Franco Francesca
Exciting Italian fashion designer, Franco Francesca, completed a National Diploma in Fashion Design at Bradford College in 2000.
“I had a great time at College and have great memories.
I had a good laugh with my colleagues on the course,
which made the 2 years very pleasant. The tutors were
excellent and very professional, especially Mabeth Ragan,
who is the best fashion tutor I have ever met. Thanks to
the design/pattern skills that I learnt at College I did my
Fashion degree at Leeds University in only 2 years.
I still thank Bradford College for what I am today as a
person and a designer. I put a photo of a red wax cotton
dress on the first page of my website which I showed in
my debut in Milan Fashion Week in 2003. It is a dress
I made at College for my final collection and I wanted
everyone to see it as a thanks to the College and the
staff.
Since I left College I have been living between Italy and
England where I work as freelance fashion designer/
coordinator/stylist. At the moment I am living in Venice
and working very hard to expand my own label Franco
Francesca. I have worked for several fashion houses such
as Playboy clothing, both womenswear and menswear,
for the European market except the UK.
A lot has happened since I left College. In September
2003 I was selected for the project ‘New Designer’ at
Milan Fashion Week and in August 2004 I was picked for
an exhibition and fashion show at Profile 4 in London.
In September 2004 I won a competition organised
by Italian perfume manufacturer and retailer, Limoni
Perfumeria, in collaboration with Milan Fashion Week
after presenting my womenswear collection called
Zoomorfic. The first prize was to create a perfume which
is called Zoomorfic by Franco Francesca.
In June 2005 I was the winner of the second award ‘Dreamers of Colours/Arte e Moda’at ProArt Ferrara,
Italy. Between July 2005 and February 2006, I designed
and supervised the production of Gigli womenswear
collection. In February 2006 I presented to the press
in Via Montenapoleone, Milan, the Zoomorfic brand
of limited edition clothes for both womenswear and
menswear, which take inspiration from animals and
insects.
In May 2006 I presented a capsule collection of clothes
made out of maize fibre to the press in Venice. In
November 2006 I presented the first worldwide wedding
dress made out of this material (pictured) at the International
Agrofood Forum at Cernobbio, dedicated to innovations
in agriculture and care of the environment.
Last August, together with my family in Italy, I bought
a Palace in Benevento, southern Italy which is the
headquarters of Franco Francesca, with a design studio, a
showroom and boutique.”
Photograph supplied by Franco Francesca