Paolo Carzana: Wallpaper* Next Generation 2021
Our Next Generation 2021 showcase shines a light on 21 outstanding graduates from around the globe, Wallpaper’s pick of the best new talent in seven creative fields. Here, we profile Central Saint Martins, London, graduate Paolo Carzana.

Andrea Urbez - Photography
‘In 2019, I put together a fundraiser helping towards housing homeless LGBTQ+ youth across the UK and Italy. I wanted to bring the healing I had experienced into the project for others to experience,’ Carzana adds of the identity-based inspiration behind his collection. The designer used sustainable and upcycled materials, including eucalyptus silk, orange fiber and Piñatex pineapple leather, which were hand-dyed with healing plant oils like anxiety-reducing lavender and sulphurous water from Saturnia, a Tuscan spa town, and Taff’s Well in Wales. Carzana also sourced deadstock fabric and buttons from Portobello Market in London, and woollen tapestry from the Welsh mill Melin Tregwynt. ‘Creating my own cauldron of healing therapeutic formulas meant that pieces were multifaceted in their ability to complement the body,’ he explains.
‘I had a collection of characters in my mind that had built up over two years,’ Carzana says of his development process. He hand-drafted shapes using brown paper to transform his fantasy into a 3D reality. ‘The outcome was drastically different to the original,’ he explains. §
Dream collaborator: Anohi
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