Maria Urbani, a former student of the Theatrical Tailoring Course, collaborated with Stefano Nicolao's historic Atelier and the Fondazione del Teatro ‘La Fenice’ in Venice. Today she works at the prestigious Atelier Versace in Milan.
Let's discover her story together through the interview we conducted for the Hall Of Fame week column.
Maria Urbani, from the Accademia Teatro alla Scala to the Versace Atelier
Who passed on the passion for this job to you?
I acquired my passion for needle and thread thanks to my grandmother, who taught me how to mend and sew as a child. My grandfather, on the other hand, apart from owning a gastronomy, was also an amateur actor, and from time to time my grandmother and I would make stage clothes. I have always loved drawing and writing stories, so science subjects were not for me.
Tell us about your training and the first professional experiences
I graduated from the Art Institute ‘Michele Fanoli’ in Padua in 2010. After my art studies, I continued with a course in Fashion Design at the Professional Institute of Fashion SITAM, based in Padua, and then I decided to continue at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where I graduated as a costume designer, figurine designer and set designer in 2017.
While I was studying, I had the great privilege of working with Stefano Nicolao's historic Atelier in Venice, where costumes are made for important film, opera and short film productions. I then worked for three years at the Fondazione Teatro ‘La Fenice’ in Venice, where I was employed both in the tailoring workshop and in the dressing area.
What is the secret to doing your job well?
Speed and precision are the two indispensable ingredients to be able to work well in this field. I must say that my experience at ‘La Fenice’ was decisive for me to acquire them.
Why did you leave Venice?
Venice is my city and I love it very much, but I fancied a change.
I was attracted to haute couture and therefore to Milan, the Italian capital of this luxury sector. A colleague of mine at La Fenice recommended the Academy's course in Theatrical Tailoring, which she had attended in 2015, an advanced training course aimed at getting a job in both the theatrical and haute couture fields. And it is thanks to the training I gained at the Academy that I was then able to get to where I am now, the Versace Atelier.
What did you enjoy most about your time at the Academy?
The opportunity to work on several shows actually staged at major theatres, such as La Scala, is certainly the jewel in the crown of a course that is already extremely valuable in its classroom articulation.
My experience in the theatre has helped me in speeding up, in making my performance very dynamic and adaptable to every need.
I remember the first experience of this kind, at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan on the occasion of The Nutcracker - a performance with the students of the Accademia Teatro alla Scala Ballet School. Then Zeffirelli's Aida staged at La Scala and all the performances of Il barbiere di Siviglia for children and L'elisir d'amore for children, both directed by Grischa Asagaroff and with the musical direction of Pietro Mianiti. A wonderful project, created to bring younger audiences closer to opera through the staging of well-known titles from the repertoire in reduced versions and in Italian.
We were working in the classroom for costume shots, but also on stage for quick changes.
The shows were a valuable opportunity to practise, but also to get to know and confront the artists involved and the professionals who animate the backstage, trying to extract from each one those secrets and tricks that are essential in theatre.
You currently work in Milan, at Atelier Gianni Versace; how did this opportunity come about?
After finishing the course, I was able to do a curricular internship here and never left.
They offered me a work contract and of course I accepted immediately. The creations that come to life here are true works of art.
The theatrical tailoring is wonderful, but the lines are always the same, dealing with historical models.
In our atelier we only make unique and specially designed pieces on commission. I have seen wedding dresses made for real princesses and of course all by hand!
How is work organised in the Atelier?
We have a contact person who coordinates the day-to-day deliveries and creations entrusted to my group.
I'm lucky, because here we don't have precise roles, but everyone does everything according to urgency. This has allowed me to learn a lot! You have to be very dynamic, as I said before, and thanks to my apprenticeship in the theatre, I don't lack that at all.
Ready-to-wear and haute couture: differences?
When you go to a shop to buy a dress linked to a famous brand, you are buying the design that a particular designer has made exclusively for that shop. The price is therefore mainly determined by the prestige of the fashion house.
A haute couture dress, on the other hand, is a unique piece, tailor-made for the person who commissions it. It is a handcrafted product in its entirety and you cannot buy it in a normal shop. At Versace, for example, the two lines are processed in two different workshops. All the clothes we produce in the atelier are entirely handmade and take several months of work.
To whom would you recommend this course?
I recommend it to anyone with a passion for this field.
The class is often heterogeneously made up of both people who have already had work experience and those who are more immature. However, the Academy teaches you from the very beginning a very precise method of the highest level. The lecturers are all experienced professionals and know exactly what you need to know in order to work well both in the theatre and in an atelier.
When I arrived at Versace for the internship, everyone was positively impressed by my speed, and I must enphasise that I only owe this to the Academy.
The Theatre Tailoring Course requires a lot of commitment, seriousness and dedication, but also humility and a willingness to get involved.
