Terry Calogiuri and the “holiday look”
The name of Terry Calogiuri, creative designer of Sucrette beachwear brand (100% made in Italy) is becoming more and more familiar since Yamamay called her to design a capsule collection of chic beachwear. The Italian designer began her career by creating garments for classical ballet.
Tell us about the transition from theater and dance to swimwear…
«I’ve always been a dance buff: I was a dancer and I worked in that field for twenty years. For this reason, it was natural to dedicate my first tailoring experiences to the ballet clothing. The “adventure” in the field of beachwear began by chance: I noticed a wonderful fabric among those I was selecting by a seller. I touched it and I imagined new creations. The dream of creating swimwear has grown little by little in my mind. That fabric is called “sensitive” and first of all I sensed its fit. I always try to bring into the market something new and of which there is a demand and in fact, I had always been unhappy to buy expensive swimwear with a very bad fit. I have created the first models and some friends who have noticed them have asked me to make others for them and the demand has increased fastly. I realized that I could think of a real collection!»
«In the world there is a growing search for well-being; in Salento (in the South of Italy, where I live), then, there is a strong focus on the summer season, perhaps because we live the sea for 6 months a year. The “vision” that I had at the beginning of this experience wasn’t much of beachwear just for bathing but of a product for people who live the whole day in a seaside resort, from the morning, to the aperitif, to the party in the evening, to the boat trip. The inputs came from the customers and from the situations that I live in my land: the result has been an elegant “look for vacationers”, as I like to define it.»
In 2016 Terry Calogiuri, bringing her origins into her work, created the “With a touch of Puglia” collection, selected by La Rinascente Milano Duomo as an emerging brand to be exhibited.
How did you manage to bring Puglia into your creations?
«Through the choice of colors, the typical craftsmanship of the Mediterranean, such as the honeycomb and the tricot.»
Bikinis, swimsuits, short pants, dresses and trousers: every year the Sucrette garments by Terry Calogiuri stand out strongly from the previous season, passing by the application of little flowers and flounces with a 60s flavor, combined with soft Mediterranean colors to the technical fabrics characterized by colorful fantasies.
How can you create collections that are so different from each other? Where do you get the inspiration from?
«To vary I get inspiration from the people I meet, people of different cultures and personalities. Then being a woman myself, I also draw inspiration from my changes and my needs. I also have an eighteen years old daughter and many inputs come to me observing her. So, when I make my creations, I think about what I would put in the suitcase of a twenty-year-old girl who goes on holiday as well as in the one of the forty-year-old woman who goes to Miami. I always imagine women that are physically different but similar in their taste. Besides this, I never forget that fashion is also a “game” and together with the elegance, I don’t give up looking for a sense of lightness.»
With Sucrette you have adopted a particular company policy to protect the environment: for every meter of fabric used, you save a yard of forest in South Africa.
«The company where I buy fabrics, Eurojersey, in addition to providing products made in Italy is also very careful to adopt eco-friendly policies and devolve a portion of the revenue of each meter of fabric sold for the protection of a meter of forest. Their prints and colors are ecological and they respect labor regulations and human rights.»
Last summer the Italian underwear brand Yamamay has chosen you to design their first Resort Collection. Previously they called Naomi Campbell to design an underwear capsule collection: it sounds a nice goal!
«I’ve always worked with a small group of people (the one of Sucrette), so to work with such a big team, with completely different logics, turned out to be an enrichment. I make a “niche” product and Yamamay is a “giant” and has a different target of client than mine. I’ve tried to keep some characteristics of the craft product in the industrial work. It was a wonderful experience that is also giving me so much notoriety.»
What are Terry Calogiuri future projects?
«I’m working on four projects, but I can only tell you two because the others are still top secret! The first one is the Sucrette beachwear 2018 collection. With the winter 2017/2018 instead, I will launch my first winter capsule collection for sport: there will be clothing items suitable for the wellness sector, for those attending yoga and pilates. I will combine the characteristics of some typical sports clothing – such as the use of technical fabrics – with some details inspired by the world of dance and ballet. There will also be cashmere garments… After ten years, it is almost a return to the “origins”.
Candy Valentino
