With aspiring fashion designer Leyla Babayeva on fashion as a bigger social phenomenon than vanity blowout and more
Hello, folks! Galosh Jiguli series is here again – with probably the youngest talent. Meet Leyla Babayeva, junior fashion designer who has been among 20 students at Marangoni Institute selected by Tod’s Academy for its “Re-generation” project. Skilled in painting, another passion of hers, she expresses her artistic side through her designs. A true believer of sustainability as the (re)definition of luxury and hard-working designer towards her goals, she seems to grow comfortable with returning home arms full of awards on sustainability projects – let it be the bottle top challenge in London or reinterpretation of Tod’s DNA in Italy to embrace sustainability. For the latter project, she was mentored by the legendary Tonne Goodman, the sustainability director of Vogue and the stylist for the recent photoshoot of the First Lady Dr.Jill Biden for the cover of Vogue. What a delight for an enthusiastic novice designer whose career is ahead. We talked in depth about Tod’s Re-generation project, evolving definition of luxury and more.
Enjoy
Read the Azerbaijani version here
Leyla, please tell us more about Tod’s Re-generation project.
We are talking about a collaboration project between Tod’s Academy and Marangoni Institute. The project is called Re-generation. This is one of those surprises that you do not expect coming, and you do not know what will come next. It was October last year. One day we came to school to learn that Tod’s has picked 20 students of Marangoni for a special collaboration project. The selection was made by Tod’s itself. This was the second collaboration of the Tod’s Academy with a fashion school. The first one had been with the Central Saint Martin’s University in London, but due to the pandemic related lockdowns, it had entirely been carried out virtually. It was the first time that Tod’s collaborated with an Italian fashion school, and we were lucky enough to have opportunity to move. We were relocated to the Tod’s headquarters in Marche, where also Tod’s Academy operates.
Back to our topic, we were given a week to present our capsule collection with a task to reinterpret Tod’s DNA embracing sustainability. A week is a very short period to reinterpret a brand DNA, above all, to come up with a concept. But you know, we had to deliver. In the end, we managed even to do shootings with the communication students and prepare communication strategy.
Which task was the most difficult one in that week?
Coming up with a concept. There is always a substantial amount of research behind deciding the concept. Once the decision is made, preparation of the moodboard follows. In this case, drawings took only two days, and I had some time left. So, I worked on creating renderings and even prepared one prototype. My concept was inspired by cowboy theme in Western all’Italiana movie. I wanted to create something that Tod’s hadn’t done before. Cowboy theme had already been in the mainstream fashion for a couple of years, but it hadn’t made into Tod’s. Also, another objective was to deliver the message about how Italians maintain and reinterpret their identity when they have to mingle with other cultures. I called my collection “Ride out to the old sundown”. Preserving its heritage is essential for Tod’s, so we had to both reinterpret and preserve.
How did you reinterpret Tod’s DNA in a cowboy style?
First, the gommino. The rubber with “pebbles” that runs thru the sole under the shoe to the heel. It has a signature shape. First, I reinterpreted the shape. Then, re-worked Tod’s name on gommino, which was received positively, including by the director of Marangoni. The logo of the brand has two lions on the sides, I reinterpreted their place of use. The idea was to design a more youthful look that was both classical and sporty. I’d like to emphasize again, the concept, theme selection is paramount to any design. One needs to keep in mind that eventually this concept will be translated into tangible products. Normally, the university gives us a month to decide the theme. Sometimes, couple of months after picking a theme, one realizes that it doesn’t work out and the initial idea needs to be revisited. It is a delicate work and a very important phase in fashion design.
Is like predicting the spirit of time?
Yes, exactly. Speaking of time, one of the objectives for this project was embracing sustainability. We had to reinterpret the DNA of the brand with sustainable materials while preserving its heritage.
Very much like Made in Italy, right? I don’t think this transition period is easy on brands like Tod’s, whose core products are leather goods.
Yes, preserving heritage and identity is important for them. Tod’s core products are leather bags and shoes. The leather collection in the headquarter or call it archive, is simply amazing. I haven’t seen anything of that sort. In this transition period it is not easy to find quality alternatives to leather and this transition is a serious issue for them. Needless to say, faux leather is out of discussion and identifying the right material requires research. My choice fell on mushroom leather and piñatex. It is hard to find these new type of leather materials in Italy, so I had to order them from Spain.
