Stepping into Pierre-Louis Mascia's Milan showroom is a bit like visiting a painter's studio or being admitted to Mariano Fortuny's secret laboratory. There is indeed a special alchemy around, resulting from a mix of colours and prints applied to cardigans and twin sets, to accessories including scarves, bags and umbrellas, but also to homeware pieces such as cushions, blankets and seating solutions. But while Fortuny created colours exploring ingredients from many sources and countries, Mascia mixes his vintage prints with arty inspirations, coming up with luscious blues, rich purples, deep green and orange-yellows.
Mascia, who is also a very talented illustrator and who created iconic visuals for Chanel, Yoji Yamamoto and Neiman Marcus stores, has gone from strength to strength since he launched his PLM brand in 2007 with his “Maurice” bag and a partnership with Como-based Italian entrepreneur Achille Pinto. All his designs are made using traditional luxurious materials such as silk and cashmere mixed with new technology including laser printing.
Your first bag was inspired by French composer Maurice Ravel but in the new designs there is a lot more colour, were you inspired by a particular painter for the new collection?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: I still continue to be inspired by the creators and their creations. Each scarf is designed thinking like a painter and created with a reference in mind that is often used also as the name of that product. For example, one scarf in black and white is called “Keita” and it references Seydou Keïta's photographs; another one is instead inspired by Matisse's collages.
What's the key item in the Spring/Summer 13 collection?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: Well, I always follow my way, so scarves and scarves again, but absolutely no trend! I fell out of the fashion "dogma", if I can call it so. I would compare my creative process to that of a writer humbly putting together stories. Yet there is a main difference: my sheet of paper is actually a sheet of silk.
Among the new pieces there are some interior design elements - what inspired you to move also onto homeware and will we see you also at Milan Design Week from now on?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: I'm trying to build a global universe. The home collection is a bit like an experiment, but I would love to present a concept during Milan Design Week. I need to find the right project and place, but I can do it one step at the time!
All your pieces are always made using high quality and luxury materials - so far which is the country where they are appreciated the most and is there a market where you would like to be distributed?
Pierre-Louis Mascia: My designs are very successful in many countries, from Europe - and in particular Belgium, France, Italy and The Netherlands - to Japan. I'm still not distributed in London and New York, even though I would love to reach out to my fans over there as well. Maybe I'll reach these key markets with a special project, we'll see!
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