For Samantha D’iorio, Australian designer and MFA Fashion and Society graduate at Parsons School of Design, the love for the craft was instilled in her since early childhood. Growing up in Sydney as the daughter of a dressmaker, D’iorio would spend her days observing and learning the ins and outs of creating garments from scratch from her mother. “She taught me how to knit and crochet, and I guess that through watching her, I realised that craft was a great way to express myself. It became my creative outlet and something that I would go to whenever I was struggling or feeling down,” she says.
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“When I did my BA, I was so unsatisfied with my work, I felt that I had so much more to offer, and more substance to explore with the message that I was aiming to communicate. I thought that doing the MFA programme would give me the push to fulfil this goal.”
After finishing her BA degree at the University of Technology in Sydney, D’iorio followed in the footsteps of older graduates and decided to apply to Parsons. “When I did my BA, I was so unsatisfied with my work, I felt that I had so much more to offer, and more substance to explore with the message that I was aiming to communicate. I thought that doing the MFA programme would give me the push to fulfil this goal.”
“My goal is to make clothes that can exist for a long period of time rather than just for a very short moment. I want them to exist outside the runway,”
D’iorio says that the main focus of her graduate collection was centred around the function and purpose of the garments, rather than what they will look like in a photograph. The starting point of her vision was a tube silhouette. D’iorio was drawn to the multi-functionality of this form and built a shapeshifting garment system, where the same piece can be expanded, reversed, or dissected into customisable clothing or accessories – turning into a dress, skirt, bag, or a hair scrunchie in a matter of seconds. For the designer, it was crucial to be conscious of sustainability in her process. As such, the system has been engineered with repurposed vintage and dead-stock fabrications, such as stretch, or woven and melted knitwear. “My goal is to make clothes that can exist for a long period of time rather than just for a very short moment. I want them to exist outside the runway,” she explains.
D’iorio says that another big focus while creating her garments was the feeling of wide representation and body positivity. “I hated fashion at one point because I felt that my size and shape were not represented. So my graduate collection is a way of dealing with that frustration. I want to dress myself and make myself happy, but also cater to all the different sizes and bodies that are being overlooked.”
When looking back at her time on the course, D’iorio says that the biggest challenge for her was to listen to her gut feeling and realise that it’s okay to create work that is commercial and flattering to the body. “I initially thought that the MFA would be a programme that kickstarts our journey towards building a brand, but it turned out to be very 50/50. And I know that they really nurture the craft and innovation, but I think that it’s very hard to escape that and create a brand out of it, once you’re in that kind of headspace. And for me, the turning point in my thesis was saying to myself: ‘Stop being so complicated, the tube is enough.’”
“There’s a part of me that really misses the analogue approach. I think that the tangible aspect of displaying a collection is so important because it really helps to express the feeling of close community and collaboration that I am centring my vision around.”
For D’iorio, although the lockdown period brought a lot of technical challenges when it comes to developing the garments, the time to carefully consider her collection certified her in the belief that her focus on practicality is the right approach. Despite being a fan of the digital world and innovative ways of showing, she says that she’s very fond of the physical interactions that come with presenting a collection: “There’s a part of me that really misses the analogue approach. I think that the tangible aspect of displaying a collection is so important because it really helps to express the feeling of close community and collaboration that I am centring my vision around.”
D’iorio says that after graduating, she’s taking her time to figure out the next step in her career. “I want to first finish my collection and take it from there – for the first time ever, people are actually reaching out to me and asking to produce pieces for them. After that, I’ll make a decision as to whether or not I should first work for someone in the industry, or start my brand straight away. But I think that I want to get some experience in a brand that I admire and has the same values as mine – Chopova Lowena would be a dream.”
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