MAMMA TI AMO: Interview with Alessandro Enriquez

I have never abandoned the world of childrenswear. It is a reality that has always belonged to me. An important stage in my career was the long collaboration with Vogue Bambini with which I have always played a creative role. I followed the very large special projects, the most exciting ones where fun was always at the center of attention, celebrating anniversaries, stores like Coccole or Luisaviaroma and editorial projects. At Pitti Bimbo, an organization with which I have been collaborating for more than ten years, I have always brought new ideas. I have strongly linked the world of animation to that of fashion by interacting with my brand and with many of the Italian scene, from Giorgio Armani to Dolce&Gabbana, up to MSGM, Vivetta and Iceberg. I encouraged many young brands to launch kids collections by presenting them to the most important buyers, working with the Japanese, Korean and American as well as Italian markets while presenting capsules designed by me which were nothing more than an offshoot of the adult brand.
Today the Alessandro Enriquez x Barcellino collection enters stores, a collaboration for a segment from 12 years old that dresses a target of creative children, lovers of colors and fairy tales, because in children we don't talk about a "collection theme" but we tell compelling stories and tales.

As a child I read and reread a not very easy book, La Sirena, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (Lighea). The story of a mermaid told by an illustrious writer and not exactly as a child could imagine it and from there I wanted to reinterpret it, starting from that reading. I visited the writer's places in Palma di Montechiaro and there we shot a fashion film dedicated to the novel and the collection. The myth of the mermaid thus becomes central in the collection together with the desire to fall in love with humans to live together. All set among the Mediterranean waters and coasts, in particular of Marzamemi, a Sicilian seaside village with a unique charm. Thus among the fabrics one can reread illustrated the story of a new love, that of the mermaids and the sailors who crown it effortlessly, without adversity, surrounded by nature and beauty.

Definitely the printed shirt. As a child I remember going crazy for all the colorful, printed, flowered, designed and embroidered shirts. When I wore them I felt "important" and perhaps this is why over the years I have always wanted to see everyone dressed in this garment. We are all important and the desire to reach out to children every now and then is a memory that I relive with pleasure.
I always combined the shirts with gabardine trousers and in the collection we find them with small hearts embroidered on the fifth pocket in different colours.

The graphics of the Alessandro Enriquez x Barcellino collection are the same graphics of the adult proposal. We have also worked to propose the mini-me trend and there is a reason why. The adult collection is loved by children as well as parents. They always observe her with curiosity and once she arrived in the kids world we made them happy! Even when we took it and showed it to the children we noticed great interest. It's like seeing them in front of a storybook... they inundated us with questions and it was nice to answer them all.

To date we are working on kids exactly like this, with special projects and capsules. I want to live this world like this now, with carefreeness. I create many projects with brands, with newspapers, with Pitti Bimbo and with some shops. They often identify me as "the expert in the world of children", in reality I like to play and have fun just like them. A complete line could also arrive but I want it to arrive lightly, the same with which I want to handle it.

I have designed a beautiful resort that will open soon and I can't wait to show it to you. There will be several areas where children can also have fun and learn. He will be immersed in nature, in a nature that will always be respected and valued and also taught to children. I would like children to learn and not forget that the world is one and must be safeguarded. Because they are our future, and the more attentive we are today, the more educated they will be tomorrow.

All my collections, regardless of the various themes, have always had a main and fundamental core behind them: love! I have always played with love, I decline it into a thousand designs, I enrich it with ever new meanings and values. I tell new and old love stories. Love is at the center of all my collections, because it is the engine of the world and a life without love is not a life lived well. I always use my collections to remember and send messages of love. I have made a flag of my work.... love!
With ceramics I wanted to decline it in many writings and decorations. So with the historic ceramists of Caltagirone, the famous city of Sicilian ceramics, we tried to create a line of dishes dedicated to love in general and to family. The one dedicated to the mother with the writing "MAMMA I LOVE YOU" stands out most of all in this period and is the most requested on the occasion of Mother's Day.

I have always loved cooking, it was my game as a child. I was “good” if I cooked. I loved watching my mother and grandmother cook and with them I learned their recipes, understood the differences and recognized the aromas. When you learn at home and as a child to recognize a perfume or a flavour, you carry it with you throughout your life... like Proust's madeleines. Even today when I smell the scent of mint for example I remember anecdotes from the past in Sicily, and it's beautiful!
For Mother's Day we will do a collaboration with the historic Martesana pastry shop. After Alessandro's kisses for Valentine's Day come those dedicated to Mother's Day, to the scent of lemons from my land... which has an indelible memory in my mind and so I want to wish a happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the world!