Figus

Angelo (1975). Italian designer. Born in Sardinia, he graduated from the Royal Academy in Antwerp, the famous fashion school from which Dries Van Noten, Ann Deumelemeester, and Martin Margiela also graduated, creating a genuine tradition known, indeed, as “the Antwerp school.” The young designer, thanks to the sponsorship of Dries Van Noten, presented his first men’s collection at the Café de la Dance in Paris, during the haute couture Fashion Week in July 1999. In 2000, he designed the costumes for a play by Ugo Rondinone in Ghent, Belgium, and those for Rêves d’un Marco Polo by Claude Vivier at the Opera House in Amsterdam. But Figus is interested mainly in women’s prêt-à-porter. After the creation of a collection for Marks & Spencer, he transferred the dramatic and poetic style used in his men’s wear collections to a women’s line presented under his own name in Paris for Autumn-Winter 2000-2001. It was a mix of clothing and interior design, romantic souvenirs of his birthplace, Sardinia, set next to a contemporary universe. In 2002, he continued his activity as a costume designer, again with the Amsterdam Opera House, for a production of Wagner’s Lohengrin staged by Pierre Audi.