Interview with Catalina Paladi

I'm a lover of beauty in general. And designing is my way of bringing my contribution to creating beautiful things.
I became a designer because I think that's my vocation. I wanted it badly from when I was a four year old. That's when I started drawing frontal and back views of dresses. Lately I started sewing for my Barbie and sticked to my dream despite the pressure to seek for more "comfortable" professions, if I can call it that way..

I chose to become a designer, and happily I have supportive parents that encouraged me to pursue my childhood dream..

I'm a designer that likes challenging projects, especially those that seem impossible to complete. Thus, I get very excited and enthusiastic about most of my projects, since I like to look for its potential...

To be a designer nowadays is very difficult, since it's almost impossible to come up with something new. The foundation has already been laid and everything has already been invented. But, what CAN make a designer great, is an original approach. The way You create something that the humanity has already seen, the way you catch people's attention... And if there is clearly seen the amount of your soul, effort and dedication in your design, then the goal is reached.

To me, design together with arts, music and literature is very important. Especially in this pandemic circumstances, some may say that these are not essential for our existence. That may be true on one side. But on the other, it is in our nature to seek for beauty, to look for it and to nest in it's warm and pleasing feeling. It's now more that ever, that people start to meditate about existence, to look for answers and to look for motivation and comfort. And arts and design can bring a bit of alleviation in our lives. So yes, it's wise to invest in design.

I'm very inspired by culture and different ethnicities. And I love very much the portraits. So my dream project is to create portraits of people from different ethnicities, and to introduce them into fashion. This way I would bring closer the cultural diversity that, unfortunately separates us nowadays rather that unifies. And we could have been stronger!

My secret ingredient would be: to never be pleased with average... To seek for excellence.. If doing so, the feeling of being pleased with your work would be delighting.

My greatest design is one I started during my Bachelor degree. You won't believe but it's still unfinished, but I still consider it great. It is great in the material choice, in the lines, in the proportions, in the contrasts and in the dynamics. And the most important thing is that at that point when I designed it, I was at the very beginning of my Design degree, and had very limited technical knowledge, and even then I chose a project that seemed impossible. Now, I just have to wait for the right time to finish it.

Self improvement is very important for a designer that wants to excel. Reading, studying, looking for inspiration and keeping updated with the fashion industry is very important, cause Fashion is moving with a huge speed. You can't be a good designer if you're slow and lazy. That's it.

Design to me is a confession. Is the most intimate way I expose my inner self, my ideas and thoughts. While designing I am powerful. I have freedom of speech and decision. And this feeling is very motivational.

If one appreciates design, he may also appreciate art and beauty. If one appreciates beauty, he will appreciate order as well. Order is the antonym of chaos, thus design for sure helps to create a better society. If only more appreciated design.

It's up to the deadline. Even if I'm organised and persuasive, every designer would agree, that there still remains something to do in the evening, more commonly the night, before the deadline...
It depends also on the project and how complex it is.

As a young designer, I'm at the very beginning of my career. I design develop my works at my home studio. Hopefully I'll launch my brand soon.

"Design" for me is a point of view, my point of view. It's the concept together with the way I do/make a certain thing. In fashion, "design" for me is a far deeper than just a piece of clothing. It's a masterpiece, an artwork, a materialisation of my heart and soul.

For me every piece of clothing is an entire project. I like designing gowns, but recently I got addicted to designing coats. One thing that I like most is creating a coat that is beautiful on the inside as well.

I don't have a favourite design, yet.

I haven't designed for a company, but for private clients. The first design for a client was an asymmetric black and white evening dress in silk satin.

Velvet is my favourite material, despite all the unpredictable issues that may appear during the design process :D The softness, the intensity the colours embrace and the shadowy tones when draping are the effects that turned velvet into an addiction for me.

Creativity is spontaneous and it usually appears in the most busy moments: when I'm working on a project, before an emerging deadline, or late at night...

When designing i care most about the feeling, sensation and perception that the wearer will experience, the story behind the garment. That can be achieved through details: an interesting lining, decorations, contrasted textures, something small but unexpected that would make the garment stand out in the crowd.

Expressing feelings is a important distinctive feature of a designer. When designing i have the opportunity to exteriorize myself, to free my ideas and thoughts. All these make me enthusiastic and excited to share a piece of my heart and spirit through the design.

