Designer Giuliano Calza, 34, still looks at life through the eyes of a child. “Sometimes precious things are the one that makes you scream, ‘Cute!’” he laughs, about to take a sip of a bedazzled SpongeBob SquarePants water bottle. “I really find the most weird things beautiful.” His retro-futuristic GCDS collections have provoked the response “grow up” from more than one stodgy fashion critic with their Hello Kitty references and tongue-in-cheek subversions of tropes like workwear and classic horror. But as he fleshes out his label, Calza has proven he can evolve without rebuffing his fantastical nature. “Fashion has to be on the light side,” he says. “Everyone is trying to be too serious, too cool for school. I don't want to grow old before it's my time.”
Step inside the Milanese flat he shares with boyfriend and Valentino CMO Yiğit Turhan and behold that wonder personified. But this isn’t Candyland; he tempers Japanese storyboards of Disney cartoons and old Universal Studios props with an antique art deco rug and Lucio Fontana artwork. His closet exemplifies this same clash-happy spirit, fusing seemingly contradictory designs in one space. Perfectly tailored Valentino blazers and simple T-shirts hang next to Palace x Gucci logo jeans and Pepsi Cola x GCDS hats. “The market is obsessed with logos,” he posits matter-of-factly, speaking of both his and the world’s complex relationship with branding. “I deal in subcultures in a way and mainstream media.” The creative director appreciates an intelligent subversion—Grace Wales Bonner’s boots with the exaggerated square toe are a favorite—and has no desire to wear head-to-toe GCDS. “It's like asking a musician to only listen to their music," he says. "They're going to go crazy at some point." He's constantly shopping. "Collecting is a way to archive fantasies of making new things."
Calza never planned to become a designer; he just liked getting dressed. “It was a way for me to express myself,” he reflects. Fashion was a hobby first. He was styling on the side, offering shopping advice and recommendations as the de facto expert of the friend group—people were starting to notice. Calza was working in a restaurant in Shanghai with his brother (who now serves as the chief executive of GCDS). The man in charge of producing clothing for the restaurant took a liking to Calza and his style; he offered to produce clothing for him for free. Soon after, he returned to Milan due to visa issues and launched GCDS.
Today, both what he wears and what he designs synthesize his prior locales, be that the refined flamboyance of his childhood in Italy or the pop-art-driven shopaholicism of his young adult years in Shanghai and Hong Kong. “The first thing I realized was that leaving China, my biggest nightmare was that I couldn't find all the crazy things that I was buying in the markets.” He set about encapsulating the style of a worldly (whether that be through physical or online discovery) kid. “At first I wanted to do gay streetwear because I was like, ‘I'm gay, I love pink, I love to shop, but I cannot find anything that matches my own style—it's too expensive or it's too boring,’" before diluting those outlandish desires with a dash of practicality. “I wanted to be in the middle of the essential and the crazy.”
Calza, admittedly, designs for himself. In that way, he can always stand behind his own work. “I'm creating things that I'm going to infuse with my energy, that I'm going to be able to wear every day, and be obsessed with,” he says. Example? A red chinoiserie fabric with Chucky, the horror movie doll, embroidered into the landscape, in which he wrapped handbags, outerwear, and more. It’s that kind of iconic imagery that punctuates his memory. Asked about his first aesthetic references, Calza recounts an old The Wizard of Oz illustrated book, Ginger Spice’s Union Jack dress, and a skirt his mother used to wear featuring ladies playing tennis. “I still think that the things people remember are the fun parts of fashion. The Murakami Louis Vuitton or the Marc Jacobs shows or the Prada print with bananas,” Calza reflects. “This is what makes people dream. That's the part of fashion that I want to be.”
“[As a kid], I was already cutting pants, cutting shorts. My dad was a big fan of rock [music], so I used to have these very huge oversized T-shirts with tiny shorts. The shorts were actually my size, but the T-shirts were oversized—Beatles, The Doors.”
"First, I need layers like T-shirts and socks. I always think of my styling as 70 percent unbranded—luxurious essentials that can be mixed with something over the top. I tend to shop more accessories or staple pieces rather than having a basic T-shirt from Valentino or Balenciaga."
“I have this weird thing about my memory that everything I remember is related to images. Studying Chinese was way easier for me because I could remember characters really easily. I had this huge library at my parents' house that was filled with books and cartoons. Even if I couldn't read, I knew which image was inside each book. I grew obsessed with a Wizard of Oz book and then, of course, Disney cartoons."
"I was never able to find myself a Chanel little black jacket in the right size. When I sold part of [GCDS] in 2019, the first thing I wanted to do was run to Chanel and buy myself an 8,000 euro jacket. I felt that that was the one piece I would remember for my lifetime. Even if my best friends could find me discounted Chanel, I was like, 'No, I want to live the rich woman experience: go into Chanel, get fit, pay with my own credit card, and leave the store with the jacket.'"
