Schools have been among the first institutions to adapt to the new measures of quarantine. How did your school react to the state of emergency? In your opinion, what are the pros and cons of online classes?

The Fashion Academy was timely in converting the classic system of face-to-face classroom lessons into virtual sessions where we were able to pursue our training, albeit at a distance. I find that this new system has been effective for most of the courses and I have been able to enjoy benefits in terms of time management: in fact, if before the emergency I lost at least two hours of travel to and from university, now these two hours can be spent profitably. Moreover, since I had to stay at home, I was able to get my work done in a more careful and efficient way, rediscovering a productivity that had long been overshadowed by stress and everyday routine. As far as technical and extremely practical subjects such as shoe modeling are concerned, the new training system is not perfect because, although the explanations are clear and explicit and the Academy has provided us with all the necessary tools, I feel the lack and need for a face to face training with my teacher.

The Fashion and Design Industries have been aggressively afflicted by the state of quarantine and social distancing. As a consumer, but also as a future insider of those systems, what do you think the worst consequences of this crisis will be?

The Covid-19 epidemic is the first of the unexpected challenges of this new decade. The change in production of fashion companies was certainly wise in the first phase of the lockdown, but as the fashion industry is a pragmatic system, it is not possible to ignore the new needs of consumers who will surely be economically weakened by the pandemic. One of the probable consequences of this crisis could happen in the Tanning Industry considering that some leathers need a timely processing before losing their value.

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?

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit". I believe in these wise words of Aristotele and try not to let a single day go by without sketching. I admit, however, that creativity is not an endless fire and that inspiration does not always come on demand.  In these lockdown moments, then, I take refuge in books, films or even past fashion shows, in search of something simple to focus on.