Ready to challenge the status quo: three emerging designers talk about their idea of fashion

GALIB GASSANOFF: 'Then there is the budget issue. The big brand imposes minimum orders on buyers with five-figure sums, the buyer accepts for fear of losing it. Then we arrive with our 15 pieces, and we are told there is no more money. In fact there is a somewhat ambivalent attitude towards us: 'I support you, but you have to accept my conditions'. In reality, we are a boast for them: it is always good to say that you have an emerging brand in your boutique'.

FM: 'Another knot is payment. For us, there are no down payments: in my last sales campaign I made a lot by my standards, yet even with orders between 7 and 14 thousand euro, Italian buyers do not give down payments, which would be vital to get production going. They tell you: 'We have placed the order, now get organised''.

GG: 'This way you don't even support the country. To the French or British designers they give advances of 30 or 50 per cent, because otherwise they would not accept the deal. To us, instead, nothing. And yet they should support us precisely because we produce on the territory, with artisans, making truly made in Italy".

YOU WON'T EVER ...

GALIB GASSANOFF: 'At the level of quality guaranteed by artisanal production, albeit slow and expensive. To buyers who tell me that the competitor costs less, I try to explain what is behind the choice of a fabric, how it has been processed. Visually they are two black wool jackets, but you can tell the difference by living in them. Customer loyalty takes years, you can't go fast. The fact is that I'm fine with my ethics, and I wouldn't know how to give them up'.

FRANCESCO MURANO: 'It is essential that everything is produced in Italy, both in terms of materials and manufacture. I don't want to sacrifice my distinctive features: if you have a creative peculiarity, you must always be able to cultivate it. There are so many designers, it's better to be recognisable'.

WHILE HAVING YOUR BRAND, DO YOU CONTEMPLATE THE CREATIVE DIRECTION OF A MAISON?

MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR: "I would like to go into a historical maison, maybe a British one like Burberry, Aquascutum or Barbour, and imprint it with my codes; not deviating too much from what consumers love about the company, but setting a change of course. Jonathan Anderson has done a great job in keeping his brand and working for a company, but today I am no longer obsessed with having my name on the door. My dream is also to be hired by a legendary group (Otb, Lvmh) looking for someone to shake things up, with the sensitivity to understand the desires of new consumers. I feel ready'.

GALIB GASSANOFF: "For me it would be a dream to direct a maison with a history, a name, a structured atelier. With Institution I don't have as much freedom to express myself, it is tiring and limiting to work alone. Of course, creative direction also has its difficulties, but it gives you the freedom to dream. The question is: can you also carry your own brand? Some companies give the aut aut aut. Me, I'm honest, I don't want to be a victim of my dream, I want above all to be happy. Sometimes it is better to choose yourself: when you are authentic, you are proud of what you do'.

FRANCESCO MURANO: 'It would be interesting, if it was the right brand. Having an archive, an in-house technical team, would allow you to explore new solutions. A style office allows you to develop ideas that you cannot follow alone. But if it were a full-time commitment, I don't think I would be able to pursue my own brand as well'.

Is THERE A GREATER COMMUNITY FEELING IN YOUR GENERATION THAN IN THE COMPETITION OF THE PAST?

MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR: 'I believe that competition will always remain, it is human to feel threatened by the success of others, but jealousy is useless: even if you are at the top, you never feel you have arrived. It is healthier to turn success into a common experience: to share knowledge, to be transparent. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain'.

Abito in tessuto jacquard floreale a fil coupé non rasato, che esalta la tridimensionalità del disegno e crea un effetto materico con variazioni di toni avorio, INSTITUTION (1.800 €). Sotto, Galib Gassanof, founder del brand. ©Marcus Tondo

ITS HAS ALSO MADE IT A MANIFESTO: RAISE THE TEAM ABOVE THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR. IS COMMUNITY A PROGRAMMATIC OR ALSO A PRAGMATIC VALUE?

MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR: 'Both. I collaborate with a designer specialising in knits, Isabella Egan: she knows all about crochet, macramé and net. My lack of technical knowledge leads me to push my imagination a lot further, and the combination of her expertise and my mindset has led to something really exciting, like the red mesh dress with studs that was also at the award ceremony'.

If I SAY SUSTAINABILITY...

FRANCESCO MURANO: 'The word sustainability has been abused. Those who say they are 100 per cent sustainable often don't know what they are talking about. I can say what is sustainable in my brand: I use stock for samples, and made-to-measure is because it does not imply prior production and guarantees longevity. If you are used to buying a suit at Zara for 200 euros, you also get used to getting rid of it quickly. If you come to me you pay 3 thousand euro for it, and it stays with you'.

GALIB GASSANOFF: "I do not like to say that what I do is sustainable, that would be presumptuous. Talking about ethics and integrity, I try to include my community in Georgia and Azerbaijan, where there are marginalised women who do artisanal weaving and work in a pure, sustainable way, without knowing it. But then they wear polyester, because it's cheap. If I make an Institution T-shirt it costs me 70-80 euro, at the public it goes up to 250. You can't ask everyone not to buy from Zara. By the way, many of their suppliers are the same as some luxury brands. With the numbers they have, some garments reach an average quality at an affordable price. And it is a company that gives a lot of work to different communities around the world. What I rather expect from the big Italian names is that they really produce in Italy. It is not enough to put a label and only make 20 per cent here. They must support the entire supply chain, the artisans, the manufactures, and in this way, us. This is also sustainability'.

Abito pezzo unico realizzato per il Fashion District Festival a Londra nello Spitalfields Market lo scorso giugno e fotografato dal designer nel backstage, MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR. Sotto, il designer, titolare del brand omonimo.

Today, WHAT TYPE OF BUSES DO THE FASHION SCHOOLS PREPARE FOR?

MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR: "At Saint Martins the commercial side is deliberately neglected, this allows us students to have a more radical vision and challenge the status quo. Nobody wants sweatshirts and caps from me, at the moment it is essential for me to keep the essence of what I have created. But I realised, thanks to ITS, that you just get on a plane and leave London and nobody knows my name. It's a long way to go. Now, after the award and the residency, I have a wider network of contacts, people I can talk to; I have, for example, strengthened some acquaintances such as the one with Tom Eerebout and I will be launching a collection of Komono sunglasses. In this project I am not sacrificing my aesthetics, in fact I would say that the sunglasses are the distillation of that: they combine my glam and rock side, sartorial elegance and rebel spirit. If they like the glasses, with the sales I can then support my couture creations: a great advantage'.

BY BEING AN EMERGENT, BUT ALREADY ON SHOW IN A FASHION MUSEUM, IS NOT A HOPE.

MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR: "To be exhibited in a museum (the ITS Arcademy - Museo di Arte nella Moda, the first and only Italian museum dedicated to contemporary fashion, in Trieste, ndr) is the highest validation of the value of what you do and is an achievement to be celebrated for a long time, because nowadays even the resonance of a fashion show ends in a week. An exhibition lasts months and, if you are lucky enough to get into a permanent collection, it is forever'.

UNDER THE LENS FRANCESCO MURANO, @murano.francesco. INSTITUTION, institutionstudios.com, @galib.gassanoff. MAXIMILIAN RAYNOR, maximilianraynor.com, @maximilianraynor.