Sabato Russo founder and designer Sartorial Monk

FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK  http://mandrawn.com/sabato-russo-interview-jeffrey-felner/

There is nothing quite as exhilarating and gratifying as watching the trajectory of a new brand rising from the dust! Take that scenario and add that the brand was conceived, designed and came to life under the hand of someone you call a dear friend and you have a recipe for sheer and utter excitement, anticipation and admiration. The friend is Sabato Russo and his brand is Sartorial Monk; what started as solely a men’s collection has morphed into womenswear as well and now the path has been set and the journey has begun. With barely more than a year of history, Sartorial Monk is now available on an international stage with endless growth potential. 

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Signor Russo has a message from his heart and soul with each collection but he has a fashion message as well which cannot be confused with what would be considered trendy. He offers collections that are unique and classic in their own way but aimed at those who march to the beat of a different drum when it comes to how they present themselves. These acolytes are not of the sheep variety, they do not follow... they lead! In life we make a choice just as in fashion... we are part of the flock or we take a stand and stand apart from the pack... Sartorial Monk is for those who wish to stand out albeit without a spotlight shining on them. Please take note that by standing out, I mean to say not in a fashion freakish trendoid way but in a way that people take notice of you without being a subject of derision.

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Enough from me and now you can “hear” what the designer has to say and then have a look at how he says it ……

Jeffrey Felner: Can you give us a brief history of your career?
Sabato Russo: I was born and raised in the town of Foggia in the south of Italy, the Puglia region to be exact.  After high school I left home to continue my education at which point I  moved to Florence and Milan to attend university for architecture. It was in Milan that I met several fashion designers and started a new career as a fashion model. I walked the runways in Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo and suddenly the world opened up and offered me exposure to what I never experienced.  Japan was most fascinating for me with its history, culture and sensibility which completely captured me while realizing that fashion was and is my passion. While on this life journey I started a new chapter of my life by accepting a position as an assistant designer with Issey Miyake.  All was clear to me, fashion designing was my passion and with my newly formed family I moved to New York from Paris where my next career was born; it was there that I formed very prestigious relationships under my new eponymous brand. My retail and professional partners included local and international companies such as Barneys, Kashiyama, Gianfranco Ferre, Fendi and more. Today my career and life include shuttling between Milan, Paris, NYC and Puglia while concentrating on my new project/brand ….  "Sartorial Monk" which is all made in Italy for both men and women... 

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JF: What is your inspiration when it comes to design? The brand name? Your sartorial message?
SR: The brand name is Sartorial Monk is an esthetic… a sophistication; my soul, my emotions run deeper and deeper. Sartorial Monk is the convergence of southern Italian sartorial traditions combined with Far Eastern purism and fluidity. Sartorial Monk is the soulful imprint of masculine/feminine elegance; the freedom of deconstructed shoulders over voluminous pants, archetypal fabrics for avant-garde shapes, and perfection without restrictions.
The collection is composed of the most luxurious Italian fabrics and combined with the sartorial southern Italian mindset of how to create a visual and emotional journey through my designs. Whether day or night, black or white, joy or pain, these are the weights utilized on my personal scale when balancing and transforming the negative into positive. Minimalism and sensuality marry in order to transform an emotion into a garment.  Sartorial Monk is the unique reimagining of the classics.

“Know then that the body is merely a garment. Go seek the wearer, not the cloak.”

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JF: If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would they be and why?
SR: Definitely Jalal al-Din Rumi the Persian philosopher, he wrote the essential in the 1200, he is my bible.  Paulo Coelho de Souza, the lyricist and novelist, as I would love to hear his thoughts about the laws of attraction and quantum physics.  Zaha Hadid I admire her feminine architecture, it is like poetry, the queen of forms and shapes, fantastic mixture.
Marco Mengoni the Italian singer and poet, I love everything about him, voice, looks and image.
Theo Parrish is my favorite musician and selector a true 'techno/house' artist. 

