JCU snappers take aim on Rome's catwalk

By Josiane El Khoury

ROME, Feb. 14 - Last Sunday, the word “hysterics” did not hold its usual meaning. 

On Feb. 10, a group of young designers calling themselves “The Hysterics”, organized an independent fashion show at Il Circolo degli Artisti. This place, well known to young Romans, offered the perfect set. Live performances and an aperitivo were followed by a craft market. Alternative designers exposed their work while models prepared for the catwalk. Even the preparation was a spectacle. Hairdressers were working in an open stand where people could look on. Two punk rock bands opened the evening with a raucous set.

And John Cabot University student photographers were in the crowd, cameras aimed and ready.

“It is a great event,” said Umberto De Rosa, 22 year old. “But I can’t buy anything, because they are selling only girl’s clothes.”

After the bands' performances, the stage was prepared for the fashion show. The set-up was surreal. Two old couches were placed in the middle of the scene. Empty frames were dangling from the ceiling enclosing the models in a metaphysical atmosphere.

Paolo Soriani, a well known Italian photographer who teaches photography at JCU, was invited by the organizers to document the event. “I was there to document the show,” Soriani explained, “but also to add my personal vision of it, respecting the stylists’ point of view.”

The fashion show was an event organized as part of a Soriani project called “Arte del Territorio e Territorio dell’Arte”.

Thanks to this program, every week new artists can exhibit their works, just as the four stylists did on Sunday night. “The main aim of this show is to get known,” says Soriani. “In fact, self funding is what permits these emergent brands to be publicized”.   

For this evening, Soriani had his class come to the show, giving the students the opportunity to get experience in the fashion photography field. The student photographers had a backstage pass, and under the advice of the teacher and his colleague, they experienced a professional way of taking pictures. “I wanted my students to see how real photographers work, and I think it was a great opportunity for them to try it personally,” says Soriani.

When the fashion show ended, the crowd exploded in applause.