I have always put myself in the shoes of others: I did it as a person, as a model maker and as a historical costume designer.
Today, with TerraKleos, I am doing it in each of these roles: as an artisan.
IDENTITY
I am Maria Clelia Pesavento and I maintain a very close bond with my origins: those of Montecchio Precalcino in the province of Vicenza, where I was born and raised, amid the joys and responsibilities of a family that is as present as it is numerous.
Here, surrounded by my five siblings, I have developed excellent interpersonal skills and a good propensity to listening to others.
I was able to put to good use these inclinations even at school, where, more than anything, I was passionate about reflecting on the points of view of others in order to investigate their reasons and feelings.
I was interested in getting into the skin and the experience of the personalities I came across: putting myself in their shoes.
Eventually, I translated this interest into something more literal: the creation of clothes for others; firstly, attending the Bartolomeo Montagna professional technical institute (women’s tailoring course) and secondly, the modeling and size development courses at the Istituto Secoli in Milan.
And, despite the strikes and assemblies of those turbulent years, from this moment onwards the identity of a path that has never been abandoned again was outlined, because working with textile materials, shapes, the quality of textures and the personality of the patterns still fascinates and involves me into a continuous research.
My first test bench is represented by the clothes that I am continuously making during this period of apprenticeship (and those I make for the whole family) by experimenting with different techniques, ideas and reinterpretations.
I feel that making clothes means expressing a thought, a vision, transmitting a sensitivity and declaring values in which you believe.
EXPERIENCE
Throughout my personal life I have followed heartfelt choices, which have been completely sincere and open, even if at times with an unpredictable outcome: so to a marriage that, even if eventually coming to a conclusion, allowed me to embark on the wonderful adventure of becoming Massimo and Martina’s mother. And it is with them, helping them grow and supporting them in their choices, that the passion for what I love to do came back to life with strength and awareness. So much so, that I decided to get back on the books to finish my studies at the Montagna Institute, graduating just a year before my daughter, who in the meantime shared my same propensity with naturalness and talent.
My approach now extends to an independent study, following various courses, to develop knowledge in areas collateral to my research, such as biodynamic agriculture, self-production of natural detergents, dowsing, painting, art and communication.
While, at the same time, vocation and tireless practice then became a profession: within different Italian tailoring realities, to reach that of Grifoni.
Realities that were for me, as a pattern maker and size development manager in the leather sector and again in the knitwear factory, incubators of technical experimentation and improvement, where each model had to be made entirely by hand. Until I finally entered the technical office of the Grifoni house, because of my execution to the cut and attention to the reproduction of each prototype.
I recover the traces of the history of fabric: a rich, significant and fundamentally inspiring heritage
RESEARCH
However, if the professional activity has specialized me in my skills and competences giving me a knowledge linked above all to “tailoring”, it is outside of my working hours that I have felt the urgency to better deepen a more transversal culture of the fabric, in order to trace its historical and customs connotations.
In particular, with a seminar in textile archeology and the rediscovery of the fascinating findings of the Este Museum on the ancient Venetians, I have had the opportunity to get in touch with the interesting historical-cultural associations of my province.
It has been a really important meeting, which led me to embark on a journey back in time, among the museums of Europe and the archives of various historical libraries, to recover useful details for the reconstruction of ancient clothing.
Thus, I have found the traces of a textile activity that played a specific role within the ancient economy and society, the cultural value of colours, the symbolism of jewels and the sacred meaning linked to the gesture of “weaving”, a spiritual attribute of many divinities, as Reitia the “weaver” goddess of the Venetians.
An intense and significant activity which evolved in the foundation of Venetkens, which promotes culture by the historical re-enactment of the ancient civilization of our territory.
I believe in the need for authenticity and value, durability, consistency, and attention to the deepest well-being.
CREATION
My itinerary is that of a solid experience, where in the recreation of customs of past eras, I feel a certain intolerance emerge in respect to many objects of modernity, which instead obey a disposable logic.
I am therefore against the futility of clothes in synthetic fabrics, which follow the commercial diktats of a fashion that is still too capricious, consumerist and harmful to the environment.
On the contrary, I believe in the need for authenticity and value, durability, consistency and attention to the deepest well-being.
All these are connotations that I find in the history of fine textile craftsmanship, where the use of natural hemp fiber, together with the mastery of dedicated and accurate workmanship, give quality, strength and beauty to each garment.
A heritage that has now disappeared on which I have dwelled on for a long time, and which then turns naturally into the definition of a completely dedicated personal project: style, fabric and sustainability.