Today’s guest is an incredible talent and one of my oldest childhood friends, Andrea Brocca.
At age 14, Andrea interned for Alice Temperley and produced the Andrea dress, YES AT 14! And by 16 years old, he was hailed youngest haute couture designer in the world by the Guiness World Book of records, succeeding Yves Saint Laurent! He had his own boutique at 16 in Dubai’s Wafi Mall and left it all behind to master his craft by going on to study at La Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne followed by a degree in Fashion Design and Marketing at London’s prestigious Central Saint Martins. In between he’s worked for Prabal Gurung in New York, Ellery in Paris, and most recently Bottega Veneta in Milan. Around 2 weeks ago, he debuted his central saint martins graduate collection “SENANAYAKE” on the first-ever Virtual London Fashion Week, he’s been in the press multiple times since, most notably in Vogue Arabia, Grazia UK, and Lampoon Mag. We discuss how he managed to create such a masterpiece under lockdown restrictions in Dubai, after he left London when quarantine was coming into effect so that he could be with his family. I ask Andrea if he thinks that traditional Fashion Week’s will become a thing of the past, who his inspirations are, what he learned from his work experiences, and his opinion on fast fashion. An incredible thing happened during the recording of this episode, when notorious Fashion Journalist and advocate for emerging talent Sarah Mower reposted Andrea’s collection to her Instagram, Andrea’s reaction says it all, pure happiness and I am so happy I could be a part of that, it goes to show Andrea’s passion for his craft and his genuine nature and excitement for his success. He deserves it. I’ll be leaving the links to his Instagram and all of the press pieces on his collection - Please share his work if you can!
Check out Andrea’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/andreabrocca/?hl=en
Vogue Arabia Article: https://en.vogue.me/fashion/news/andrea-brocca-graduate-collection-central-saint-martins/
Grazia UK Article: https://graziadaily.co.uk/fashion/news/central-saint-martins-graduate-collections/
Lampoon Magazine Article: https://lampoon.it/andrea-brocca-x-stephanie-cooper/
SHOWstudio Shortlist Article: https://showstudio.com/projects/class-of-2020/shortlist-fashion-design
Watch his collection video: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBVaNvdAqBx/
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