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Meet Izzy Dipietro, the next Vivienne Westwood.
AN INTERVIEW WITH IZZY DIPIETRO FROM HYSTERIA BY GIRLONFILM ISSUE 02 "CHERRY KISSES":
Q. For those that are unfamiliar with you and your work, please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.
A. Hii I’m Izzy, I’m from the pine barrens of NJ and moved to NYC at 18 to attend fit for fashion design. Out of my 22 years of life, I’ve been sewing for 15 of them and do 1/1 reworks to vintage items with a specialization in evening wear.
Q. What was your initial introduction to creating clothes?
A. My grandma was a (retired) designer and I thought it was so cool. I started beading at like 4 years old and when I was 7, I begged for her to teach me to use a sewing machine, and my prayers were answered.
I started to ruin my clothes by trying to upcycle them and dye them different colors, I’m grateful my mom always supported my creativity because I for sure DESTROYED a lot of my clothes when I started. My mom was so supportive that when I would cut apart her jewelry to use as supplies, she sat back patiently and curbed her anger in the name of trusting the process.
Q. Have you always been keen on a career in fashion?
A. People ask me when I knew I wanted to be a fashion designer but it's not like I ever choose it really, I think I was born knowing this is what I was dedicating my life to.
Q. What does a typical day in Izzy's World look like?
A. So, I would say I have two types of days. I work in spurts. I either don't sleep or eat or really do anything but sew for like 48 hours straight. I don't say this to glamourize my life. It's like really not good and I don't like to be a bad influence on the girls at follow me but it's just the reality of my situation and I don't want to lie.
I have a really really bad ADHD so I can't really multitask. I either work my ass off or I sit in a dark room and just chat with friends or my boyfriend and catch up on sleep and nutrition. I'm trying to find some balance and hopefully, that comes with time but for right now I really really really don't have it.
Q. What would you like people to know about your work?
A. What I would want people to know about my work is how important my materials are to me. Most of my laces either inherited from my grandmother and is antique and vintage imported from Europe in the '60-'80s. If not my grandmother, another older woman that I have had some type of relationship with. I take deep pride in my materials being authentic.
Q. Since all of your pieces are 1 of 1, do you have a piece that you wish you would've held onto?
A. My pieces being 1 of 1 is something I've coped with to the point where I can't think about a single piece that I would've kept.
If I start to go down that rabbit hole, I will cry about all the things I have shipped out, but I am just happy that they go to people that appreciate them and just try not to think about it too much.
Q. What does fashion mean to you?
A. Fashion to me means legacy and connecting with the women in my family that came before me and with the women who see themselves in my work and making them feel special on their important days.
Q. If any, what advice would you give to someone that also wants to be a designer?
A. If you want to be a fashion designer, my number one thing to tell you is to put your head down, learn and practice.
Q. What's next for you? What do you dream of for the future?
A. What's next for me is world domination.
I used to feel uncomfortable telling people this, but you have to say it to make it, and I want to be the next Vivienne Westwood.
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