"My boyfriend works at Valentino, so we basically have all the jackets. I'm really obsessed with those. It's by Pier Paolo [Piccioli], and I think it's a one-of-a-kind incredible piece."
"Julius, that Paul Frank monkey, was the keychain for my first motorbike when I was living in Naples at 14. My motorbike was stolen, but I kept the keys. That keychain has traveled with me all over the world. It was the keychain of all my doors. Once, I lost a key to my old house, but god bless, it wasn't that one. So I was like, 'Okay, I'm never going to use this again. I'm going to keep it on the Birkin.' The moment they steal my Birkin, I'm going to be really upset about the monkey and not about the Birkin."
"I bought that emerald necklace in Palm Beach. I went to the Beckham wedding with my boyfriend. We were complete strangers to the Palm Beach lifestyle. At some point, we ended up on this main street full of old ladies shopping and buying things like they were candy. I got so into this atmosphere and vibe that I jumped into the first store and I was like, 'Okay, I'm going to get something.' I found this flower emerald necklace. To this day, I'm obsessed with it."
"Our house is all about darkness, like horror books. For me, it's like SpongeBob SquarePants. But what people don't know is that inside of me, I have all of the dark references of a Scorpio. I have this mysterious dark side. For example, I can watch the most terrifying splatter movie and I won't never be scared. [My boyfriend] acts like Dracula in a way, but as soon as there's a scary scene, oh my god, he starts screaming. There's this mix and match. On the outside, I look like a Disney Princess, and on the other side, he looks like Dracula. But inside, we're completely yin and yang. We match perfectly, even in taste."
"My home is this mix and match of classic Italian style and this modern world we live in. So bold, colorful, very branded. Signs like McDonald's, Pepsi, Coke—they live inside of us stronger than any core memory. These pop culture items or figures make me feel at home. I want to have this balance of luxurious and very refined art taste and then something that is completely opposite. Maybe it's a pineapple singing, 'I love you,' or something I could steal from my past in China or from living in LA. Anything makes sense in my world with the right balance."
"I had to steal those Spring '23 pants from the show because they were part of a suit that was one of the most celebrated looks in the show. Everyone was requesting that look till the moment it sold out online. So I was like, 'Oh, I'm going to wear this for something,' and then I never took them back to the office. I'm never going to give them back. I own so much Martine Rose, but the sneakers with Nike and the boots—it's a real obsession for me."
"I have really dark eyes, but I cannot stand the sun. I hate sunbathing. When we are on the beach, I'm in the shadows—that's my Dracula side. I'm always wearing sunscreen. There's always two to three pairs of sunglasses in my bag. I cannot go out of the house without sunglasses. The first thing we did with the licensing of the brand was the sunglasses line. I really love sunglasses. I have the craziest ones, but what you see is just a little part of my collection. It's the valuable ones. Then there's some that are literally trash, but also my treasures."
"For the last Spring/Summer show, I decided to do a show that was called 'Toys for Adults.' When you're a child, you remember sweet things and creepy things. So that's Chucky the doll. We created something very twisted. Sometimes I had scary moments living in China where I didn't know what my future would be like. So these two memories got together with this scary doll. I have the shirt, I have the bag, I have the coat. That was something that I stole right away from the show."
"I find comfort in soundtracks from movies. Whenever I listen to something, I imagine the world where this music lives. When I read a book, I cannot wait to imagine characters, how they dress, how they live. I find inspiration anywhere. I'm a great artist lover. I know all about art, and I try to bring these ideas in my world. People make fun of me because every two weeks I'm in Chinatown in Milan, just going to see the products, the supermarket, what's going on. I deal in subcultures in a way and mainstream media. So these two parts of me always have to be fitted, and I love to go to the cinema, to movies. I'm really a visual person, so I really get sad and bored when I cannot imagine."
"My cat is my obsession. I got the cat right before pandemic. If it wasn't for the cat, I would be dead by now because I was living by myself alone in Milan. I grew this obsession with this cat, like, 'I'm sure he can understand me; he can literally sniff what I'm going through. It doesn't scratch, it doesn't do anything, but it's fat and beautiful and you can share a lifetime with him. He sleeps with whoever stays over. He's literally a companion. I dedicated a show to him. I dedicated product. I really cringe at the people that are obsessed with their animals, but still, I cannot not love my cat, Kettho."
"GCDS had to evolve because, at some point, I realized that the brand was getting bigger, the business was getting bigger, and people were also into buying simple essential things. So the black pants or the cargo pants or the white tank top—at the beginning, that was not the core of my idea. You can find a white tank top everywhere. But then I discovered that people wanted that from me as well."
"In the last few years, I've been into prints, Chanel, lots of things. I had this Jamaica Galliano obsession for a while. Then I left everything for more subtlety. I still like to go print on print, but one side of me can be crazy while another side of me has to be classy or chic."
