@a.b.r.i.c.o.t

22 years old

Cuneo, Italy

How has your everyday-life changed? What do you do to fulfill your day?

“Now, this is a story all about how / My life got flipped-turned upside down”, as Will Smith sang in The Prince of Bel Air. On March 9, 2020 in a hurry I had to leave Florence, the city of my studies, for fear of not being able to return to Cuneo, where I live. I left my sneakers and boots to wear accident prevention shoes and a mask to help my mother with the family business. It's been five and a half weeks, and now my life starts at 7 am in the morning, when I wake up to get to work at 8 am and end the day at 5 pm. When I'm not working, I try to focus my mind on school and the various types of art that can help me to distract or research my projects.

Your work is built on creativity. While we’re all in quarantine, what is your solution to keep on being creative? Where do you find your inspiration in this moment?

Quarantine is putting a strain on ourselves and our daily lives. This can be positive, because it can allow us to get out of our comfort zone and expand our borders. I, in particular, am working on my final project which is deeping my knowledge of the Subcultures of the 90s, in particular that of the New York Kid Clubs, and drawing. Stopping does not mean giving up, but giving ourselves the opportunity to reflect and improve and above all expand.

What is your biggest fear right now?

I am a person who tends to see things with positivity, but surely this period is not good for anyone. We are used to live without caring too much about what we are doing and taking everything for granted. My fear is to find myself in a world where I will have constraints and where I will not have the opportunity to live as before.

What will you do once all of this is over?

Of all the questions, I think this is the most difficult, since we are in a moment of pure instability. We must take into account the fact that we will have to live with a new lifestyle in which we will probably have to get used to totally or partially change our routine and the way we work. Relating to people will surely no longer be the same as before, just like traveling and carrying out all those actions that seemed trivial to us. Another aspect will be that we will gain distrust of others, in fact we will look at those close to us as a possible carrier of contagion. The injured part of this unexpected situation is certainly the fashion industry: the arrest of production and distribution of the articles has put a strain on all the companies found forced to compensate for the economic gap created in this period. The cornerstone of this situation was e-commerce, which, at least in large part, managed to replace direct distribution. However, the adoption of new strategies and regulations will be necessary to return to the normal functioning of our beloved stores.