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JF: If you could choose any collaboration what would it be and with whom and why?
SR: I would love to build a resort on the beach of a tropical island and work with the local people using eco sustainable materials while creating a place for mind and body. 

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JF: Could you speak a little about how you see fashion at the moment and what would you like to see change?
SR: Fashion for me is the conveyance and translation of my emotions into a life style that sits outside the schemes and routines of the fashion business. It is a journey into myself, the more I transform the more I perceive beauty from inside out. The important thing is how I perceive the outside world and not only from an esthetic point of view.

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Meet Sabato Russo ..designer & brand

My next focus will be Milan and the next series of subjects are, well, 3 of them directly related to the world of Italian fashion and one who is a master artisan and would fit into any fashion capital of the world.

Today the focus is on Sabato Russo, the designer of his eponymous brand. Signor Russo may have his fashion roots steeped in the world of men’s fashion but he has been a presence in the business of fashion for decades. For some, names like Cerruti, Barneys, Radaelli and Mandelli will resonate and indicate that this man has been a sort of anonymous power house during his long standing and continuing career. 

Whether or not the name is familiar to you is not as important as the fact that Russo is well known among the cognoscenti of fashion. Today he resides in Bari and we are all lucky enough to be able to “get inside his head:” for a moment in time …..

1-What is the most treasured possession in your wardrobe?

LOVE JACKETS, THEY ARE LIKE HAND BAGS FOR MEN, MY FAVORITE IS AN OLD JACKET IN BROWN VELVET, WORN SO OFTEN IT  COUL BE CONSIDERED TOTALLY DESTROYED BUT LIKE SOME PEOPLE IT GETS BETTER WITH AGE.

2-What is your most sterling trait and what trait do you treasure most in your friendships?

HONESTY, LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING. I AM VERY BLESSED WITH A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS SPREAD OVER THE WORLD, WHOM I LOVE VERY MUCH, THEY ARE LIKE FAMILY TO ME……I LIVED IN 3 CONTINENTS BUT WE MANAGE TO STAY CLOSE.

3-What is your bliss?

RELAXING HOME IN THE COUNTRY SIDE IN PUGLIA WITH MY BELOVED FAMILY AND PETS...PURE LUXURY.

4-What is your guilty secret?

WILL NEVER TELL ANY ONE.

5-Where is your ideal home?

WHERE I LIVE NOW IN A MASSERIA (OLD FARM HOUSE) IN THE HILLS OF MY BEAUTIFUL PUGLIA (VALLE D’ITRIA SOUTH ITALY) IN BETWEEN JONIO AND ADRIATIC SEA… MAGICAL.

6-If you could not be a designer/retailer/etc.: what would you be

A CHEF. I LOVE TO COOK EXPECIALLY FUSION FOOD (ITALIAN ORIENTAL)

7-What is on your bedside table right now?

AN ANTIQUE BUDDHA STATUE, 2 BOOKS, 1 ABOUT MARLON BRANDO AND THE OTHER IS LE PETIT PRINCE DE SAINT EXUPERY AND AN ETHNIC LAMP AND 2 ANTIQUE BOXES.

8-What do you wear to bed?

BOXER AND TEE SHIRTS OR NOTHING AT ALL. NO PYJAMAS FOR ME.

9-What if any, book are you reading now or last read?

IN THIS MOMENT IN MY LIFE I LIKE TO READ FANTASY BOOKS AND COOK BOOKS ESPECIALLY KOREAN CUISINE, MY LATEST CHALLENGE.

10-What’s your advice to the “newcomer?”

WHERE YOU SEE PROBLEMS SEE SOLUTIONS. DO NOT EVER GIVE UP IN WHAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE.

11-Who or what is your inspiration/style icon?

INSPIRATION IS EVERY WHERE FOR ME, IN NATURE, IN PEOPLE AND DEFINETELY IN MY EMOTIONS WHICH CAN SET UP A MOOD IN MY DESIGN. ABOVE ALL THE “SARTORIALITA”OF THE 30’S AND 40’, KEY WORD ELEGANCE.  MY LAST COLLECTION WAS INSPIRED BY CLARK GABLE.

