Benedetta Barzini |
Ted Polhemus |
| You probably already know my name,
but I bet you have no idea my nick name is |
| nevertheless |
...It's one of the great disappoints of
my life that I've never had a nickname. However, my father had originally
wanted to call me Ezekiel (a religious man, my father) and sometimes I invent
a new, future id for myself as 'Zek' |
| Yes because I am gonna be the master
of ceremony at ITS#THREE, and for those of you that don’t have the
pleasure of knowing me my job is |
| being silent in pictures, eloquent whilst teaching (from “The
meaning of clothes in history”) |
…tricky this. It says 'writer' on my passport but I
also lecture and work as a consultant. Like ITS#3, the focus of my work
is taking fashion and style seriously |
| But in the swinging 60s I was |
| watching the new York scene at the window |
a degenerate Hippy |
| However, there’s no reason of
speaking about the past, let’s go back to the present to tell you
the thing I love most about what I do is |
| CONNECTING the artistic expression of
people to reality |
that I get to travel to so many great
places and never as a tourist. Trieste is truly one of my all time favourite
places - it has a cultural complexity, sophistication and warmth which is
unique in my experience. It's something of a mystery why Trieste doesn't
get more tourists (but, being
selfish, I'm glad it doesn't) |
| The finest day I’ve ever had
|
| is everyday, with the good and the bad
|
is Oct 11 1947 (the day I was born; just
because you can't remember something doesn't mean it wasn't important; must
have been a real trip) |
| But, you know, life is made also of
bad times and sometimes bad times are result of mistakes; my biggest one
|
| is still to come |
wasting time and energy on unimportant projects when I should
have had the
courage to focus on new creative directions. |
| Taught me that |
| we should be able to turn mistakes into
opportunities |
you must believe in yourself; risk all. |
| The thing that makes me most angry
is |
| GREEDINESS and OMNIPOTENCE |
the lies and misuse of language by right-wing
politicians ('liberation' my ass) |
| If I could be someone else (for one
day) I would like to be |
| the president of the United States. It
wouldn’t take me long to change the policy |
no, I like being me (I've had a lot of
practice) |
| There are not many sure things in
life. But on 17th July I know I’ll be in Trieste, and before that
day there are still some mornings left; and speaking about mornings the
first thing I think/do when I wake up is |
| SMOKING! |
have a piss |
| I could tell you all the important
things in my life, but that’s a long story. So I’ll just tell
you that what makes my life worth living is |
| looking at nature and wondering why mankind
aims at destroing it |
travelling, friends, when the writing
goes well, wine, coffee, music, women's bottoms, fiction, swimming |
| We are speaking only about me but
remember that I’ll be sharing the stage with Ted. To describe him
with 3 words I would say |
| Ted is a deep, tender and solitary person |
VERY special person (Really, there's no
one else like her - I keep trying to get her to write her autobiography.
Her English, by the way, is a little better than mine.) |
| Now that you know a bit more about
me, I tell you that for me fashion |
| never lies. Fashion can be a form of art
in movement Marketing is the enemy of fashion |
is finished. It's all about style now |
| I’ve been told that after 17th
July 2004 I’ll have super-hero powers and I’ll be able to change
the world, or only the fashion world (I have to ask again). Therefore the
first thing I would change in the fashion world is |
| the duty of pretending to invent new things.
The obsessive search of trends. The idea that people should consume without
thinking. I would like more culture, more awareness, more love for fashion |
…uuhm..I tell you what I would do…I
would put more attention on new, independent designers - precisely what
ITS is all about
|
| I think the most influent fashion
designer in the last 10 years is |
| ..mmh , I believe everyone who found a
sincere path connected with his/her own nature has been influent |
the unknown street person who samples
and mixes a unique style |
| But he/she already made his/her way.
Now ITS time for fresher ones and if a young fashion designer wants to succeed
I believe he/she |
| and what is his/her limit to compromises
|
needs an awareness of what's going on
outside the clothing industry |
| ITS# time to go now greedy-fashion-eater.
Still hungry? See you all on the 17th July |
| (..keep it up greedy-fashion-eaters, but
please, don’t be passive! ) |
|
