting something unsettling, even a detail, that is a little out of the norm: in the design, in the finishes, in the choice of buttons or ribbons. However, it is essential not to become obsessive about the small because for me in the end what counts is the overall vision”.

Jean Arp, Barbara Hepworth, Georgia O'Keeffe are part of his sphere of inspiration and are clearly perceptible in the sinuosity of the silhouettes, also found in the fashion show organized at Pitti, which added a chapter to his story that was in some way already written: a men's collection that speaks to everyone, as the women's collection already did. On the catwalk, under a scorching sun that however did not distract the guests (the president of Pitti Uomo, Antonio De Matteis, commented admiringly on the line of leather blouson after the show), a selection of looks with great and delicate expertise in materials was shown - silk, linen and cotton as if stained by paint, laser-cut suede with a camouflage effect and "raw" denim, assembled with great airiness, lightness and at the same time absolute rigor.

“Being in Florence was a bit of a coincidence, in the sense that the idea of ​​approaching menswear started from a certain interest that I was already seeing among my clients. For example, when I presented womenswear in Paris I received requests for larger sizes and numbers of clothes and shoes, so this was the perfect opportunity” to experiment with the evolution of lines and ways of using them, even in the opposite dynamic. “Some of my clients asked for pieces they had seen in Florence,” he explains . “Furthermore, I am Tuscan, our manufacturing is universally recognized for its excellence and the event is also the global symbol of male elegance. Therefore, given that my work starts from the elegance and classicism of Italian clothing, I had no doubts, the coincidence of these things gave meaning to everything.”

Thus, starting from a formal DNA, Pasqualetti has created an imaginary that has made design ambiguity its distinctive trait. It is difficult to define the gender of a garment precisely because it is not designed for a specific gender, but for the individual and how they will wear it. “When I design I look more at the personality and sensations than at specificities linked to one or the other” he explains. “I often think about the single piece and its meaning and then contextualize it in the look and this approach allows me to keep everything coherent. However, a fundamental element of creation is that each garment can go well with the others without the complete outfit taking over ”.

It is the wearer who adds the masculine or feminine component, depending on how he or she does it and in what context. “Each piece of clothing must have a subtle thread that connects the result to reality. While this type of distinction may no longer exist for me, I realize that in everyday life this difference is still deeply rooted, especially in the West unlike Asia; so defining the two collections was almost more of a practical choice than a stylistic one.” Fashion sometimes moves faster than society and in cases like this it embodies a progress that responds to individual needs that are still little considered; sometimes, however, it closes up like a hedgehog, ignoring social changes. For this reason, I ask him how he sees the current situation in the fashion system. “It seems to me that many brands are too focused on merchandising and on which products sell the most. But I believe that the customer is aware of the commercial mechanisms put in place and is no longer fascinated only by the logo . I experience this change first hand, because many of my customers also buy other brands that are more important than mine, as long as they find that little something extra, a seductive aspect. In an independent like me, they appreciate authenticity”. They appreciate it in everyone, in reality, “as long as it is real”. And they are now perfectly able to recognize it. “If it is simulated or the result of marketing initiatives, it is rejected. I have always been present in every step of production, as well as in the relationship with those who buy, so many have now become friends”. Collectors scattered around the world, who “have believed in my story from the beginning” .

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