As anyone who works in the fashion industry knows, grappling with painfully tight deadlines is par for the course. However, after being appointed creative director of Etro in May last year, Marco de Vincenzo had just one month to put together his entire debut collection. No mean feat. ‘Fortunately, this time it was different,’ De Vincenzo explains, a week after presenting his sophomore womenswear AW23 show at Milan Fashion Week. ‘I think this time, everybody was ready to understand where I’m going with Etro. And I also felt ready, too.’
Forty-two-year-old Sicilian native De Vincenzo is already a seasoned designer, if not a household name. Fresh out of Rome’s Istituto Europeo di Design, he was snapped up by Fendi at the age of 21, rising to the position of head of leather goods. De Vincenzo’s namesake brand (which closed in 2020) was lauded by the likes of Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani and received backing from LVMH. He is now the first outside of the Etro family to be handed the keys to their kingdom. ‘I have around 20 years of experience, having worked at Fendi,’ says De Vincenzo. ‘So I really know what it means to respect the history of a brand but at the same time to try to tell its story with a new point of view. I feel honoured that the family has trusted me with this.’