“I did my third year of college in China, and the moment I moved there, I got completely obsessed with the idea of shopping. I wanted to be very pop, like print on prints, even collecting fake stuff. At some point, I became obsessed with replicas of Louis Vuitton. I would buy shirts on shirts and bags on bags. I had this really Texas-rich-wife-shopaholic moment that, of course, I was allowed to do in China.”
"Someone very not wise, I must say, said, 'You shouldn't design for yourself. You should design for the crowd.' And then at some point, I was like, 'But this is not my story.' I'm designing things that I'm going to infuse with my energy that I'm going to be able to wear every day and be obsessed with. I have to design things for me so I can guarantee them for you, in a way."
“I never [thought fashion could be my career]. It was a way for me to really express myself. It was a really strong part of me, but I always had the idea of creating things or making things come to life. I was first styling things, then my friends would ask me, 'What should I buy? Where should I buy?' So I became the buyer of my friends and then at some point it rained on me and GCDS started."
"At the beginning, I was really into logos. When I was in China, everything started with a logo. Every good restaurant, every good brand, every good place. It's a branding experience, the world we live in. In the end, I love a branded experience. The market is obsessed with logos. At some point, I started hating logos because I sold so much that I was literally repulsed. I think logos, for some people, are security. It is a safe place where they feel that the brand is representing them. I love quiet luxury. But logos are always going to be around. I know we've been through a moment of minimalism, but even when you buy a vintage Chanel piece, if the buttons don't have the logo on them or your clutch doesn't have the double Cs, they're worthless. You can have the best of both worlds, but it just depends on how you wear it, honestly."
"I was obsessed with the Versace water bottle with the Medusa, and actually Donatella gifted me one, but I just wanted to have a custom one. For my birthday, Yiğit decided to make this custom and got it shipped from Japan to Europe. Imagine unwrapping that thing. I was crying. To me, it was like Christmas Day arrived early."
"I really like cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap places, markets, like the ones in Japan where you buy the trashiest thing. In Milan, we have Montenapoleone. I really love to go and check Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuitton. I'm a great fan of sample sales, Vestiaire, The RealReal, whatever. I get obsessed. Even when I do a collection, I don't like to reference other people's clothes, but sometimes I see the craftsmanship behind the item, so I bring it to the office and I'm like, 'This sewing is good,' or, 'This patchwork is good.' Collecting is also a way to archive fantasies of making new things."
"I arrived in Paris for fashion week. I had no idea that it would be cold because it was June. So I jumped in the Balenciaga store, got that jacket thinking, 'I'm just wasting my money once again. I'm never going to wear this again." It became one of my favorite jackets. It's always in my bag wherever I go."
"So that's a Colin Christian mask. He used to work with Kanye, Miley Cyrus. He has this creepy, kind of cute world in between manga and a doll from the thirties. I really resonate with those pieces. I'm always thinking that fashion should be a way to cosplay yourself and allow yourself to be confident, insecure, sexy, flirty. For me, every look is like a mask of your own self."
"My references were the toys, the Polly Pockets. Even if I'm immersed in culture because I studied so many [different things in school], I still think that fashion has to be the light side. I want to create something that makes people excited. Everyone is trying to be too serious, too cool for school."
“My mom was collecting everything—not very expensive clothes, but very colorful clothes. She is a psychologist, so she was obsessed with this idea of color communicating.”
"I think Hong Kong and Shanghai are my sweet spots."
"I like to mix and match. I cannot do a full look. It's hard for me when styling a GCDS lookbook or a campaign because even though I created them, I've seen them too much for too long. So I'm always like, 'Can we cut this with a normal pair of shoes?' That's what I do in my daily life. Sometimes it's just a pattern and maybe a lot of leather or see-through shirts and Gucci-allover pants. But it's like asking a musician to only listen to their music. They're going to go crazy at some point."
"The plaid shirt is custom made by The Attico for my birthday fix or six years ago. My friends at Attico—we basically grew up together. We were at the same high school."
"Why do I have to grow up? I can make amazing clothes made in Italy. I know better how to do production than many of the people out there. I still think that the things people remember are the fun parts of fashion. The Murakami Louis Vuitton or the Marc Jacobs shows or the Prada prints with bananas. That is what makes people dream about fashion. That's the part of fashion that I want to be."
"I still love the things I did when I was a kid. I can still celebrate colors, I can still celebrate shapes, I can still celebrate all kinds of humans around me. I really find the most weird things beautiful. I'm different from a nineties designer that designs for the tough girl. I still have a kid's eye. Sometimes precious things are the one that makes you scream, 'Cute.'"
Art Director: Smiley Stevens/ Managing Editor: Hilary George-Parkin/ Casting Director: Yasmin Coutinho/ Executive Producer: Marc Duron
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