Columns - Surface
by Sabrina Ciofi
by Sabrina Ciofi
Fashion shows empathy for the margins only when those margins generate economic value.
In fact, it has built an entire system around them. Not adhering to the industry's rules on creativity, production, distribution, and communication often means being invisible. Yet even the most rigid systems have weak points—small openings that reveal how the margins can become places of creativity and experimentation, spaces where new design methods can be tested and where the meanings of “beauty” and “value” can be redefined. “The margin is the place where creativity finds its freedom—it’s a privileged viewpoint, a distance from what is, that makes space for what could be,” says fashion designer Giuseppe Buccinnà. Founder and creative director of his own label, Buccinnà works at the edge of the traditional fashion system, finding opportunity in the spaces between creativity, production, and communication. Running a one-man brand while also collaborating on the creative direction of luxury collections allows him to manage time and resources in a more flexible way—essential for working around the financial limits of a young, highly personal brand.
Cavia, the label founded by fashion designer Martina Boero, takes a different but equally margin-focused approach. Boero's design method begins with leftovers: surplus fabrics, discarded yarns, old garments and linens from Italian homes. These materials become the foundation for a fashion that is built around uniqueness, originality, and personal expression. Her collections live in the space between one-offs and small-scale reproductions, shaped by the random availability of materials and the skilled hands that turn scarcity into value.
“The hardest part of my job is explaining to buyers that the look of the garment depends entirely on the materials I find,” Boero explains. “Since they come from the leftover stock of top Italian manufacturers, no two pieces are ever exactly the same—and that limits how many I can make.” Still, this hasn't stopped Cavia from gaining recognition beyond Italy.
Both Boero and Buccinnà work inside a system of rules and expectations, but they operate from its edges. Their experience designing for major fashion houses gives them the insight—and credibility—to turn what the system sees as weakness into opportunity. Yes, the margins can be unstable. There are setbacks, risks, and constant adjustments. But the idea that creativity follows a safe and straight path is a myth—and one that can be just as destabilizing. The margin, they suggest, is also the place where change begins.