Bulgarian-born designer Antonio Vattev wants to know himself better, and wants his collections to follow the journey alongside.

Antonio Vattev’s journey initially started out in a very different trajectory. Growing up in Bulgaria, the designer’s aim initially was to study and explore architecture, fulfilling his curiosity about conceptual artists like Christo, draping and sculpting spaces to create a sense of protrusion. Making the decision to move to London, and apply for Central Saint Martins and their BA Graphic Design course, Vattev’s name was missing on the roster lists on his very first day of university. After having a second look at his portfolio, the CSM faculty saw a peculiar interest in fashion from his work, and offered him the opportunity to explore fashion design. “I got so worried when my name was not on the lists, and right after, they came back to me and offered me a position in BA Foundation Fashion Design, and said “You can try it for two weeks, and change if you don’t like it”. That changed everything for me.”

This spontaneous decision turned out to be the leap of faith the designer had been needing, as his development within menswear landed the designer positions on the design team of Saint Laurent alongside coveted internships at Lanvin and Wales Bonner. Not long after graduating, conceptual retailer Browns contacted him with an interest in his graduate collection, which gave him the boost to break away into his own, and create something he can call his own - AV VATTEV.

Speaking to Perfect, Antonio Vattev opened the door to his process, and spoke at length about the importance of discovery -whether it being of himself or the world - his Bulgarian heritage, and the importance of what it means to be an independent designer in a globally changing industry.

Angel: Antonio, you mentioned that you initially wanted to develop within the Graphic Design space, what made you move into the fashion design space?

Antonio Vattev: When I moved to London, I originally applied for the Central Saint Martins Graphic Design and Architecture course, and got accepted. So, when I came on the first day and met everyone, I looked at the list and my name was missing. I frantically went to the support team, and they said that they looked at my portfolio, and believed that I would be best suited in the BA Fashion Foundation course, where I can stay for two weeks, and I can see if I like it or not. I stayed there, and ended up loving it. And at the end of my foundation year, I wanted to apply for the womenswear pathway, but my course leader immediately expressed, “I think you might be more interested in menswear”.

I liked the idea, because it was something that I didn't explore until then. The whole idea of discovering and owning my style, speaking through my own experience with the clothes was very inquisitive. I ended up learning so much more about menswear, because in a way, it's a lot more like technical. I want to break this stereotype of technical-only menswear, and develop it into an amalgamation and inspiration from the more feminine details and mix it all together. With our fabrication, we construct in ways similar to creating gowns, however we make jackets out of that process and that inspires further the different silhouettes that I rely on for the spirit of the collection.

Angel: Coming into it from such a different perspective, how did you find your voice as a designer and what inspires you? How did you develop your creative point of view?

Antonio Vattev: When I moved to London, I was introduced to so many different artists in music that I liked from before. I grew up being very inspired by the 1970s, and I had the opportunity to be in the in the library 24/7, just going through books, and learning more about their story. I love combining opposing aesthetics and points of view, constructing it to make sense. For my latest SS23 collection, I was inspired by artists Georgia O'Keeffe and Christo, who visually represent completely different movements. This later informed my pattern cutting ideas, sculpting the whole collection based on polarising points of view - bright colours and textures inspired by O’Keeffe, and draping visualised from Christo’s work, sculpted into our raincoats.

I always aim to explore deeper and deeper, in order to craft storylines every season. For next season, I'm dipping into my previous research and I am to solidify my brand’s visual languages, and build it up from there. For the customer, it's much more cohesive when you find signature pieces in each collection, and can recognise the brand language right away, and then explore the larger seasonal ideas. Building up solid storytelling collections, alongside those hero pieces has allowed me to have more time in bringing everything together, especially with the lookbooks we shoot each season.

Angel: Talking about cultural contexts, how important is culture to you? What are the elements you consider when approaching a new season?

Antonio Vattev: I work with separation. I separate the shape, the silhouette and the culture, as the culture is always something that is going to be part of my brand, a starting point that informs the direction. One of the best parts of my process is that I use my brand to expand on my worldly knowledge, and the knowledge of myself. This is what really gets me excited about my work, because it's not only a challenge to dive into each season, but also it gives me knowledge which feeds my soul. It works in a funny way, because I somehow combine my background of being Bulgarian, which gives me a lot of opportunities to explore my personal culture through the textiles, and the traditional artisan processes For this season, we utilised a traditional Bulgarian embroidery that we put into the collection called ‘Gaitan’, which you only usually witness on our national clothes. I was really inspired to play around with the technique, and I was really happy that it actually ended up looking great, working in tandem with the contemporary ideas altogether. It is through these little elements that I am able to understand myself better, but also for my audience to explore more of who I am as a designer.

I think thinking about my Bulgarian heritage, I've never forced it to be always present because became it has become veryy, very natural to exist inside the collection. With each season, I have the opportunity to explore small pockets of it further, and ultimately get deeper to the core of who I am.

Angel: What are you looking forward to this year professionally or personally? How do you see the the brand and your research growing into the next collections?

Antonio Vattev: I'm actually really excited about this year. At the moment, I can confidently say that we know what we're doing. We know what is our signature, we know where the brand stands, and we know firmly our message. This upcoming season, I want to create that confident statement about how I feel, and where things are in my life at the moment, so it really feels like a Renaissance, especially after these few tough years where the world felt so uncertain and scary.