Interview with Domenico Vacca
Image provided by Domenico Vacca. All rights reserved.
This exclusive interview with Domenico Vacca was conducted by Nicola Linza and Cristoffer Neljesjö in New York, 2011.
Your grandmother, recognized as one of the finest tailors in Southern Italy, how did she influence your life and taste?
She influenced my life and taste very much. I grew up
on tailor tables, touching fabrics, watching beautiful creations coming alive.
Her attention to details, her knowledge of fabrics and draping are still
strongly printed in my mind.
It was an amazing time.
My father influenced my taste very much as well. He had amazing taste and
he was one of the best-dressed men that I have ever known. His wardrobe still
inspires my men's collections.
Before your brand who of the past do you consider to be the most
important figure for men in terms of influence and quality?
The tailors from my home town. The tailors from the South of Italy school.
There is not and there has never been anybody in men's fashion worthy of
notice.
Fashion has been for years only for women.
Small tailor shops in London and the South of Italy are the only reference in
good sartorial men's clothes.
Domenico Vacca reflects pure quality and charisma, how do you work to
maintain the brand image for the future?
Imposing our taste level and not comprimising on quality.
It is too easy to go..."Commercial" in fashion.
We are committed to make the finest clothing and accessories in the
world...period.
Everything we make is at the highest level possible. We challenge ourselves
everyday. We study our competitors and we make sure what we make is years and
years ahead in craftsmanship, fit and fabrics compared to everyone else.
We have being the luxury brand that makes real luxury...and many look up to us
for that...and it is our mission not to disappoint anybody, our clients and
our...competitors as well.
Who do you wear yourself both for main clothing and accessories?
I wear....Domenico Vacca...I wear clothes and accessories most often from my
latest collections.
Today I am casual and I am wearing the "Jeremy", named after my
friend Jeremy Piven, from my new jeans collection just launched two weeks ago,
a white hand made shirt with double button collar, a linen and wool royal blue
jacket with peak lapels and patch pockets, a two color alligator belt, brown
and black, my favorite DV watch, crono with red alligator face and strap, and
chocolate brown alligator loafers.
What do you think of the flood of so-called “Street Style” where anyone
grabs a camera and becomes a so-called blogger often without discretion or an
eye for quality?
This is a good question. Not very excited about that. Streets sometimes
generate interesting ideas and they are very rare. I believe that we should
bring style to the "streets" instead of looking for style in the
"streets". I believe that whoever works in fashion and has knowledge
of style and fashion has a duty to help people to dress better. Americans are
eating better and exercise more. David Barton says: "look better
naked". I think that they still need to put some effort in looking
better...dressed.
There are so many style blogs today how do you select your media?
My publicist does that for me. The goal is to be part of blogs that have a good reputation and an audience that is truly passionate about fashion and that is eager to know more about fashion.
Where do you reside during vacations, how do you spend your time and
what do you wear?
I spend my vacation in the Mediterranean. Mainly Italy, in my hometown
area, in lovely towns as Andria, Trani, Bari, beautiful towns that tourists are
discovering now. I spend time also in Positano near Naples, in Portocervo, in Sardinia
and in the South of France. I try to wear as much linen as possible when I am
on vacation! Linen shirts, pants, jackets, slippers...sometime with a worn out
pair of jeans. I try to rest, read a book, keep up with the news, go swimming
and get new ideas for future collections. I like to walk through the narrow
streets of resort villages and on the beach. I also try to play tennis and go
horse back riding with my wife, my son and my son's girlfriend...and I try to
spend time with my friends in my hometown that I have known for 40 years.
Favorite man in history to wear your clothes and why?
Few of them come to my mind. Likely enough of our clients must have taste
and style in order to understand and wear our clothes. The ones that come to my
mind now are Jeremy Piven who understands quality and wears my clothes with the
right style and...attitude...also John Malkovich, we just did his wardrobe for
his role in Transformer 3. Definitely, Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker
understand and wear our clothes the way they should be worn.
It is 1970 and we are meeting up at a party that Luchino Visconti is
having in Rome. What are you wearing? In addition, whom do we want to
meet?
You are now talking about one of my favorite directors. If in the summer and at
a formal affair I would wear a white double breast silk tuxedo with a double
button white shirt, no tie, if less formal a dark black linen suit with a crisp
linen white shirt and a silver tie.
The interview with Domenico Vacca 2011 © Manner of Man Magazine. All
rights reserved. Reproduction is strictly prohibited without written permission
from the publisher.
