Interview with Danilo Paura

Danilo Paura. Creative director and owner together with Cristian Mignaniello, Marco Paura and Enrico Giacomelli of three streetwear brands: Paura, Danilo Paura and Mirror.

Insatiable researcher and art lover, the focus on quality and tailoring uniqueness are just some of his distinctive elements as well as that surname, so resonant, of which he has made, over time, his strength. After his studies in Costume and Fashion in Rimini, he was adopted by the city of Riccione, where he began not only his apprenticeship in the fashion world but where also started experimenting and showing off his talent right on the field. If we ask him what we need to know about him? The answer is a humble tribute to those who, before everyone, believed in him: Massimo Novelli.

Come and meet with us Danilo Paura and his unique and crazy love for Italy and Made in Italy. One of the most interesting names of the Italian streetwear scene and not only; a name that, if you do not know yet, you will know very well very soon.

#1 Tell us about when you understood you wanted to work in the fashion world. How was this passion born?

I have always been attracted by everything that holds the eye, everything that amazes, everything that makes you think. If you manage to steal even just a moment and if this also makes you reflect, then you can say that you have helped make that moment an interesting moment. There is art where there is the desire to communicate, to share. Ever since I was a child, I have always felt the need to do something that would take me out of the context I was in and I have often used my body to communicate disapproval of what are the bigoted stereotypes we are often forced to undergo. I said no tinging with vermilion black hair; I said no with piercings and tattoos. I never made my mom decide how I had to dress I always pretended to dress as I wanted. To dress is to communicate one's personality.

I was small but I already knew that when I grow up I would have done something that had something to do with this concept.

# 2 Yours is a surname of strong impact, what motivated you to keep it even for the names of your brands?

The story of my surname is made of so much hate and of respective love.

I hated myself with a surname that has created not a few frictions - especially in adolescence - and many times, angry, I went to mom and dad begging them to change surname, all but not Paura (e.n. 'Paura' in Italian means 'Fear'). Everything changed at the university; the boys used my surname as a nickname, an identifying sign, and today it represents one of my strong points: a weakness that becomes a weapon in my favor. A challenge won.

Jacopo Pozzati (co-founder with Cristian), imposed himself and chose to call the brand in this way, he was convinced from the beginning. We were looking for a name to give to the brand and, after a thousand absurd names, looked at us and said:

'We have it here. PAURA'.

Paura SS18

#3 What are the elements that define your imagination? Is there any moment of your life that has contributed in particular to the definition of what is your aesthetic today?

The collections for me are like a palette for a painter, and colors are certainly an element of conjunction between art, expression and fashion. When I started I was small but inside of me I felt like the bigger ones, inside of me I knew I was a paninaro. The cuffs of Uniform jeans, Best Company and Timberland sweatshirt.

#4 Currently you are the creative director of three brands, danilopaura, PAURA and Mirror. What is the desire to create three different brands and which inspirations are hidden behind each of these?

I'm artistic director of three projects that have the same DNA but communicate through different languages. The three projects can coexist with each other in some stores but they live parallel lives and distribution is certainly an element of distinction.

Paura is the brand from which everything is born: the logo is the mistress and sweatshirts, T-shirts and jeans represent our core business. Mirror is the three biggest vent to my creativity, undoubtedly the most irreverent, not afraid to express and touch hot and controversial topics. danilopaura is the brand with the highest distribution, the fabrics, and the wearability are the key to reading that distinguishes the style. Sartorial streetwear, so I define this project, each piece is subjected to construction studies closer to the tailoring with fine fabrics that give the garments a quality and a different price from the other two projects of the group.

Mirror SS18

#5 From which do you feel most represented?

danilopaura is the result of a professional maturity that at this moment represents me more but not for this I feel distant from the other two projects.

danilopaura FW17-18

#6 Your brands stand out for the high research and the quality of the products. How important is it to you?

I strongly believe that the knowledge of the raw material is fundamental, I choose carefully and carefully every fabric and I spend whole days in the laboratories to understand and know all the phases of the garment creation process. I do this work for passion and there is no better country than ours to better express the concept of craftsmanship and manufacturing. I'm Made in Italy and I'm proud of it! The quality of execution and the choice of fabrics are a fundamental element to best represent a model that has always given our country a source of pride.

#7 In recent times, you have lent your imagination and your creative imprint for different collaborations - like the one with Kappa or Superga. How do your aesthetics and your imagination blend with that of the various brands you work with?

I am in love with the Kappa brand. is one of the brands of my childhood and collaborating with them was an honor, a dive into the past, in my memories. Exciting.

Kappa has always used a distinctive sign, the vertical repetition of its logo. This concept was developed using different techniques and accurately inserted into the collection. Tailored suits with band 222 and corrugated printed denim, technical polyester twill finished with flock print for the tracksuit ... I joined two worlds trying to enhance the values that distinguish the two brands, our shapes and our fabrics with the band co-exist and the Kappa logo, all rigorously done in Italy.

As for Superga, it is the Italian sneakers par excellence, a perfect object, like the Levi's 501, the Vespa or the FIAT 500. When you work on one of these, the risk of shit is around the corner.

I worked with the desire to give a new project credibility and personality. I looked at the shoe from every angle, but my gaze was caught by the texture of the sole and I tried to give it importance, thinking of the organ that moves when I create. A celebratory bark of rubber, the brain that becomes the sole, overflows off the lines of the upper and makes the mega become recognizable, current, unisex, values that have given the 2750 success for decades.

Danilo Paura x Kappa SS18

#8 In your opinion, how important are social networks for communication and the proper functioning of a brand today?

The appropriate use of social media is the best weapon to communicate and make known your business. The most democratic and sincere way to tell the world who we are, what we do.

#9 When did you launch your first brand what did you think would be the result?

I never think of a point of arrival, I am struggling to improve day by day. I think of those who wear our garments, of people who wear our garments at important moments of their lives.

This makes me live my work with the serenity and the desire to move forward.

#10 What should we expect from Danilo Paura in this 2018?

Objectives in 2018: becoming more international without neglecting our presence in Italy, a gradual expansion towards foreign countries.

At Pitti, we will present two new projects one with LC23 and one with Raparo, both very Italian. With Leo (editor Leo Colacicco, founder of LC23) I have a relationship that goes beyond the job, he is a Japanese born in Gioia del Colle, the love for his work and the dedication with which he carries on unites us and binds us. We will make a four-handed project, an iconic garment of his brand with knit details that instead characterize mine but I do not want to say anything else.
Raparo is instead a Marchigiano shoe brand, a wonderful family. See the grandfather with the hammer in hand, the two brothers in the supply chain, the mother with the apron who works with dedication and Marco, very young but with very clear ideas about the future of the family business: a unique atmosphere.

It was stimulating and constructive.

Get to know the designer and his team on January 10 at the exclusive Florentine store SOTF on the occasion of the 93rd edition of Pitti Uomo.
The Danilo Paura x Kappa SS18 collection will be presented in the pop-up store created for the occasion.

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Interview with Danilo Paura