To me, the creative process starts with the anxiety of not being able to execute everything that I would like to, since imagination can fly much further than reality. Still, that's a positive sensation, a motivational force that helps me follow my aspirations, to follow my passion and to keep persevering during the process. Lately the anxiety turns either into uncertainty related with decision making process or into an strong self-confidence, if the idea is good enough to be convincing.
At the end the result can lead either to satisfaction and a certain dose of pride, if the design is magnificent; of to bitterness and disappointment (in the most of the cases) since both me and the very majority of the creative minds I know are difficult to be pleased, especially by their own works...

They use to say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that is why, to me, a design is successful when the concept of the creator is received, understood and appreciated by the customer/client,thus the design is like a dialogue between the two parties.

People unconsciously trust the first impression when judging a certain thing and I am not a exception. It's only later that I start to weight the proportions, contrasts, texture, materials, colour and quality of the execution. If talking about fashion, I also judge the quality of the stitches, the accuracy from the interior of the garment. A good design is beautiful both from the outside and from the inside, it is enduring, functional. Another important feature is how comfortable the client would be in it, that's why I choose high quality materials, mostly natural fibres and linings, if that suits the concept.

A designer should never be selfish and put his interests above the welfare of the society and environment. If everyone considered ethical deontology, there wouldn't be so much pollution,labor exploitation and a type of modern slavery in the industrial countries..

Referring to clothing, I'm happy to notice a certain retardation of the fast fashion tendency, and a gradual return to the old school. People start to shop more consciously and there are more and more who tend to appreciate more the quality than the quantity. To me, this is the future of the fashion design: a renaissance of the small brands, manufacturers, brilliant minds and talents.

My last exhibition was in November 2018, in Milan. It was connected to my artistic activity, where I exhibited 5 artworks in different techniques.
The next exhibition is not planned, yet, due to the covid19 restrictions.

I'm an observing person that's why I find joy and happiness in little things. My attention to detail feeds my creativity and helps me to find the inspiration from everything.
Besides that, I also look for inspiration in magazines, books, music, fine arts, movies and culture… Another very prolific source of inspiration for me is history. I adore designing modern stuff with historical allure that helps the viewer to travel in time.

The style that describes my activity best is eclecticism. I like to experiment with different styles, shapes, textures and colours. I prefer eclecticism since it gives me freedom, and lets me add many different influences in my designs. Maximalist, vibrant, sophisticated, textured and colourful, that's how I would describe my style.
Sometimes I start my designs with sketching and then looking for materials that would suit the project, but, more often I do it on the opposite: I start with the materials and then I decide what interesting, crazy garment I can make from it.

For about three years so far, I live in Verona, Italy. I'm in love with this city from the very first sight. A simple walk downtown could be enough to fulfill my creative battery and to inspire me to design. Verona is a great place to live in for the artistic people because of the architecture,arts, cultural events, cousins, and of course, Opera Festival. It's location is proper as well, since it's not far from Venice, Florence, Milan, some other significant cultural destination. There are also many pros regarding sourcing and business, since it's close to the fabric warehouses from Florence and it's close to the Milan fashion events and exhibitions. Some disadvantages may be correlated with the very quiet and slightly conservative lifestyle, thus the high fashion is not frequently among the priorities in people's list.

You can't know until you give it a chance. Often companies put the work experience higher than the talent, or refuse to give a chance.
In order to select a good designer they should give a chance first. More chances, greater the probability to find a good designer.

I start with a brainstorm, putting together the concept, materials, and sketching the product, then making the pattern, cutting and sewing the maquette from a plain white cotton fabric. Then we try the maquette on the model, see how it sits and what changes can be done to improve the garment. Only after the approval of the maquette, i start to cut and sew the final garment from the chosen materials with some fittings during the process.

My everyday life is directly influenced by my "mom career". Happily I've got a small studio at home, that way I can do both: looking after my child and working on my projects, with cooking and housework stuff in between.

I'd advice the young upcoming fellow designers to never give up on their dreams.
When you're young you may not have the money and the resources you need to build a business, but you've got the most valuable resource ever: energy. Don't waste it on building someone else's dreams. Use the energy and time you have for building your own dreams.

"Everything is relative". "Everything has got potential". The second one I usually apply to materials.

I think that technical skills are very important, as well as creativity, and modesty- to always consider the aspects that can be improved.

If talking about a simple project it may take from some days to some weeks, if a bigger project (a difficult garment or a collection) it may require up to a year or even more, depending how much of the work is done by hand.

Recently I started designing exclusive garments for some classic musicians from Russia, for their concerts and contests. For their privacy I wouldn't mention names.

At the moment I'm working hard on laying the foundation for my brand. I want to create exclusive garments, artworks and sell them online.

I work by myself.

I prefer by email.