Photo: Luca Rossetti.
“It’s just happened I fell in love with black and that’s how we gave a birth to Siyah” – sarcastically starts a conversation Italian designer Tomas Lanza who calls himself inhabitant of the world. Considering black color as the beginning removes the chaos from his mind and awakens the muses to inspire: the interpretations have to get a shape for each experimental and fusion mood collection. Italian perfectionist aims to show the Roots of humanity as a dual contradictory and uncounted unity at once: strong feminine woman and man who relies on her strength and courage. They dance, explore, get lost, find, respect and fulfill each other until reach shared identity. The mixture of elements from Western fashion and Eastern avant-garde influence composes Japanese rock’n’roll style, which lets to create the world by yourself. Be dandy. Be hipster. Breathe in Californian freshness, Italian classics and Paris minimalism.
Tomas, you are originally from Italy, the country of arts, design and fashion. How did it happen that you made a decision to bring one of your brands to Berlin fashion scene? What similarities and differences can you envision between these two very diverse fashion industry countries?
It’s been 6 years since I explored Berlin for the first time and I fell in love. Easy and immediately. It is totally true that my home country is a center of arts, but let’s highlight – it is the spot for classic arts. My personality is hungry and thirsty for raw, industrial, not polished places. Just like Berlin: underground, destroyed, mysterious, full of passion and undiscovered splashes of doubts and nostalgia. For a time being I have noticed that Italy started to lack independent creativity and ability to express individualism. Step by step it comes to the sleek, classic and chic sense. I prefer Paris, Japan and Berlin style, which express my taste. Dark tones are my soul tones, and it’s far from being plain or depressive. I am just coming back to my roots.
Photos: Melissa Marcello
Siyah sounds very mystical and unpredictable. Tell me what is covered upon the title and how it is related with the fashion design you are doing.
Among the other fashion brands I am working on, Siyah is the youngest and transmits two opposites: strong feminine woman and man who relies on her strength and courage. This connective duality is the start of human being just like black color in my collections. Irresistible aspiration to find a concept, which transmits the same sense in all the languages, brought me to Siyah, Turkish word for black.Minimalistic, straight lines, sharp. Just like the collections. Less is more, right?
How did the beginning of Siyah look like and how did it transformed into the concept you have now?
The inspiration came from black, so did the first collection: unisex, incorporated into a sense of ambiguity, evidential parallels and symbolic aesthetics. Streetwear applications in unison with classical dandy look.Seeking for full self-fulfillment and development tossed my mind and creativity to the greater fashion realm. Siyah stands for artistic and intellectual personalities who are not afraid of complexities, norms and different subcultures mixture.
Who’s been your greatest inspiration?
Perhaps a flow. Sometimes I try to joke by repeating banal and superficial sayings by others, but it is totally not me. I believe in a fabric as the biggest inspiration. Living with a belief that each collection has to be great, brings sleepless nights and unstoppable work – it is an inspiration for perfectionist as well. Combination of past, present and futuristic assumptions pushes further, and keeps on the melody of productivity. That’s my inner muse.
