When I discovered Clahbags I was amazed by the crafting process. I loved the products and I awarded them the Revista Atelierul Award: „The iconic ones” during the Transparent Breath exhibition, organised in Venice, Italy.
1. Who is behind the brand Clangbag? Can you tell me a couple of words about yourself?
Clangbag was born from the meeting of two designers from Central Italy: Marco Goffi and Giulia Fulgenzi. The two artists come from different creative backgrounds, but decided to merge their experiences and skills in jewelry, art and fashion. Marco Goffi has nearly 20 years of experience in knitwear and art, while Giulia Fulgenzi, after years of studying jewelry design in Madrid, launched her own brand in Italy.
Clangbag creation
2. Clangbag is a recent brand, founded in 2023, how did you start your creative business? And please tell me about the name of the brand.
The brand was founded in 2023 from the desire to create a wearable piece of art. After months of research, we discovered a material called Ergal 7075, an ultra-light, rust-resistant metal commonly used in the aerospace field. We were immediately drawn to it, and a strong intuition led us to create increasingly larger items, including our fist bag, taking advantage of the material’s properties. Once we had the first prototype in hand, we felt a strong urge to share the project, but we needed a simple, universal language. Since the metal was the star of the piece, it inspires the name: Clang, representing the onomatopoeic sound of metal.
Clangbag creation
Clangbag creation
3. “A sculptural aesthetic design. Clangbag is Monumental. The most refined Italian materials combined to pursue the tech-approach to the product. Bold. Strong”, how did you get to those values? What was the moment that defined your style?
The desire to stand out pushed us to raise the bar, aiming to blend refined materials in a way that had never been done before. Month after month, through many challenges, the project took shape, and our style became clear when the original piece began to shine.
4. Congratulations on winning our prize, I love your designs, could you please tell me what inspires you in the process of creating your products? Why did you choose glass?
After a first exhibition in Venice, we deepened our connection with Murano glass, drawn to its noble and captivating production process. A new challenge quickly emerged: setting glass within metal. Managing the fusion of two such distinct materials – glass and metal – was difficult due to their differing compositions and temperatures during production; however, the combination of these two materials made the bag brighter and more captivating.
Clangbag creation
Clangbag creation
Clangbag creation
5. You create bags sculpted in 336 hours; how do you know when the process is finished? How do you monetize each hour of work?
The sculpting process requires several weeks of work and concludes only when we feel the thickness of the piece is minimized to ensure maximum lightness. It’s difficult to quantify the hours of work involved, as creating a piece of this kind also requires hours of research and personal growth, allowing the object to tell our story.
6. How do you see glass art in an increasingly digitized society?
In this era where everything is digitalized, we are especially committed to ensuring that art and craftmanship are not overlooked. We believe that in the future this type of work and passion will gain greater value.
7. Which do you like better, online sales or offline sales of your products?
Although much of our work is done by hand, digital tools are undoubtedly an excellent way to share our passions and creations, as well as to monetize them, without neglecting the importance of human connection.
8. What is the most important lesson you learned in your creative career?
Over the years the most important lesson we’ve learned is to always stay curious, both to create unique products and to discover new forms of art and artistic personalities.
Details from Clangbag creations
Details from Clangbag creations
Details from Clangbag creations
9. Do you have special designers that you follow or admire
Our sources of inspiration include Schiapparelli, Rick Owens and Part of Four.
10. What do you think is the greatest challenge for Clangbag?
In conclusion, we can say that the brand’s greatest challenge is to communicate who we truly are and the heart of Clangbag.
All the images are sent by Clangbag from the brand’s personal archive.
Thank you very much Eleonora Varotto (HOOROON) for introducting me in the world of your selected artists and designers for your coproduced exhibitions. It is great that I could award 4 designers and artists.
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