Objects and clothes are at the basis of Plas Collective, a cool brand that everyone should know due to its simple but intriguing soul.
Their social media are fundamental to figure out how much they are dedicated to create special things co-creating in Italy and we decide to get to know additional things about such a special reality.
What are your backgrounds and how have they influenced your art? Do you think you developed your creativity in fashion away from your family? And what kind of family is yours?
I was born in Uruguay so you could say I have a Latin background, but my grandparents were Italian on my mom’s side and French Basque on my dad’s side. I think it has influenced me in the sense that a lot of my creative path has been related to questioning identity and wanting to turn all my questions into tangible pieces.
I would not say I developed my creativity away from my family, as your background and origins are something you carry with you even if you don’t want to. I moved to a lot of different places which I believe have all added to my aesthetic but also to my beliefs of what kind of pieces I should create. Spending 5 years in New York, a year working in Copenhagen and now 2 years in Milan have made me want to create pieces which respond to the functional needs of living in big busy cities but also to the need of wearing something which is different, unique and that in a way expresses personality and distinctiveness from workwear or functional clothes.
You deal with clothing but also with objects, succeeding at your best in what you do. What connection, however, is there between these two seemingly different fields? Do you think there is something in common?
Absolutely. In Plās our thought is that you can’t represent a world with just clothes; and you can’t represent a world alone. For us the concept is the beginning and the most important aspect. We choose a strong concept that we want to materialize and the different clothes and objects are related in the nature of the concept. From the same concept we choose the collaborators who we believe will express it in the best way.
Analyzing the clothes you create, especially knitwear, the body seems to play an important role because it is on display, not completely covered. What does the body represent in your creative process? Why show it and not hide it?
Our clothes are for whoever wants to wear it, all bodies, all shapes, all genders. The body is super important as it will make a piece of fabric or constructed yarn become alive. It will give the clothes a shape and personality. I think it is funny you mention our knitwear because for plasma, our first collection, we did three modular pieces so you could wear just one, or two or the three of them together at the same time.
In my opinion, an essential question to understand the work of an artist is what brought you to the design and fashion system. Why this field and not another in life?
I think my answer for this one is a bit cheesy but in the end it comes down to what makes me happy and fulfills me. Especially trying to reimagine a future for it. Creating plās I wanted to be able to work in this field but open to be contaminated with other fields and other creatives. People which have a different vision, background or field than mine so we are constantly in exchange with each other.
Discover more about Plas Collective work here!
Article by Giulio Solfrizzi
