Designer Marina Mansanta explains why she thinks the shape of fashion’s future can be found in the past

FOR MARINA MANSANTA, fashion is art, and art is a huge part of who she is.
Marina discovered her talent for depicting what she saw in her mind’s eye when she was still very young, and while she is adamant that cultivating and refining talent is imperative for success, she is also convinced that, ‘no one can be taught to have an artistic soul. Sensitivity, imagination, creativity, harmony and inventiveness are all part of who you are, not what you learn.’

Her childhood dream of becoming a designer was swiftly realised and she was still a young woman when she opened her first atelier in the early 1990s. It wasn’t the simplest of roads to choose, but she knew that to give free rein to her creativity she could never work for anyone else. And looking back, it was certainly the right choice.

FASHIONABLE ROOTS
‘I wanted to push ahead with my own philosophy of getting back to fashion’s roots,’ she says, ‘and to create exclusive, hand tailored pieces for exacting clients. I have never made large numbers of any of my creations, and all pieces are handmade, hand-finished and hand embroidered by the highly skilled people in my team.’

Marina has no doubts as to the importance her collaborators play in her maison’s success. ‘Our achievements are based on team work: without them I couldn’t provide my clients with the quality pieces they love. They are the professionals who give shape to my thoughts. Every day they stimulate my creativity and bring my creations to life with their incredible skills and attention to detail.’

So how do her creations start? Marina explains: ‘As I said, fashion is art and creativity – but in evolution. There’s nothing new under the sun, but I believe you can perfect and personalise what has come before you. And that’s why we talk about ‘style’. If a fashion designer is recognised in the pieces he creates, that means he’s been able to put his signature on the creation, just as great artists do with their paintings.’

…her collections offer a FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO MARINA’S CREATIVE PSYCHE
IDEAS A BOUND

Marina finds inspiration all around her: life itself with its infinite facets, nature and her colours, different populations and their cultures, humanity and its history. And her collections offer a fascinating insight into Marina’s creative psyche. The sleek, nostalgically modern models in her Coloniale collection recall the elegance of the 1930s and 40s and yet have a contemporary feel that fits with the needs of modern brides.
Her Esotica and Etnico creations are stylish expressions of diverse forms of nature and world cultures, while her irresistible Muse collection features a series of sensual designs reflecting styles from different periods of history.
‘First of all, I see the design in my head,’ she says, ‘almost like a photograph that I then have to commit to paper in a sketch. Then I actually have to create the piece, make it real. And lastly comes my favourite part, seeing my model worn by a woman on her big day.’ And who exactly wears her pieces? ‘My clients vary,’ she says, ‘from VIPs, and well known personalities to career women, brides and women who want an exclusive piece made just for them. I’ve been lucky enough to work with great artists in the worlds of theatre, musicals and in TV so I’ve seen my creations worn by some really great people, some truly stunning women.’

SELLING POINT
Just a few kilometres from La Preghiera and Moscatelli Villa,

Marina opened her distinctive ‘Open House Marina Mansanta’ as her only sales point in Italy, where clients visit to avail themselves of the maison’s various services. And thanks to her status with well known Personal Shoppers and Wedding Planners, there is never a shortage of visitors. Moreover, the increasing popularity of the Marina Mansanta brand abroad has led the house to offer hospitality in nearby elegant guesthouses for clients who come from from further afield, proving that the Mansanta special touch doesn’t stop at her fashion…

Marina Monsanta

Uscita Valdarno

Autostrada A1

Seconda Strada Poggilupi 95

52028 Terranova Bracciolini (AR)

Tel: (+39) 055 9737752

Web:

http://www.marinamansanta.com/

http://www.lapreghiera.com/

http://www.villamoscatelli.com/

http://www.weddingsumbria.com/

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Donatello's David returns to public gaze

The first major work of Renaissance sculpture, Donatello's bronze of David, is nearing the end of a complex restoration process.

The statue will be unveiled to the public during an inauguration ceremony on November 28 in Florence at the Bargello Museum.

The final phase of the 18-month restoration has seen the famed statue entirely closed off to visitors because of the sensitive tools being used.

Technological innovations have been used throughout the process, such as laser combs invented specially to swipe clean the delicate gold leaf that decorates parts of the work.
The 200,000-euro project followed a major check-up on the state of the work, carried out early in 2007. The David was subjected to X-rays and a range of other more sophisticated diagnostic tests.
Most experts believe Donatello (1386-1466) sculpted the sensuous work in the 1440s.

It depicts David standing with one foot on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat and a pair of boots, David is naked.
At the time of its creation, it was probably the first free standing bronze nude since ancient times and it caused a sensation.

The almost feminine physique contrasts with Michelangelo's powerful, masculine depiction of the biblical figure, sculpted between 1500 and 1504.

It is also very different from Donatello's earlier marble version - created around 1412 - in which David is clothed.
Donatello, whose full name was Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, was the son of a Florentine woolcomber.

As a teenager, he worked in the studio of noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Later, he travelled to Rome with the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi to study the monuments of antiquity.

Donatello's dramatic departure from stylised Gothic art is credited with kick-starting the Renaissance.
The Florentine sculptor even anticipated the use of perspective that is often thought a painterly invention - as can be seen in his early bas relief of St George and the Dragon on Florence's Orsanmichele church.

Other major Donatello works include a grim prophet called Habbakuk - or popularly, Zuccone (big head) - on Florence's Duomo and an equestrian warlord in Padua called the Gattamelata.

www.italymag.co.uk

Upper Tiber Valley - the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War.

Yesterday evening saw the launch of the exhibition in the Upper Tiber Valley of the exhibition to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War. Historical enthusiasts were amazed by the wealth of detail assembled by Alvarro Tachini, during the four years of preparation for this event, from personal sources in the local Upper Tiber Valley, not just the fighters, but also their families.

The Mayors of Citta' di Castello (Umbria) and San Sepolcro (Tuscany) gave short addresses and read a letter from the President of the Italian Republic complimenting the organiser, Mr Tachini, because, probably, for the first time, two compeditive adjoining Italian regions had combined in complete harmony in order to support this wonderful effort.

The total content of the exhibition has been photographed and reproduced in a most attractive format, and is now produced as a good quality book available to the public. ( price publisher details sponsor)

For students of this period, collectors, social historians and archivists, this work is an important and deeply moving account of the sufferings endured by all classes of the population, and which was repeated in different lands and different languages for most of the peoples of of a once divided Europe.

The terrible military casualties incurred during the war were overshadowed by the effects of the Spanish 'flu', a plague that struck down millions in the war torn countries, and then, to add to the misery, an earthquake. All of these grim details are recorded in the exhibition, and the book, and serve to remind us all that this valley in central Italy was not always the green and pleasant land that we find today.