Maltese design has started to develop and mature, and I have taken a keen interest in following these young and very talented people:
1. Rosemarie Abela Studios
The artist Rosemaria Abela is a 25 year old from Siggiewi. She studied and graduated from the prestigious Polimoda Fashion School in Florence in 2014. And decided to launch her first collection at Malta Fashion Week in 2014 where she won the award for best upcoming designer.
Since then she has established herself in Malta from her fashion studio in Qormi, and will work on her ready-to-wear-line: La Cupola from a pop-up shop from the renowned People and Skin in Sliema in September 2017.
2. Skandlu by Mark Parascandalo
The rebel, Mark Parascandalo, is a 30 year old from Birgu, who has had an strong interest in fashion since a little boy, inspired also by his mother's shop in Birgu. He helped her with decorating the windows in the shop and soon started sketching clothing designs and eventually attended the Art and Design course at MCAST.
In spring of 2010, he moved to London to take his interest in fashion a big step further. He later returned to Malta and fast became a darling with local stars and bloggers, who is often seen in his edgy clothes.
3. Couture by Gaetano
The romantic, Gaetano Busuttil, is a 27 year old from Hamrun. Gaetano has been drawn to music and the beauty of design since a young boy, sketching and drawing and playing around with different material and fabrics to create dresses. At 19, he worked in a textile shop with no diploma or relevant education, just an iron-will and a sense of beauty.
Equipped with a pen and pencil he learnt what to do. A big part of his job was to pin mannequins with pieces of material to make it look like dresses, and without knowing it Gaetano learnt by himself one of the hardest disciplines in tailoring: draping. After that he found it easy to learn to sew the dresses. In 2015 he received The New Designer award from Malta Fashion Week for the first time in 2015. His reputation and brand as an established designer was made. Last year he started making dresses for Claudia Fanillo, and created a whole collection inspired by music's greatest Divas, which was also the name on his latest collection.