Alberto Lusona's refined elegance

Alberto Lusona is one of the Turin fashion designers who's taking part to Sar.To (in Italian sarto means tailor and To is short for Torino, Turin's Italian name), an exhibit where art and fashion meet in one of the most theatrical places downtown.

This exhibit consists of 9 perspex bubbles containing one dress or fashion piece by each of the participating local designers and Alberto Lusona's stunning white dress is the first and also the most striking one of the series.

It couldn't be otherwise since his style fully reflects his highly creative personality and very skilled hands. After the Sar.To inauration, we had a chat with him to get to know him better and to find how how he works.

Alberto Lusona was born in Turin to an "explosive couple": a Neapolitan mother and a Piedmontese father. To native Italians this detail is already a big indicator of the atmosphere where Alberto grew up in, as Neapolitans are nationally renowned for being spontaneous, creative, sometimes messy, but always with a strong sense of art, while Piedmontese are stereotypically known for their hardworking ethic, professionalism and rigor. In this environment Alberto started his fashion career at age 9 when Santa finally answered his prayers and brought him a Ricky doll. He had longed for it for over 6 months and finally on Christmas Eve, after unwrapping the box, he started making Ricky a jacket!

Alberto had always shown his artistic bug, love for art and manual dexterity, in fact, at age 7 he had even made a Saint Francis statue complete of flying birds (really floating around the head of the Saint!) but Ricky's handmade jacket showed the city he was really gifted and this is how three different toy stores in town hired him for his dolls' clothes and accessories while he was in middle school!

Where did he find his materials?

At home, from my mom's purses, clothes and objects!

Alberto Lusona showing a fleece wrap

Majoring in art and attending the Fine Arts Academy were the most natural choices to perfection his sartorial and artistic training. Yet, Alberto was also a gifted jazz dancer and loved music; and since he can remember: anything has always been a source of inspiration to constantly make and create new fashion things, even small details like buttons!

He taught art, history of art and fashion in different schools for almost 10 years and even back then, he channeled his artistic flair in the students' plays he directed and the costume and scene-making he supervised. Needless to tell you, students loved him and we could listen to him for hours, telling us where he finds his materials, how he creates his style and collections.

Alberto Lusona creative versatility comes from his constant curiosity and fast paced metabolism; he lives in the present and for the emotions his works arise. However, the vital component of his style is the architectural design, the precision and cleanliness of the lines, in short, his sartorial background is his fashion identity, like it was for Ferre' and Fausto Sarli.

Those who know him well say his curves and lines are like a breathe to emphasize the natural movements of his works, and yet his style is always refined, minimal and ever changing.

When working to a new collection, Alberto Lusona devotes a lot of his time to research the trends and the materials he will use. His creativity is so alive and kicking, he likes to challenge it by giving it some boundaries, like the market limits: avoiding those things he knows he won't be able to sell.

Materials are that one thing he doesn't save on because the soul of his works resides in the fabrics, their colors and textures.

His clothes come from mixing and matching colors, textures, decorating, folding or sewing fabrics together; now models move from Alberto's mind directly out of his skilled hands as, his manual dexterity is his real art!

Alberto Lusona doesn't have a fashion era of choice, but rather a fusion of many different historical and cultural elements make up his style, from Eastern influences to the Viennese waltz style.

His collections are always rich in colors and he personally tests the decorations he has on his mind, but the true identity of his works is given by the materials he uses.

His new collection is inspired to the 1930s and 1940s and its trademark is the hat of that time: the cloche hat because it is the only accessory that can add mystery with its veil and also change a woman's facial features, adding her an glamour aura as it is the only hat shape that can balance the face.

We asked him why of all the accessories hats are so important and he answered that the hat is the origin, essence and definition of any style. 

His last collection also includes frock coats with details, like the one in French blue boucle' with beige neck and silver zip and a blue and beige dress made of velvet. 

Alberto Lusona creates full looks including the accessories

His fashion style can be summarized as a mix of classic lines with contemporary elements that give the thrill of reminding something we are already familiar with but that however we can't properly define. As a fashion designer Alberto Lusona wants to convey emotions and charm.

For this reason every detail of a dress counts both inside and out: inside seams must be as perfect as a jacket sleeves. The materials, their feel on the skin and look give an extra dimension to each of his creation and fabric textures and thickness determine the shape of his clothes.

Finally, as we often talk about food and many fashion designers enjoy cooking and eating, we inquired about his culinary skills too.

Not surprisingly, Alberto Lusona enjoys eating well and cooking, but not merely cooking, rather styling food as he does with his fashion collections.

He enjoys having dinner parties and cooking for his guests, experimenting with new shapes and sets as he does for his fashion shows.

He enjoys simmering for hours like cacciatora chicken and keeps very fond memories of his fiftieth birthday dinner party where he had cooked for all the 46 guests. For that occasion he had made a typically Piedmotese Russian salad but to add it a regal touch he had styled it with an artichoke and Vienna sausages. He detached the external artichoke leaves and arranged them as a huge flower in the middle of the serving dish, then, on top of each thorn he placed a crown made of Vienna sausage.

Food like fashion requires creativity and skills, the same Alberto Lusona uses when he designs a new collection. So mark him down because he will welcome you to his showroom, in the heart of Turin and will certainly create something unique and specific for you and standing out for his art and technical precision. Alberto Lusona's lines, fabrics and colors define his style but also perfectly portray Turin's sense of fashion today!

Follow him on Facebook where you can see more pictures!