«Here to be a team player, I’m not the basic type»- Corriere.it

Saturday de SarnoToday is the desired day. The world will know… I’m Sabato. And it’s me again.”

And he is spot on. Without filters and bets. Forty years, round. Born in Ciciano, in the Naples area, she grew up in Como with one dream always: fashion. He’s the new creative director of Gucci and today he’ll be presenting his first show.

Was this the right time?
“I don’t know if there’s ever a right time for something like this. I was so happy even before, for 14 years I felt at home at Valentino, with Pierpaolo (Piccioli, ed.) We cried together. I cry often. “I feel emotional and I’m not ashamed of it.”

Who is Sabato?
“Always the same.” People study my choices and think who knows the strategy behind them. no.”

Let’s start with the name.
“Everyone used to make fun of me when I was a kid, even the teachers, and now I love it and I’m proud of it because it belonged to my grandfather and my father is now proud to see it written in the newspapers. Then it always frees me from embarrassment: it helps me in any situation to break the ice because everyone wants to know why it was named My name is by that name!”

One day they called her from Gucci…
He was a talent scout for Kering. I was in New York and there was no news about Alessandro (Michel, ed.), who had just shown the collection worn by the twin models. They knew all about me and I thought they were looking for me for a new brand. I come back, go to sleep with jet lag, and the next morning find the news from Michel and the message that I’m on the list for his position. I started the whole process and never slept again. At night I dream a lot and when I wake up everything seems real.”

They chose you: why?
“When I signed, I slept with the contract under my pillow: every now and then I would reach out to touch the paper. I said: ‘It’s all true, why don’t you believe it?’ I never thought of being a creative director, I’m a team player. I come from a small village and a family far away.” Stay away from fashion. My mother, Maria, has never entered a luxury store before, and these days she’s worried about what she’ll wear to the show. I told her to wear what she feels, sneakers and a t-shirt, because she’s still herself, with her values, and she’s the most important person in the world. I want to His face and look are the first things I see when I walk out on stage.”

It will be increasingly difficult to be on Saturday, as of today.
“I live by fashion: touching fabrics is one of the most beautiful things in the world. But I also love Saturday and I want to remain as I am, free. Everyone talks about freedom but in the end they tell you what to do, where to go, who to spend your time with. “I don’t like these lists. I want to remain the boy who looked at Ms. Miuccia from afar in Prada. Thanks to my work I entered worlds that I did not know, such as art, which has now become my passion.”

Freedom to say what he thinks: Do I make this clear in the company?
“There was no need.” I thought that at Gucci I would be one of the cogs in a machine driven by others. But this is not the issue. In the show there will be everything I love. I met Francesca Bellettini (Kering’s super CEO, Ed.D.) and Jean-François Balos (CEO of Gucci) And they were great conversations. You feel modern and free.”

Early days at Gucci?
“Three days closed in the archives, in Florence. I had to touch it, I wanted to see Jackie I again, definitely one of the nicest things in fashion. I discovered prints where animals, watercolors, and drawings come from. Gucci is 100 years old, it has accomplished a lot but little is talked about, there are no books except the text published in Frida Giannini’s period, but a lot has been produced. Now I have the freedom to touch those things, use them, rework them, and use them according to my aesthetic. I took more things from the archives, Jackie and Bamboo bags and the campaign I did with Daria (Werbowy, ed): The jewelry comes from an archival necklace. I found a company that wants to see me on a pedestal, but I don’t know how to stand there. I want to talk not only to the collections manager, but also to the guys and girls in the office. “I would rather have dinner with my husband at my friends David and Ilaria’s house than with Julia Roberts.”

Will your husband be ready?
“We’ve been together for 11 years, married for 4 years, and we’re invested in the relationship. I want my choices and the people around me to speak to the world I love. I believe in family and diversity: I have experienced first-hand what it means to not be accepted. “I don’t have to explain how important women are to me because they are part of my work, they are my friends, they are with me.”

Did you ever crash a parade as a boy?
“I’ve never seen a fashion show sitting, always behind the stage. However, I watched my first fashion shows on television: Gianni Versace was for me a symbol of everything. I was young, I was discovering my sexuality and I saw him as a designer par excellence and he came with his family from the south… When I grew up I aimed for Milan, it was the only place where I felt myself, I built my life here. “It’s a city I owe a lot to and now I want to give something back.”

Afraid?
“In general, it’s not a feeling I have. I know for sure I’m going to cry.”