As someone who got into writing in the first place because of her love of fashion and who has attended Malta Fashion Week religiously for over a decade, I’m always on the lookout for that shiny “aha moment”. This year’s came courtesy of a show-stopping performance by the winner of the ‘Local New and Up-and-Coming Fashion Designer’ award, Isaac Fenech, and after watching his dreamy pieces making their way down the runway, I felt that it was only fitting that I shared the man behind the moment with all of you.
“For me, fashion design is the middle road between the technical and design,” 21-year-old Isaac states empathically. After studying Maths and learning more about Fine Art privately, Isaac finished sixth form and started attending MCAST to do a merged course. He had been experimenting with his mum’s old sewing machine for some time and loved making different things: “Once I started to create pieces, I knew I didn’t want ever to do anything else again. When I design, I look at the details and the lines of the garment. I pay special attention to quality and make sure there is no rippling, for example. I strive to make everything make sense from a construction standpoint.”
When asked about who he draws inspiration from, Isaac interestingly states that it’s not from other clothes or designers per se, but that he enjoys playing with silhouette: “Garments should be either structured or draped. I love form. I think the most beautiful thing we ever created was Gothic cathedrals.”
Isaac’s first collection, which formed part of the MCAST ICA students show, fittingly took its inspiration from the stage between childhood and adulthood: “I had a core idea and branched it out. My main focus was on the growing pains I went through. In infancy, there is so much hope and idealism, and then there’s this switch where you realise that you were wrong about many things and that, given the chance, the world you live in will devour you.
“There’s a lot of internal violence and all-consuming anger. Much like the stages of life, my collection evolved. The corsets started out as Eyes of Madness, for example. I began my creative process with these big creative ideas centring on Adam and Eve, the Tree of Knowledge, and the Goddess Athena, and then I needed to taper them down because of budget and time. My colour palette was based on my idea of the pure self, so the dark red I used symbolised anger. This collection was very personal, so I didn’t worry about getting it wrong. My goal is for people to want to wear my creations as they are.”
Speaking about the Isaac Fenech customer, the designer has a very distinct idea of who he sees himself dressing: “I love strong characters who know themselves and know how to have a good time. I imagine that the kind of person drawn to my clothes loves art and culture and spends their free time debating and arguing about which philosophers are best at a bar whilst wearing a corset.”
So, where does he see himself in the next five years after such a successful debut? “In the next five years, I want to be able to focus on my brand full-time and have a steady stream of customers with whom I can build a personal relationship. Hopefully, I’ll be making custom pieces whilst dreaming in my own studio.”