Secoli Fashion Show 2025: face to face with Ilaria Pansera
Interview with emerging talent on the fashion scene
Who is Ilaria Pansera and what is she passionate about?
I was born in Brescia in 2000. My whole life has been quite a simple story, including little yet very meaningful things. Ever since I was a child, I have always been very sensitive to what my feelings are telling me about everything – from objects to places to everyday gestures – everything spoke to me, and I have always wanted to give voice to these feelings. I would not say that my past is full of twists and turns, but I would say that I was always surrounded by people who allowed me the space to explore what really moved me. After high school, I began to pursue avenues that could nourish my creativity. After a lot of thought I realised that I needed a medium through which I could tell my story. Fashion, more than other forms of expression, has given me the opportunity to transform those thoughts into action and those feelings into matter. It is where I found a space I could call my own.
What made you want to turn your passion into a career, and what made you decide to study at the Istituto Secoli in particular?
I firmly believe that genuine passion finds a way to emerge sooner or later. For a long time I shut away my creativity within the personal confines of intimacy, without the need to turn it into a ‘craft’. ‘Going into fashion’ almost came silently, without pretence. At a particular time in my life, I felt the need to take stock and decided to pursue a different path from the almost obligatory university route at the end of high school. I discovered Istituto Secoli through a family friend. What struck me was the technical and concrete manner in which the fashion concept is presented to the students: nothing is shrouded in mystery and nothing is presented as distant from its actual realisation. The need to learn a new language led me to design, through which hand and thought can come together to produce technique and emotion.
What were the biggest difficulties you encountered on the way to creating your first collection?
When I started working on my collection, I thought the most complicated thing would be the technical side: choosing the right fabrics, matching the patterns, managing time and prototypes. But in the end it wasn’t. The real challenge was staying true to myself. It was about tapping into that delicate world in my mind, which is linked to childhood and those simple objects capable of turning into powerful memories. But translating this into clothes without slipping into the concept of ‘childish’, almost trivialising it, turned out to be very hard. I often wondered whether what I was creating was comprehensible aside from the obvious autobiographical influence, but then I realised that not everything needs to be explained. Some emotions live simply by what they evoke and accepting that imperfection is part of the creative process is absolutely key.
What prospects do you see for your professional entry into the world of fashion?
I don’t have a definite plan and maybe I don’t even want to have one. What I know for sure is that I want to stay close to a way of doing fashion that makes sense, that tells stories, that welcomes and remembers people. I would like to collaborate with companies that are authentic, however large or small they are. I am not chasing speed or visibility at all costs. I would like to have the time to grow with awareness. If I can bring at least a fragment of this into my work, then I will know that I have chosen the right path.