Emanuela Amato is creative director, stylist, fashion editor and founder of the independent magazine DUST. She is also the mind behind the project that brilliantly narrated Club, Peruffo’s last-born collection.
She talks with us about herself, fashion, nature and the heart of creativity.
How do you think you can fully express yourself?
I personally find this very difficult, the most direct and spontaneous way is definitely trough images, my Instagram profile is the proof.
If you had to choose a symbol to represent yourself, what would it be?
Definitely the moon. I am a very moody person, who needs to live with constant mood swings, I couldn’t choose anything else!
If you could subvert the rules, which law would you overturn?
If I could think big, I would suppress all borders and I would give the whole world population a global passport. I know this would be a mess, but this is something I often think about. No more expired visas, no more tourist or artist visas, or weddings to gain citizenships… I think this would really mean being free.
What is matter for you?
Matter is everything, it’s us, what is surrounding us, the air we breathe.
Tell us about your most successful project and your personal way to design.
I’m certainly very attached to DUST, the very first editorial project, which was born more than 10 years ago from the friendship and absolute madness of 4 young people.
Its evolution and growth went hand in hand with our lives and working experiences. Now it is a publication which is quite prominent in its sector and we are very proud of it.
It symbolizes many years of hard work, having nothing in return, but dedication, resolution and eagerness.
I personally start designing always in the most stressful time, I always wait until the last second, some hours before the deadline, I don’t know, probably it’s the adrenaline that pushes me to make the best of it… Growing up I understood how to manage the time in a better way but basically I wander off a lot, I get caught by many ideas, just to throw away as many as I considered before. In the end the result is almost always a mix of the different mental stages that shape the ideas in my mind. I always take many notes, my desk is literally full of post-its, and then, at some point, here comes the inspiration.
What inspired you for the shooting you created for Peruffo?
When Peruffo got in touch with me we were still in the middle of Covid restrictions and I’ve been struck by the name of the collection, “Club”. The name made me think of what this word represented in such a moment we are living. During the pandemic we rediscovered how essential the contact with nature is and we have learnt to place an increasing value to it. Many creatives have recently left big cities, where we were trapped, to go live in more people-friendly places, just like I did. The idea behind the video comes from this situation… two young people dancing in a wood to the rhythm and sound of the surrounding space, diving and getting lost inside nature. The pictures came like a consequence, to show the state of mental isolation and lightheartedness that everyone feels when dancing, trying to recall it in a more intimate and private dimension, in a mix of fluctuating body parts and colors.
What do you think about collaborations? Is there someone you would like to collaborate with?
Collaborations are the gasoline of creative projects, I’d say it is compulsory to confront ourselves with someone else and to enrich each other with different or even opposite points of view.
Just look at what’s happening in the fashion world: Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada, Balenciaga and Gucci for the 100th anniversary of the Italian maison. And these are just a few examples…
People with whom I would like to collaborate… I should write a list!
Tell us about a contemporary artist and a designer you find important and why.
Among artists I’d for sure say Gaetano Pesce, an icon in design, and Katie Stout. Both of them are great sources of inspiration, concerning the aesthetics in general and the furniture world.
Thinking about designers I can name two, which are also great friends of mine: Achilles Ion Gabriel, Creative Director of Camper and Camperlab, with whom I happily work very close, and Francesco Risso, Marni’s Creative Director.
What makes a designer important to me is the ability to never lose the recreational part of his/her work. Having fun while creating and, as far as possible, trying to trigger a small hurricane inside established brands, without betraying its deep essence, sticking to his/her personal creativity and finding the right compromise.
A short-time project and a long-time one you would like to realise.
I’m really superstitious, I prefer not to share ambitions and projects, if they will come to life you will notice!
I was born in 1987 in Catania, Sicily, were I grew up, and I moved to Florence when I was 19 to study Journalism.
In Florence, by chance, I got to live together with Luca Guarini and Luigi Vitali. Luca was attending the Fine Arts Academy and Luigi was always back and forth from Bologna. After one year during which I basically attended the Academy more than my University, I decided to change my study path completely and I started to study Graphic Design. I moved to Barcelona and, having never studied Spanish, I gave it a try and started this adventure, which finished 3 years later with the first issue of DUST magazine. Luca was living in London at that time and I still remember the nights we spent on Skype sharing the screen to finish the issue…
After Barcelona I roamed a lot, Milan, Berlin, a short time in Sicily, Paris and now Mallorca, where I’m really happy, going on with DUST (me and Luigi both live in Mallorca) and working as a freelance Creative Content Manager at Camper and CAMPERLAB with my boyfriend Lauri Kopio, who is Head of Operations at CAMPERLAB.
Instagram: @emanuela_amato (hyperlink https://www.instagram.com/emanuela_amato/)
www.dustmagazine.com (https://dustmagazine.com/
