The successful intuition behind Become One

To break through in the fashion world today, the key thing is to have an overview, to be present in the right conversations but above all, to believe in one's abilities. Become One is the brand born in pandemic from the idea of Nicoletta Lo Monaco, a designer with a passion for art and fashion, which from a creative vision somewhere between loungewear and leisurewear has become a contemporary wardrobe, an ANYWEAR brand as she renamed it using the play on words ANYWHERE and ANYWEAR to frame her garments suitable for all possible occasions, you just have to have the attitude to interpret them. In the dark winter of 2020, after a period of stalemate, the then footwear designer realized that she had to put all her eggs in one basket and bring together her passion for fashion and art by combining the individual and collective facets of the two worlds into one project. This is because through fashion, the body takes on an artistic form, which is both individual and collective, and embody with clothes the sense of belonging, togetherness, intimacy and sociality and make them whole. 

"I used to work in the creative section of a brand with economic security, an important factor in such a dark time as the pandemic, but during my time at home I rediscovered my personal creativity, was inundated by an incessant flow of ideas and felt an irrepressible urge to express my creativity without directives from above."

The brand's name, Become One, literally means "to become one" and concretizes the concept that it wants to combine fashion and art in 100% Made in Italy garments that know how to be cool, comfortable but above all aesthetically relevant in the multifaceted scenario of constantly updating trends, with which the brand does not want to compete but to impose itself as a high-quality solution with contemporary style. The brand's vision is to create small, ever-changing drops, composed of just a few pieces, to communicate the freedom to express all versions of oneself and to choose none as definitive, to be always up-to-date but with the right and functional tools.

The brand wants to be a-seasonal and offer a succession of small drops to ensure a continuity of new garments throughout the year, to give the wearer the advantage of never feeling unnoticed while wearing a garment designed to have in addition to the fit values given by the fabrics and silhouettes, also an artistic and personal value, creating an impactful aesthetic effect, with performative and culturally synthetical value. Become One is free from the dictates of seasonal collections, it wants to be essential and wearable in a versatile way, to be indispensably cool in everyday life and on the most special occasions. The garments are predominantly unisex, they want to transcend the used gender categories of the fashion world to create unique and "designed to be durable" garments, choosing mainly eco - friendly fabrics such as bamboo or all-natural fibers to give lightness and freedom to any body type wearing them, applying the designer's visual research to each garment.

"Become One reflects my personality and extremely eclectic style. I thought of it just as if it were a conjunctive E. My style is simultaneously utilitarian AND sporty chic, sexy AND oversized, casual AND sophisticated, eccentric AND super basic. All of this becomes one in Become One."

Launching a brand in the post-pandemic period can be an act of extreme courage, especially since betting everything on one's creative ideas can scare young designers initially, partly out of inexperience partly out of fear. Nicoletta tells us that actually, the hardest thing is just getting started, then the rest takes care of itself.

"The saturation of the industry can initially scare a young designer who wants to create his or her own brand, including the competition that exists and is always increasing. However, the thing that most alienates those with many ideas from success is just getting started, the fear of failure, and the lack of 360-degree vision of what might happen. Spoiler: taking the first step to be able to make the ideas you have in your head a reality is the hardest thing, but you just have to start, starting with a blank canvas then the rest takes care of itself."

This was exactly how Becomeone began. For the first drop, which started mostly online in the pandemic period thanks to a strategic insight into the greater functionality of e-commerce, the concept selected was Skyvory, a term used to define the color of the galaxy in the warm ivory color range between white and beige. A first drop started on a blank canvas, a starting point where the absence of all colors promised many hues coming soon:

 "I realized that I wanted to immortalize the different shades of white, like in Helmut Lang's 1997 fashion show, another inspiration behind the drop in addition to the white canvas that I often thought about at that time, as a sign of something that was to happen in my life.Lla quote embroidered with white thread on the white T-shirts read with the phrase "A white canvas waiting to be colored." 

After the fateful first step that started with the absence of color, BecomeOne instead exploded with color by going all out for extremely dense and textural colors that resonate with the value research of creativity and make the eye perceive a depth of fabric. In Rodeo, the third drop, red and black take over silhouettes that embrace the body and outline it with cut-outs and flaps of uncovered skin, games of important accessories and catalysts of attention all to wear. 

Constant research and intelligent reinterpretation of the past are the basis of the creative process of Nicoletta, who flips through books of fashion archives on a daily basis and particularly appreciates Helmut Lang's sporty, minimalist casual. Her style icon is Lady D, whose casual looks have been able to make comfortable fashion elegant and cool, as well as relevant in the eyes of the mainstream community while maintaining a high aesthetic allure and telling the image of a complex woman, a princess who escapes from social dictates to try to be herself, exactly as the designer wants for those who wear her brand. The future is looking brighter and brighter for Nicoletta, who once again harnessed the power of social media during a vacation that turned into one of the most important work experiences of her life. During two months in Los Angeles, Nicoletta was able to connect with Kanye West thanks to an Instagram post in which she wore BecomeOne's Back Slit pants from the Rodeo drop.  

The versatility and stretch fabric adaptable to any body type struck a chord with the rapper, who asked her to work on the October 4 Paris show. A month and a half full of work, that was the result of commitment, dedication, but above all, constant belief in a vision that continue to guide the designer to success in the hyper-competitive world of fashion. When you really believe in what you do, it is easy for the various facets of your world to become one, or said in English, they Become One.