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The names of the 20 emerging designers selected by Vogue Italia to pair up with the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 finalists have finally been announced.
Each designer will reinterpret the work of their team-mate through a fashion creation inspired by the chef’s dish, in an unprecedented fusion of fine food and style.
Here you find the double interview of Mediterranean Countries region finalists, Alexander Tsionitis, Executive Chef at CTC restaurant, and the designer Daizy Shely.
| What inspires the aesthetics of your creations? | What inspires the aesthetics of your creations? |
| I love colours. For me a plate is like a canvas waiting to be filled. |
I find inspiration in everything... Even the simplest things in life. An idea can come while I'm walking in the street and I have the chance to see something that touches me or from people and cultures that fascinate me, from art, history and from my life experience. |
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How do colours and textures influence your creations? |
How do colours and textures influence your creations? |
| I am a firm believer that pleasure starts from the eye. This explains how I feel about colours and perceiving an empty dish as a blank canvas. I’m a chef, and not a painter, though. Therefore textures have to match up to the visual stimulus. |
Colors and textures have a huge importance in my work, they are a part of the story that I want to tell. I love a lot the mix of different textures and materials because I always try to create contrasts and harmony at the same time. |
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How would you describe your creative style? |
How would you describe your creative style? |
| I would like to think of my cooking as multi-dimensional and crossing boundaries. It really depends on the psychological state I am in, the weather, anything really. Having said that, I should stress that I am a firm believer in the saying “less is more”. Don’t think that necessarily makes me a “minimalist” though. |
In my work I focused on the high quality of materials and on the tailoring of cuts, in a perfect balance between femininity and determination. I always design what I feel and everywhere you can find my love for the harmony that can come from contrasts. I think that creativity grows up from contradictions and conflicts, this is what let things go from be beautiful to be interesting. |
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Is there any influence of your country's traditions, culture or materials in your creative work? |
Is there any influence of your country's traditions, culture or materials in your creative work? |
| Any? Many! Although I don’t cook in order to give citizenship to my dishes, I am really excited to put my country’s abundance of |
In my work I focused on the high quality of materials and on the tailoring of cuts, in a perfect balance between femininity and determination. I always design what I feel and everywhere you can find my love for the harmony that can come from contrasts. I think that creativity grows up from contradictions and conflicts, this is what let things go from be beautiful to be interesting. |
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What food would you happily die eating? |
What food would you happily die eating? |
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Fresh seafood or… poisonous mushrooms. |
My mum’s couscous. |
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The first top fashion designer that comes to mind? |
The first top chef that comes to your mind? |
| Tom Ford - maybe because he has such a short but prominent name. | My husband. |
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If your cuisine was something to wear, what would it be? |
If your creations were a dish, what would it be? |
| A piece of jewellery. | Probably something spicy with a delicate sweetness. |
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What ingredient would you never eat, and why? |
What item of fashion would you never wear, and why? |
| I would never try reptiles or insects of any sort. I find them repellant. | Anything brown. But never say never! |
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What’s the first thing you’ll do upon arriving in Milan next June? |
What’s the first thing you’ll do upon arriving in Milan next June? |
| You mean besides getting my luggage from the conveyor belt? I am afraid we won’t have plenty of free time to enjoy Milan. However, if I want go to stay in one piece, I would better buy my girlfriend some white truffle butter she loves so much. | Make a long trip along the narrow streets of Milan taking my camera together with me. New city, new people, contrasts at every step, that’s where my inspiration comes from. |
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What do you expect from this challenge? |
What do you expect from this challenge? |
| The opportunity to meet this jury is a lifetime experience by itself. All other things simply add to the aftertaste. | I’m very excited to take a part in this project and I’m sure it's going to be interesting and tastefull! In the end fashion and cooking have a lot of aspects in common: it's all about feelings and creativity. |
Daizy Shely's interview was conducted by Vogue.it
