Interview

Interview

Raquel Diniz

During Paris Fashion Week, Milan-based Brazilian designer Raquel Diniz presented her Fall-Winter 2022 collection in the Salon des Aigles at the Hotel Crillon.

With elegant designs and attention to detail, Raquel Diniz exquisitely blends the Brazilian lifestyle with Italian elegance and craftsmanship.

In between presentations to potential buyers, who were amazed by her work, we chatted. The presentation of the clothes, as well as the setting chosen for the occasion (a room with large windows and a view of the Place de la Concorde), transported us into an atmosphere where elegance and refinement are in the spotlight.

By Carolina Ortiz Jerez
Pic by Claudia Knoepfel

Raquel Diniz took her first steps in the fashion world as a model. However, her passion for design led her to study fashion at Istituto Marangoni in Milan. 

In 2012, she started making custom clothing. It was so successful that her clients motivated her to launch her first ready-to-wear collection in 2016.
Prior to this interview, we learned that the Spring/Summer 2022 collection was a huge success. So much so that you sold more than expected. What do you think were the elements that influenced the great acceptance of your work?

Before I launched my eponymous brand, I worked in my salon with clients of different ages and bodies. This forced me to pay close attention to detail when making patterns for the pieces, as they were custom made for the clients.

Because of this, I was able to develop collections that are industrially made, but pay a lot of attention to the cut of the clothes and the drape of the fabrics.

For the fall-winter 2022-2023 collection, you are presenting two main lines. One for the day, with garments such as pencil skirts, embroidered blouses, jackets and pants; and another for the evening, with comfortable and elegant dresses. In both cases, the clothes fit the figure, but are not form-fitting.

I like the silhouette to be fluid, because I don’t like clothes that are too tight on the body. I want to offer a sexy wardrobe that doesn’t show too much and that suits all types of women.

For me, the comfort of the clothes is very important and I think it’s linked to my Brazilian roots. You always have to be ready to go out, to move.
For this collection, we find velvet, silk, denim, leather and sequins, all very well worked and with details that do not leave anyone indifferent.

My work always has a lot of details, whether it’s an embroidery, a flower, a detail on the collar… I think that even a small detail can make a simple dress unique.  

As for the fabrics chosen, they are all very versatile and can easily go from day to night.

Although this is a fall-winter collection, you are offering clothes in which color and prints are the protagonists.

There has always been color in my life, I love color, I need it. I’m always experimenting with them and with prints.
Where do you make your collections?

All the fabrics in my collections are made in Italy, in specialized family workshops. We know them, we know who they are and we care about how they treat people.

When I started my brand, I had the opportunity to visit workshops in India and I didn’t like to see minors working. 

I am very happy with what we are doing. I’m not interested in mass production, this is my way of being sustainable.

Over the years, your brand has grown stronger. What are your plans for the near future?

Recently, we have seen an increase in sales on our website, so we are strengthening our e-commerce. We are also very focused on distribution and our customers.

We want to develop the brand, without making it massive. For this reason, we focus on quality production, with pieces that last, avoiding the mass production that hurts our industry so much.

 

Raquel Diniz collections can be found in stores such as Matches Fashion, Moda Operandi, Net-à-porter, Antonia, among others.

As well as on the website:

https://raqueldiniz.it/