“The most important thing is to always be open to everything around you.” Photo: Gary Bugeja

I was recently approached by one of my readers who asked me if I would be willing to write a little more about local designers. In the spirit of my genuine and pretty ardent belief in home-grown talent and of giving my readers something that they might not necessarily be able to get elsewhere, I have decided to dedicate my column space to a local designer every few weeks or so. The hope is to get insight from the minds of the best of our best and for you to be able to fall in love with them the way I have – they will be featured in no particular order.

Marco Parascandalo at PARASCANDALO

Bursting on the local scene with his slogan emblazoned T-shirts three years ago, Marco has gone from strength to strength and will be showing his latest collection during his third fashion week participation next week. This is what five minutes with Marco looked like:

If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

Creative, passionate and open-minded.

When did you know you wanted to be a designer?

I moved to London for four years in my early 20s and it was there that I got to work in many different fields of the fashion industry. Although I had always known what I wanted to do, this experience cemented my ambitions. I’m now working on making my dream a reality.

Where do you find inspiration?

I get inspiration from all sorts of things, sometimes in the most unexpected of places. The most important thing is to always be open to everything around you.

What’s your favourite colour?

Black, black and more black.

I’m going to have everything from T-shirts to hoodies to beach dresses

Who is your all-time favourite designer?

It’s pretty difficult to choose, but I really loved John Galliano at Dior and Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy. Galliano taught me to be creative, fun and to have no boundaries and Tisci was able to make menswear more fun and interesting through his experimentation.

If I weren’t a designer I would be…

Something that a lot of people don’t know about me is the fact that I have a passion for sign language. If I weren’t a designer, I would want to learn more about sign language and help the hearing impaired community.

Which one of your own creations is your favourite?

I think it would have to be the black and orange fringed dress from last year. I love the way it looked and moved.

Which is your favourite collection?

I’d have to say that my favourite collection is the one I’ve just finished called Vanity Rebels. It’s going to be launched on May 23 so I’m a bit nervous about that.

Your next collection is…

Inspired by pop culture and social media. The collection is going to cater for every season which means that I’m going to have everything from T-shirts to hoodies to beach dresses. I’m afraid I can’t say anymore; you’ll just have to come to my show next week!