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SARA BATTAGLIA ‘YOU CAN’T FOLLOW THE TRENDS TO PLEASE EVERYONE’
The 33-year-old designer is on the move. Battaglia has been travelling extensively over the past few months, and when we catch up with her by phone during an airport break in Dubai, the suggestion that her trip might be a holiday elicits a laugh – a deep, throaty chuckle that appears throughout our conversation. ‘It’s work, work, work! Always!’
Even as a child she was ‘at work’, constantly sketching fashion looks, many of which her mother, a sculptor, still owns. ‘It was an obsession for me,’ she says. ‘I think I have fashion in my DNA’ – difficult to deny when her sister is fashion editor and social media star Giovanna Battaglia – ‘Gio and I share everything, from shoes to advice.’ After studying at the Art Academy at the Brera Institute in Milan, Battaglia joined a start-up Italian accessories brand. ‘I travelled between factories in Florence and Paris, and learned the craft. I did it for five years and then I thought, “I’m starting my own brand.”’
That was six years ago, and her rainbowstriped leather handbags were an immediate success and led to a Salvatore Ferragamo collaboration in 2016. For SS17, however, Battaglia has designed a full womenswear range. The question as to why she changed tack surprises Battaglia; sticking to handbags was never the plan. ‘Of course
I will never give up handbags. Never. But it was always my vision to complete a total outfit, to dress a woman from head to toe. That’s why I started ready-to-wear.’
The collection has echoes of the Fifties, with nipped-in waists and flared skirts. There are also accordion pleats on dresses, peplums and capelets. Lighthearted touches – a rainbow-hued mini skirt, for example, or multicoloured embroidered lines on crop tops and frills – prevent the pieces, says Battaglia, from becoming too serious or fusty.
‘I like the aesthetic from the past, but I wanted to interpret it in a modern way. I always start with what I like. It’s a crowded market, so you have to be sure about your own aesthetic. You can’t follow the trends to please everyone.’ It’s a strategy that is proving popular; her fan base is burgeoning. Net-a-Porter, Matches Fashion and Farfetch are stockists, while women such as Caroline Issa, Kate Bosworth and Anna Dello Russo love the brand. ‘Hopefully,’ she chuckles, ‘it’s because I’m doing a good job. I mean, I’m still here!’ And with that she rushes off to catch her next plane.