What is your educational background?
I have never had a real master, but I absorbed knowledge from many different masters, sometimes facing their resistance. Many were very reluctant to share their expertise and secrets. I also trained by exploring the international web resources dedicated to hats.
What are your sources of inspiration?
Fashion and nature, mostly. But also the variety of textures, natural pigments, all that is irregular. The discovery of discarded objects, of 'waste' that can be revived, and the atmospheres of music and travel. But human beings are the source of the greatest journeys: making a hat that tells the story of a person's life.
How did you come to be called the “Hat maker of the stars?”
I feel close to the world of music and art. I thought to myself, if a celebrity has one of my hats, its value could go up and I offered myself with emails at full speed: J-Ax, Joe Bastianich, Andrea Appino of Zen Circus who accepted, and my name started circulating, all the way up to Tim Burton.
What is the Hat Experience?
It takes place in my workshop. It is the personalised design of your own hat, which is then made by me. This is my core business. I also run a masterclass called 'Ora et fedora' which is a one-day workshop I hold in Ferrara, to learn how to make your own hat. I am planning a full course soon.