Art
No Order Magazine talks with the artist.
I'm Samuele Lo Bocchiaro, Founder and Creative Director of Figures of Speech ™. I'm an introverted extrovert. If you see me on the street, we're going to have fun together.
How did your career begin?
It's very weird, but I think it's cool. I was on my couch and I was scrolling through the latest Yeezy collection. I was in a perfect spot mentally, training and pushing myself hard. A thought came to my mind and that thought was, he's a rapper but he's not a designer - how does he create these beautiful designs? I thought, I can do the same or even better. At that moment, I felt like the planets were aligned. I jumped up, turned to my girlfriend and said “I'm going to become a fashion designer!” And she laughed of course. Everything started from there. I realised I have loved fashion since I was a little boy. The next day I started to sketch. I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator, I was listening to podcasts, I was going to the library, obsessed with studying fashion and everything about fashion. Fashion was like a drug.
I take inspiration from literally everywhere. From the old lady that crossed the road, from the guy that’s working for DHL, books in the library, and of course, the Internet. I divide my process and split things in half - the first half being deconstruction. I take everything that I see and I deconstruct it, making it relevant to the fashion world. The second part, which is the hardest part, is the making process. Sketching, 3D designing, making patterns, samples, and then production. What’s surprising is that I can take inspiration from anything, for example someone drinking a glass of water. I just have these visions. I have always had them, even as a little boy. That's why when I stepped in fashion, it felt like looking backwards. I always felt that I had better taste than some people, even if it sounds arrogant. It's self awareness - I am like this, I have always been like this and I am going to be great. I also have a brilliant team made up of Sen Freeman and Victoria Saldat, who work with me to make my visions come to life.
Image courtesy of the artist.
Are there any sort of significant life experiences that have changed the way you navigate your creativity?
I really like this question. I always felt that I would become famous. I'm not yet but this story gives insight into my life. I was in the darkest moment of my life. I was thinking that I was dying every freaking second. I was living in a prison in my mind - it was very bad. So, I went on holiday with my girlfriend and we were sleeping on the beach. I was broke as fuck. During the day, I saw this rock 500 metres from the ocean and saw people jumping from it. A thought came to mind saying, “oh, you're going to drown if you swim there, but do you really want to live your life like that?” I began to swim towards the rock. I had all these voices in my mind saying “we're going to die, we're going to die,” but I kept swimming. I broke the fear after a long time and I climbed this five metre cliff. I saw this guy coming through and he jumped. He did a beautiful jump, like an angel. I am quite tattooed and he goes, “hey man, with all those tattoos, are you scared to jump?” I felt like he touched my pride. I got up and let myself fall. I started to scream, falling into the water breathless because I had screamed so much. I climbed back up and I heard this guy talking to another person in English. I had always wanted to speak English. He had just come back from Australia, which was one of my dream locations to go to. He asked me what I did and explained that I built stone walls. It turned out that his family did too and he gave me their contact. I saw that thing as a sign from God. So, I sold my car and left for Australia. It was the mentality that you can really do it, you just need to break the fear that pushed me. This is something that has stayed with me.
Read the full interview in Issue 03
Published: 16th September 2023