So besides changing the taste, this transition seems to eventually disrupt the supply chain. What other alternatives were used by other students? Did they do selection among the collections?
All students worked on a variety of materials that could be alternative to leather. No selection took place. We are a group of 20 and we proceed with the same group. The jury members at my presentation were Walter Chiapponi, Tod’s creative director, Vogue’s long time fashion director, stylist and current director for sustainability Tonne Goodman, and Vogue Italia’s head of Vogue Talents, CNMI international fashion ambassador Sara Maino. My mentor happened to be Tonne Goodman.
What is coming next for these 20 collections?
It is a secret for us too. We do not know what is going to happen until a week before. We do not have any information yet.
How did you come to study fashion design and what are your future plans?
I love painting since childhood and was good at painting. I loved fashion very much too. After high school, I wasn’t sure which one to pursue. I am grateful to my parents for encouraging me to go after my dreams of being a fashion designer. Actually, I started at the London campus of Marangoni then moved to the Milan campus. It was not an easy decision to make between the Central Saint Martin’s and Marangoni either, eventually I my preference swinged towards Marangoni. But I see difference in two schools of Marangoni. While in London the study is more conceptual and experimental, disconnected from the commercial aspect, in Italy it is a lot about practicality, structure, preserving traditions with commercial end in mind. Having exposure to these two ways of education is really helpful in many ways.
Soon I will graduate from Marangoni, Milan campus. My dissertation is at the end of February. If I decide to do Master’s degree, I’d do it on fashion business. Being a fashion designer is not enough to start a brand. It seems easy, but it is not an easy task. Prior experience would be very helpful.
I am currently interning at the Alessandro Vigilante. This is a new namesake brand. A small company but a robust one. We already participated in Milan Fashion Week, dressed two participants of this year’s San Remo festival. I prepared the sketches of those outfits. In parallel, Alessandro Vigilante is the creative director of the Attico brand. Prior to that, he used to work as a celebrity designer for Gucci, Dolce Gabbana, and Philosophy. So, he is already a well-connected fashion insider. What I like about this place is being part of the whole process. Normally, in big brands, I believe there is division of tasks, so one doesn’t get to see the whole picture of how a brand runs. Starting from March, I will start working as a junior fashion designer at Rossignol, luxury outer wear French brand.
What was your collection for the dissertation?
The collection we prepared for the last year could also be our dissertation. But I found it boring to present the same collection. That’s why I made a fashion film. The topic I chose was about social classes and how appearance and looks shape other’s perception and behavior. I’ve conducted a survey on this. In Baku, Milan and even on LinkedIn I found people from the sector and interviewed them. The result was interesting. Not much has changed since the times when only upper class could wear toga in ancient Rome and the red toga belonged only to the emperor. Today, there are no costumes obviously, but the class behavior is still there. Just like in the past, middle class looks up and imitates the upper class. Take Hermès or Louis Vuitton, the fashion houses that are tightly associated with the high end living and fast fashion brands like Zara constantly imitate them. Departing from this idea, I move on to understand what luxury means in our days – logomania, sustainability or invisible luxury. My conclusion is sustainability and craftsmanship.
How can Azerbaijan benefit from the know-how of Made in Italy in your area? Also, what advice would you give to the younger generation from your lessons learned?
There is a lot of talent in my area. In general, I think, Azerbaijani youth is very talented in handwork, especially in painting. I’d say a lot of work needed to put in for fashion. Taking a short course is not enough, fashion design is not only about sewing dresses. People, especially, the youth love fashion in Baku, they are into fashion. It would just take serious, academic education and experience to nurture new breed of good designers. The same goes to other professions in the sector, such as buyers. It is a very serious profession. We already have couple of established designers working internationally – initiating a dialogue with them would be beneficial, arranging seminars with them would bring valuable insight. Fashion design is not as simple as it sounds.
That is, a fashion designer must understand social tendencies and be able to predict what sort of changes in taste these tendencies will bring along?
Yes, the designer must be able to predict changes in tastes, be able to interpret social tendencies. Also, content is important for organizing fashion events. It is important to have a communication strategy. Regardless, I believe that offering academic level education would be very helpful. We have a rich crafts culture in carpet making, ceramics etc. That could be a good way to integrate or get inspired from. As for the advice to the younger generation, I would say that there is always criticism in the fashion sector. Listen to the criticism, but don’t take it to your heart. Follow your own passion and plans.
