In a Milan that pulsates again as soon as the two weeks dedicated to design and fashion are over, we meet in his atelier in via Manzoni, the fashion designer Roberto DeWan, today at the helm of the De Wan brand. The company was opened in Turin in 1955 by Erika De Wan - Roberto's grandmother - with a concept that today we can define as "sustainable luxury", i.e. fashion accessories and design objects that are accessible to all. A concept later developed by his son Enrico, his wife Rosalba and today by their two children Elisabetta and Roberto.
After graduating in Political Science he immediately devoted himself to the family business, but at the same time he continued to perfect his studies and experiences in the world of art above all as a form of personal expression, and it is precisely through art that he finds his true dimension, defining himself "author extraneous to any form of label".
His space in Milan, where he graciously gives us this interview – is a place full of light where fashion accessories and works of art coexist with complicity that De Wan himself creates with great intimacy, as if painting were his secret lover. While the accessories, such as the scarves in numbered editions, take their inspiration from his paintings.
On the ground floor we find fashion accessories and very special bijoux creations, but just go down the stairs and understand that we are entering what is her true secret world. And it is here that we find his passion, the pictorial art. Works full of color, sometimes excessive, but capable of arousing strong emotions that take us back to a dream world. It is not difficult to perceive that there is a dream in his painting and a way of painting that dialogues with strong disquiet between figuration and abstractionism, but never casual.
We now ask Roberto De Wan to tell us a little about his story to better understand his world.
Turinese by birth but Milanese by adoption especially for style, why did you choose this city? And what were the best moments of his life that you remember?
When I lived between Munich, Turin and Paris in 1986-87, I came to Milan for a few days as a guest of a friend and I was fascinated by this city, as international as Paris but far more fun. Above all in the field of Fashion and Art, Milan was and is the metropolitan reality that offers the greatest opportunities as it is intellectually lively. (The Milanese, even by adoption, love new things so much…) The best moment? The birth of my son Leonardo, now at the Mendrisio Faculty of Architecture. But anyway while I draw and paint I'm almost always happy, sometimes a little dissatisfied but happy…
You are certainly an established fashion designer, but what do you think sets you apart from others?
Honestly, I don't have the awareness of being a great Fashion Designer but I am certain that I represent a certain design only mine, without labels, extremely personal and this also applies in the artistic field. In fact, I was born as an artist, a student of Pontecorvo during my high school studies, and I became a fashion designer as a child of art during university having had the good fortune to be conceived by two creatives, my father and my mother who still work together with my sister Elisabetta in the family business, also dealing with fashion accessories. Compared to the majority of colleagues in the fashion field, I often find inspiration from my paintings for the new fashion lines. Not only for scarves and foulards but also for jewelery and leather goods. Sometimes even just a hint is enough.
In your atelier we also find many paintings, a journey of several years of work, from the figurative to the abstract, but how would you describe yourself better?
From the subliminal figurative and back…That is: I don't believe in pure abstractionism just as I don't believe in hyperrealism. Both expressions come from memory filtering images. I start as figurative at the time of Pontecorvo and gradually my images become more and more afigural, to put it in the way of my friend and critic Prof.Rolando Bellini, full of symbols and spirituality as stated by Prof.Mistrangelo who takes care of my next one-man show . However, I identify above all as an "artist always on the front line" as the critic Francesca Bellola had defined me on the occasion of my online charity in support of the Covid emergency in March 2019. During the pandemic, my exhibition was set up - together with some among the most representative authors of Italian painting - at the Antonio Battaglia di Brera Contemporary Art Gallery on the occasion of Milano Moda Uomo and Milano Moda Donna in January and February 2020 and we were truly among the few to organize something. It was the celebration of the 600th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's departure. But now enough talking about deaths and diseases. In fact at this moment in my atelier in via Manzoni in Milan a line of works with an emblematic title is being presented: "Restart" "not only economic but also social of the nation" as I declared on RAI news during a recent interview.
Art, fashion and design, a model or an entrepreneurial system for the future?
Today more than ever, in a world aimed at research and sustainability, there is a need for a sort of contamination between art, fashion and design that can express creativity such as craftsmanship that can be enjoyed by everyone and not just one elite. Therefore I see an entrepreneurial system that is more aware of the change in our society. And this time we can't go wrong anymore, as happened in past years.
Do you think there is still room for young people in this sector of yours, what advice would you give to today's kids who want to find their own way in this world?
Is it better to invest and stay in Milan or choose, like many other young people, to go abroad?
Certainly Fashion emerges as an entrepreneurial system for future youth employment, while Art remains a model to always keep in mind. The younger ones do well to gain experience abroad as we did in the past. Experiences abroad are always useful, but Milan has been a great capital of creativity and will continue to be so, I can add that in the post-Covid period, the city is showing a new start in a different moral and spiritual form. We just have to wait to see how it develops. Italy needs the best, and among these I also hope my son whom I miss so much… I advise young people to cultivate their passions above all, they must have the right to dream and believe without however confusing dreams with ideals. Also, don't exclude art because it will always remain the inspiration for fashion and design. There is a need for art and if assimilated, it can be expressed in many ways.
One last question: any plans for the future?
I don't have specific programs. I do what I love because I want to, I work because I like it and if I earn something from it, it's only one of the consequences. I would say that for me it is really a necessity to state what I think, regardless of the consensus that can be achieved. I don't care about success but about the result.
Complementary Hell and Heaven, 2021 
Jurassic sex, 2021 
Tulips, 2021
The "Autumn Festival" preview with the presentation of the new works and collections will be held on Thursday 14 October from 10 to 19 (De Wan, via Manzoni 44 Milan).
Ph. Bruno Colombo
