Sourcing the Muse

FASHION LABEL: NICOLA
DESIGNER: NICOLA FINETTI

Photo of Nicola FinettiBorn in Bari, Italy, Finetti trained as an architect, then worked in South America before moving to Sydney in 1984. A need to express his creativity in a more intimate and immediate form led him to forge a new career in fashion design and he launched his eponymous label in the mid 1990s.

Finetti works by creating detailed drawings of his designs which he and his staff discuss and develop into his signature sensual, romantic and highly tactile forms. His very wearable collections are often worked in fragile diaphanous fabrics that are anchored with bold textural details and harder contrast fabrics.

Nicola Finetti's design for Sourcing the Muse
Photo of Nicola Finetti's design worn by a model
© Dress of silk georgette, silk chiffon and metallic
embroidery on silk organza by Nicola Finetti
Photographers: Lyn Balzer and Anthony Perkins
Stylist: Marian Simms
Hair and make-up artist: Rae Morris for Mac
Model: Sarah, Chadwick Model Agency

Nicola Finetti's design concept - contraditions of beauty
Detail of headdress c1900'We are drawn to the decay of objects we have chosen: slowly disappearing objects still beautiful as they gradually deteriorate from being complete objects and reveal the skeleton of the design. We have chosen to replicate this look of decay, to acknowledge the temporal qualities of these objects and paradoxically the role of the designer to be forever before, during and after oneself. We recognise the desire to create work that may fold and unfold in time and yet retain its beauty.

Filigree shoe 1880s'In the deterioration process the objects have developed new textures and colours that the designer could not have foreseen. They have taken on a life of their own, as they "actively" disintegrate.

'We have designed a dress to be treated with an acid like substance similar to that which destroys fabrics in its finishing. In doing so we propel our dress back and forward in history.' - Nicola Finetti

Objects from the Powerhouse collection that inspired Nicola Finetti
Interview with Nicola Finetti