Since joining Etro as Creative Director last year, Marco De Vincenzo has made it his mission to reinterpret the brand’s beauty and heritage in a new way that remains true to its roots.
With a rich history deeply rooted in fabrics and textiles, Etro was founded in 1968 and became known almost immediately for its quality products and refined prints. In 1981, Gerolamo Etro introduced the Paisley pattern to the brand, enhanced in all its forms and colour variations. Paisley has become the Milanese fashion house’s signature design and remains a key motif of the house today. Since joining the house as Creative Director in 2022, he has played with this pattern, offering new ways of presenting it that continue to honour the brand’s DNA, but allow it to appeal to a wider audience. His experience in the industry allowed him to offer fresh eyes on the brand’s designs, bringing years of experience at Fendi, where he headed up the leather goods vertical. Fresh from presenting the Spring/Summer 2024 collection in Milan, we talked to the Creative Director to find out more about his vision and direction for the Milanese House.
Congratulations on the Spring Summer 24 collection that just showed in Milan – tell us about this collection and its inspiration.
I wanted my imagination to take me to a place of a thousand possibilities. This is why I called it “NOWHERE” because fantasy places are sometimes more beautiful than real ones.
What are some of the highlights for you regarding looks, prints, shapes, colours, etc.?
Mix and match has been part of Etro’s universe since long before I joined the brand. And I love this maximalist approach to mixing. The protagonist print of the collection is a reinterpretation of an eighteenth-century brocade in a psychedelic key. We made it graphic, pop, and opulent without being too classic.
You joined the brand last year; how have you settled in, and what is your current vision and direction for Etro?
More than a year is needed to understand the history of a brand that is more than 50 years old. I would say I have now moved on to the second level, but I don’t know how many more await me. I love learning, and I would never put a limit on what I can learn at this brand.
Etro is a brand that has a rich history and clear DNA – how do you stay true to this but put your own twist onto your designs?
I was hired to renew and renewing sometimes means nothing more than taking up the past and looking at it with new eyes.
Paisley is a key signature for Etro – tell us about the paisley print and how you plan to continue to use it within your designs.
Paisley is a wonderful symbol with an ancient history. Undeniably, it has become part of the brand’s codes, but I am also trying to widen the field of action in terms of patterns. In the SS24 show, for example, there is only a paisley print at the end of the show, even if the collection is unequivocally Etro.
How has your relationship with textiles and fabrics developed since you joined the house?
If there is a passion that I have cultivated throughout my career, it is for fabrics. So, I feel a strong affinity with Etro: born as a textile company and only later became a fashion brand. Fabric has always been my key ingredient.
Can you tell us about the Fall/Winter 23 collection, which is in stores now and what our readers should look out for?
The RADICAL ETRO collection is my first homage to the brand’s heritage, of which I also wanted to talk about lesser-known aspects. For example, the male universe, made of tartan fabrics, oversized jackets with collegiate mood and bow ties that become maxi bows. I then mention the most well-known codes: the fluid dresses, the bohemian spirit, and the long and voluminous silhouettes.
Tell us about the menswear category and your direction for this.
I try to tell a coherent story in all the categories I deal with. The men’s collections also consolidated my interest in the textile world and in a free spirit in terms of attitude.
We’ve seen some great accessories over the last year – tell us about this category and what else is in the pipeline.
I have been working in the leather goods world for 25 years; Fendi was my school in this category. I am working hard to give Etro accessories the necessary identity that allows the brand to become authoritative in this category, too, as it is already ready-to-wear. The Etro VELA bag is an example of this; it is growing daily in terms of sales and desirability.
What is something you would still like to do with the brand?
Lots of things! I have just started telling the new generations about its beauty.
What’s the biggest challenge you face, and how do you overcome it?
The market is a stormy sea; the biggest challenge for those who work in fashion today is to reach their destination by overcoming the pitfalls of globalisation. This requires a lot of creativity: the only thing capable of overcoming the frenetic speed of the system.
When are you in your most creative state of mind?
Usually, when I’m doing something else, when I leave fashion aside for a moment, it comes back with surprising ideas and takes back her space.
What is the professional motto you live by?
Never stop dreaming.
What else is in the pipeline for the coming year?
I would spend more time at the seaside, by far the most inspiring place I know.
What message would you send to clients in the Middle East?
To never give up fashion. Because fashion lives on thanks to the passion of the people who follow it.