12-What is the best advice you ever received?

OGNI LASCIATA E’ PERSA (EVERYTHING YOU LEAVE IS LOST) FROM MY FATHER. MISS HIM SO MUCH, HE ALWAYS HAD THE RIGHT WORDS FOR EVERY SITUATION.

13-In 3 words or less, describe the current state of fashion.

CORPORATE, BORING, MASS PRODUCTION.

14-If you were a retailer, would you wear your own designs or shop in your own store? or where would you shop?

THAT’S EASY, I’VE MADE MY OWN CLOTHES SINCE I WAS TWENTY. SUITS ARE MY ARMOR.

15-If you won a $200,000,000 power ball (lottery), what is the first thing you would buy or do?

BUY A HOUSE IN PARIS AND NEW YORK, INVITE ALL MY FRIEND FOR A BEAUTIFUL VACATION SOMEWHERE FABOULOSE AND DONATE SOME TO PET SHELTERS.

16-If you could invite up to 4 people for dinner, who would they be…dead or alive?

RUSSEL BRAND, MODIGLIANI, MICHEL OKA DONER AND MY LIFE PARTNER ANTHONY C. VARALLI (I DO NOT THINK HE WOULD EVER FORGIVE ME IF HE WAS NOT INVITED) EVEN THOUGH THAT WOULD MEAN MISSING ANNA MAGNANI THE QUEEN OF EMOTIONS.

17-What is your favorite movie /or movie star?

WITHOUT ANY DOUBT ANNA MAGNANI, ITALIAN NEO REALISM.

18-What is the one thing you would change about yourself?

THIS COULD BE A VERY LONG ANSWER. 

19-Whose opinion do you value most and why?

MY COMPANION ANTHONY C. VARALLI, I LOVE HIS PRAGMATISM AND MY SON GIULIO, HE IS AN INCREDIBLE JUDGE OF CHARACTER.………

20-What store or which designer do you most like to shop in or wear?

I LOVE TO SHOP IN TOKYO AND IN VERY FEW MULTIBRAND SHOPS IN PARIS, FOR THE REST I THINK THAT FROM NEW YORK TO ROME ALL THE SHOPS ARE THE SAME. I AM A MENS WEAR DESIGNER SO I MAKE MY OWN CLOTHES.

21-What’s your take on magazines, books versus the internet?

LOVE PAPER MAGAZINES BUT I MUST CONFESS I AM ADICTED TO INTERNET.

22-Do you have a dream collaborator?

YES I DO, MY COMPANION ANTHONY C. VARALLI.

23-What is your crowning achievement thus far in your career?

COSTUME DESIGN OPERA AND MOVIES, SPIKE LEE “MO BETTER BLUES”, CARMEN WITH MAESTRO LORIN MAAZEL AND THE FREEDOM TO DECIDE WHERE TO LIVE AND WORK AND TIME TO SPEND WITH MY LOVED ONES.

24-What’s your music library like?

THAT IS SOMETHING THAT MY SON GIULIO ORGANIZE FOR ME, IT IS AN ECLECTIC MIX FROM CLASSICAL TO THE LATEST HIP HOP FUSION. IF IT HAS SOUL AND HEART I LOVE IT.

25-What and where is your favorite meal?

ORIENTAL AND ITALIAN FOOD, MEDITERRANEAN COUSINE, SHOANN IN OSTUNI, CHICHIBIO IN POLIGNANO A MARE, PESCHERIA DUE MARI IN SAVELLETRI (THE BEST RAW FISH IN THE WORLD) U CURDUNN IN LOCOROTONDO. STILL LOVE OMEN IN NEW YORK AND LA COUPOLE IN PARIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON… MY LIST COULD BE VERY LONG BECAUSE I LOVE FOOD.