Interview with the young designer Riccardo Moresco

Riccardo Moresco is the young knitwear designer who took part in the Feel the Contest edition at Pitti Immagine Filati 93, using Filidea knitwear yarns from the Autumn/Winter 2024-2025 collection to create his looks.

Hello, Riccardo, what training did you complete and what experiences have you gained in order to become a fashion designer?

My training actually already began during my childhood. Ever since I was small, my grandmother and my aunt – who were both tailors – passed on their love for fashion to me and the magic hidden behind the creation of clothing items. I was always fascinated by how pieces of material could become clothes with shapes and structures which were different every time.

After finishing scientific high school, I decided to start an educational path which would allow me to go back to my roots, so I enrolled at the Faculty of Fashion Design at the Politecnico di Milano, where I had the opportunity of being fully immersed in the world of fashion. By choosing to specialise in Knitwear, I found a deep connection with the creative process concealed behind the actual knitting and the perfect harmony of the interplay of artisanal traditions with technological innovation.
The lectures, the workshops, the meetings with professionals in the sector and the exploration of new design techniques contributed to shaping my creative vision. In July 2023, I completed this path with a bachelor’s degree, a moment of enormous satisfaction and personal gratification.
Today I can say that my growth as a designer has been, and continues to be, stimulating and exciting.

What was the inspiration behind the look created for Feel the Contest?

The inspiration for the looks created for Feel the Contest 2023 arose from the brief for that year, “Feel the People“. This topic encouraged me to explore the authenticity of human relations, the capacity to reveal our true essence and really connect with each other. I started to reflect on the process of stripping ourselves of the social masks we wear every day and of demonstrating our vulnerability and fragility.
In order to represent this concept, I created garments to symbolise the process of “discovering” oneself and others. I mainly used drop-needle stitch and cut-out processes to represent the concept of “undressing in front of others”, and the sharing of our true emotions and experiences. Additionally, I played with the concept of layering, with one layer over another in the garments, to represent the process of going beyond that which we can see, to discover what is really hidden in every one of us.
My objective was to create garments which transcended fashion to become real representations of what was my original inspiration, which told a story and provoked emotions in the audience.

Which Filidea yarns did you use? Did you feel in tune with the values of the brand in terms of sustainability and the choice of natural, biodegradable fibres?

For my garments, I was given the opportunity to work with a wide range of Filidea yarns which I found interesting right from the start. I particularly liked the KOJI, VIRGIL and WALTER yarns.
From the first moment, I wanted to use simple, natural yarns and Filidea enabled me to use top-quality material while paying attention to questions of sustainability, one of the main values which I share. Today, we designers are called on to keep sustainability in mind, and this should become part of the creative and production processes in a natural way.

During the planning and studying phase with regard to the stitches, did you come across any technical difficulties or modifications when compared with your original project? Was there a particular result which was especially satisfying?

The planning phase and the subsequent implementation phases were exciting and stimulating. As every other designer, I came across some technical difficulties which prompted me to find new solutions. I had to adapt the original design to best take advantage of the characteristics of the yarns I had chosen, so that every garment could express its own uniqueness without sacrificing what were the natural characteristics of the yarns.

Using the VIRGIL yarn was particularly intriguing. I had never worked on a knitting machine with linen before and discovering how versatile it is and how it was able to surprise me with its effects was a great revelation. As a result of the drop-needle stitch, the linen took on a natural lustre and consistence which enhanced my garments with golden reflexes, also as a result of the colours I had chosen.
The ACCADEMIA yarn was another striking discovery: thanks to its elasticity, it was possible for me to create a texture which changed according to the movement of the garment when worn.

In your opinion, which are the challenges and horizons for an emerging designer who is called on to create knitwear for the coming years?

One of the main challenges is certainly sustainability. Now more than ever, consumers pay increasing attention to environmental impacts in fashion, and as designers, we have the responsibility of choosing sustainable materials and processes. Using natural, biodegradable materials, as I did with the Filidea yarns in this project, represents an important step towards more ecological and responsible fashion.

Also, choosing to work in the knitwear world certainly makes it possible to find the most suitable solutions: the possibility of creating garments using only one material without adding decorations makes recycling easier at the end of the productive life of the garment, greatly reducing waste.

In conclusion, being an emerging knitwear designer offers extraordinary opportunities to express one’s creativity and to make one’s mark on the fashion world. With passion, dedication and attention to questions of sustainability and innovation, we can contribute to more mindful, authentic fashion which respects the environment.