Rebirth.
A word that now more than ever, assumes a symbolic and practical value.
With the aim of starting again, and to be reborn, different voices from the most various sectors are putting their strength and creativity at the service of the recovery. Among them, we find that of Marco Castelli, model and designer of the Marco Castelli Collection line who launched the RINASCITA collection, made of cover masks, to send a strong and clear message to the world: “The COVID-19 can bend us, but it won’t break us.”
Marco’s project supports the association “Amici per il Centrafrica Carla Maria Pagani [Friends for Central Africa],” the secular NGO that works in the Central African Republic to bring medical help and to support the education of the local population, and to whose daily commitment is added today the need to help local people against the COVID-19 emergency.
Marco told us something more about this initiative, showing how even a small gesture can make a big difference, a message that we must never forget, especially now.
Fashion shows and fashion design, how and when were these two passions born, and how did your professional career evolve?
The passion for fashion is a part of me. I’ve always loved having personalized looks since I was a kid, and I would ask my mother to add details to my clothes.
I started modeling in 2011, and this job has allowed me to travel a lot, feeding more and more my passion for researching fabrics and observing details. In 2014 I started to wear tailor-made outfits, feeling the need to create dream clothes that reflect my being.
By traveling for work, I realized that my personalized looks were arising interest, and so I was being asked where to buy them. Hence the idea of creating, in 2016, my first Marco Castelli Collection Capsule.
What is the best part of this “double life” of yours between modeling and dealing with your line?
The modeling profession taught me a lot. I learned the value of achieving total independence. For me, this job still represents an excellent school of life and allows me to meet extraordinary people, work with real creative geniuses, and obviously to travel a lot.
I have had the honor of collaborating with iconic brands such as Chanel, Breitling, Bentley, Cartier Foundation, and many others. Each reality has given me exciting ideas to create my style by creating pieces that represent my being.
What does fashion represent for you?
Fashion, for me, is elegance and sophistication. Thanks to its uniqueness and energy, what you create becomes inimitable and unique.
Tell us about the RINASCITA campaign launched with your Marco Castelli Collection brand.
The Rinascita campaign, officially launched on March 16, 2020, is linked to a thought that I realized on September 23, 2019, with the organization of the charity event, The Heart Med Gala, held in Agrigento: “There is no light without love,” this is the representative phrase of the same event to promote a fundraiser in support of orphaned children living in complicated family settings to give them a chance to hope for a better future and a possible rebirth.
When, at the end of February 2020, we started talking about Coronavirus, I immediately perceived that it was something serious, in early March, I started my quarantine. I drafted a very long list of what I wanted to do and cross out during this period of forced isolation. Among the various listed points, one was a priority for me: to finish the Rinascita campaign, which had started the previous year. I contacted my dear friend, the artist Salvatore Tondo, to whom I asked to create a two-tone painting that portrayed me wearing a mask with the symbol of acacia, which communicates strength and rebirth, embroidered in gold.
What does rebirth mean and symbolize for you, especially in this historical moment?
Rebirth for me symbolizes a new beginning, this particular historical moment of having to face a pandemic emergency has already changed and will change many behaviors. We became aware of the real values and what simple things represent, such as the practical foundations of our existence: a handshake, a simple hug. The importance of living every moment as if it were the last, giving importance to what matters, fighting for a better world, and true freedom.
You said: “there is no light without love; I strongly believe that in this period of total darkness, the only thing we can do is overcome our limits and give love even more so that we can all be even stronger.” What love message do you want to send to the whole world with RINASCITA masks?
My masks want to represent and communicate strength, hope, and desire to react. Our way of being and responding is what makes our life and that of others better, the key to everything is true love linked to union. Only by facing it all together will we make it through, and we will become stronger together.
How did you start your relationship with the Association “Amici per il Centrafrica Onlus [Friends for Central Africa]”, to which the RINASCITA project is connected?
It all started with a conjunction of coincidences and events. I met Carola, who actively works as a volunteer for the Association, through a dear friend of mine. A few weeks ago, Carola herself spoke to me with love about this non-profit organization and asked me to share on my social networks a fundraiser that aims to fight a measles epidemic in the Central African Republic. I gave her my total availability, having and sharing the same values. We talked about my future projects and, from them, the LOVE of collaborating.
How would you like your charity collaboration to develop?
What I would like to do as soon as possible is to go to the Central African Republic, where the Association has been operating actively since 2001. To see with my own eyes, to create content, and offer them what I can —giving with all my heart.
Your motto of positivity.
In this life everything is possible, you need to believe in it and want it, don’t you believe it? Try and you’ll do precisely what had seemed impossible to you.
Creativity and solidarity: do these two terms belong to your future projects? If yes, can you tell us about them?
Creativity and solidarity, for me, are two concepts absolutely related to each other. Creativity can be a medium to make a difference, and in my case, I would like it to do it in offering education to the less fortunate. I want to allow them to receive the right knowledge to believe and hope for a better future.
With all my heart, I hope to have the opportunity again to hold lectures, like I did last year, at the Virginia Commonwealth University, to motivate and help others, spreading love and education as fundamental values for a better world.
The Cover Masks can be found here.
#marcocastellicollection #rinascitamarcocastelli #nocovid19
Follow Marco here.
To know something more about “Amici per il Centrafrica Carla Maria Pagani [Friends for Central Africa]”, click here.
Marco Castelli’s donation to “Amici per il Centrafrica Onlus [Friends for Central Africa]” was also made possible thanks to the support of COS CONSULTING, a corporate, tax, and legal consulting firm for the protection of performers.
Special thanks to Carola Amelia Muttoni.