Arianna Bertoglio: thoughts and words of our student who, having obtained a Diploma in Fashion Design lands at Dsquared2 after the experience at Pinko as Style and Collection development specialist.
Arianna is a determined and talented former student of the Burgo Fashion Institute, in this interview she talks about herself, her studies and her experience in the working field.
- Hi Arianna, tell us about yourself and your work.
“I have always been a very curious person and very interested in multiple aspects of the fashion world such as the tailoring and development processes of a garment.
For this job you need to be very open minded, have a keen curiosity and desire to learn, starting from the customs of the past and researching materials and fabrics.
At PINKO, I was able to unleash my curiosity and passion, dealing not only with the design and planning part, but also with the research of materials and suppliers, engaging the various accessories and minutiae needed, and following the entire development of the collection until the finished garment was made.”
- Tell us about your work experience at Pinko.
“At PINKO I had the opportunity to hold a hybrid position: I took care of the drawing and illustration part, rendering and fabric prints as well as graphics and patch and embroidery studies related to the collections; I participated in design and collection advancement meetings with the consultants and the creative direction.
My job didn’t end there, I was also in charge, once the product design is defined, of searching for the right supplier who is within the target price and timing required, in Italy China or India, for the realization of the sample book and subsequent production.
Once I received the garments, I took care of the supervision and quality decided at the design stage, then concluding with the fitting together with the team where the changes to be implemented for production are decided.”
- How did you face the world of work after finishing at Burgo Fashion Institute?
“I started to face the world of work during the course at the Burgo Institute, to support my studies; I always took many opportunities and accepted to work in parallel with my studies, this certainly helped me to always stay up to date and in training.
I have learned that passion for this work must be an attitude, you have to be willing to make sacrifices and compromises. I have made questionable decisions about the distance of jobs from home, but I am satisfied because all these experiences led me to sign a permanent contract with Dsquared2 in Milan.”
- How do you handle pressure and expectations in the fashion world?
“Pressure is something I’ve learned to deal with over time, I’m a very anxious person and by caring so much about my work, which I’m passionate about, I always demand so much of myself. I always want to be a perfectionist about details, and that always keeps me alert and clear-headed, and I also react very well to stress and challenges.”
- What challenges do you face during the creative process and how do you deal with them?
“In the creative process you face challenges every day: you get to work and you never know what lies ahead, and especially how many things have changed from the day before in the collections;
Colors, lines or patterns keep changing until the presentation date and it means being mentally flexible and not “throwing away” the work done so far but be able to modify it day by day, based on new decisions or notions that come from the creative direction.
It takes a lot of patience and light-heartedness, never losing heart by downsizing the situation to what it really is, everything is remediable especially with teamwork, which is key.”
- Any advice to give to those who plan to start on the same career path as you?
“The first piece of advice I would give is to first understand what we really want from ourselves. You shouldn’t forget that the world of work is more difficult compared to what we experience in the academy, you have to be very stubborn, motivated, passionate, curious, tireless, determined, otherwise you can’t keep up and make a job out of your passion.
The second piece of advice is to take an interest in all the processes involved in creating a collection, because in order to have a mind that designs the right way, you also have to know how to create it.”