We spent a day at home with our beloved Maria Chiara Venturini, a creative mind and content creator that is currently invading the internet with, we believe, some of the most original material out there at the moment.
WHO'S MARIA?
She’s usually the one standing to the left of Chiara, maybe looking a bit lost but probably just wondering how to ask someone if she can pet their dog.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR PERSONAL AESTHETIC?
I’ve been observing and separating things I like from things I don’t all my life, so I’d say my aesthetic is constantly changing and morphing depending on what I experience and live through. Generally, I think everything I physically make looks like it came straight out of a British grandma’s house — full of trinkets, ribbons, and lace. In my videos, I tend to go a bit darker, trusting my humor.
WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO YOUR WORK?
It’s a long story, but let’s say I had to reinvent myself when I got stuck back in my little hometown in Tuscany, with zero resources (for now) for video-making, after abandoning a whole life in America as a film director. On top of that, during the worst financial time of my life, I got a painfully high electric bill that forced me to sell a big part of my fashion archive on Vinted—taking pictures of myself and pairing them with unconventional descriptions. The rest is history. Never give up.
DESIGNERS, ARTISTS, ENTREPRENEURS: ANY FIGURES YOU’VE BEEN MOST INSPIRED BY?
The ones I truly love are, unfortunately for me (and maybe fortunately for them), all quite dead. But sometimes modern times gift us with some out-of-this-world minds. I’d say Jacques Tati from the past—a French mime director who managed to steal my heart with little to no words but an outstanding sense of timing and aesthetics—and Nadia Lee Cohen, an American director, for her grotesque, fashionable sense of decay and her amazing characters.
WHAT CATCHES YOUR ATTENTION MOST IN PEOPLE OR SPACES?
I’d say their singularities. In places, it’s shapes, colors, and energies; in people, it’s a scar, a story, even their problems. Over time, I’ve learned how to be empathetic—but with boundaries. I see myself more as an archivist than a collector: I don’t keep people or places in a dark room just for myself. I like to analyze, categorize, and share most of what surrounds me. The ones that don’t fall into any category—well, those are usually my people and places.
DO YOU FIND A CONNECTION BETWEEN FASHION, DESIGN, AND FOOD, ESPECIALLY NOWADAYS?
Everything influences everything, I think. Even something as ordinary as a pigeon in a park could be the connection between fashion, design, and food. In fact, there’s a bag shaped like a pigeon, and one of my favorite dishes is pigeon-filled pasta. I’m still waiting for someone to design a pigeon-shaped bed.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE EVER?
The forest around my childhood home. I had the best time pretending that moss was the fancy carpet of my imaginary forest mansion—which had no roof, but no limits either.
WHAT DOES A RELAXED ATTITUDE MEAN TO YOU?
Just not pretending—being, dressing, and speaking as your true self, even if it means going against the usual standards. And possibly being surrounded by an infinite number of animals.
NAME 3 FAVORITES/MUST-HAVES IN YOUR WARDROBE AND 3 FEATURES THAT ARE NEVER MISSING IN YOUR WORK.
A baseball cap for bad hair days (usually 3 out of 7 days a week). A stinky old tweed jacket— to keep posh people a few steps away without hurting their feelings. And a proper, mind-blowing dress for when you feel like reconnecting with your female origins, even if you dress like a hobo most days. As for my work, the three features I’ll never stop using are: stop motion, the top-view shot where I pretend to sleep while working, and, of course, dogs.
WHAT IF YOU COULD MAKE A WISH?
At the risk of sounding cliché—and steering a bit away from world peace—I just wish people would be kinder and more respectful toward each other. No more scams, no more abuses, so we can try to survive this life together. If that’s impossible, then I wish to build a community on a farm in the middle of nowhere, where you can all come and take a deep breath with me. :)
