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Luciano Barbera
Man of two centuries
By fABRizio dE’ mARiniS - photoS By lylE f. RoBlin
If the twentieth century, just as the beginning of the
twenty-first has been, was dominated by Italian style
and elegance in the worlds of fashion, dress sense,
design, lifestyles, aesthetics and sophistication by
means of the know how of Italy’s best master stylists
of ‘the soul and the spirit’ then Luciano Barbera is the
man of two centuries. An all round Renaissance man
whose universal world view takes him from a grasp
of the supreme essence of his raw materials to universally
recognised works of art. And that’s not all. A
work of art capable of charming - from the choice of
the finest wools and fabrics to the finished item of
clothing - the most sophisticated men and women
of the earth, dictating style, codes and the most understated
and regal elegance in every continent
with the participation of the most sophisticated industrial
and commercial minds in the world in a
project such as the Biella Master delle Fibre Nobili
which he set up in 1986, crucible for companies
such as art workshops to pass on the secrets of the
arts of wool and weaving. For thirteen months students
move between theoretical training and direct
contact with companies in work experience which
gives them the chance to learn all the phases of
working and distribution processes in the textileclothing
sector through direct experience ranging
from breeding of sheep to sale of wool at auction,
making yarn to the finished fabric, from the cutting
of the cloth to clothing design and finishing with
the addition of the distribution logic of the great
“yOUR JACKET TELLS
THE WORLD WHO yOU ARE.
FOR ME THE IDEAL JACKET
MUST BE SOFT WITH NATURAL
LINES AND BALANCED
PROPORTIONS. IT MUST
BE CLOSE FITTING AND NOT
OBLIGE yOU TO MOVE
UNNATURALLy.
PRONOUNCED SHOULDERS
COMMUNICATE VANITy
NOT ELEGANCE TO ME.
EVERy TIME I SEE A GENTLEMAN
PLAy TENNIS OR GOLF
IN A JACKET, I THINK
THAT HE COULD BE
A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE”.
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