Shift/Adapt: An Interview With Izzy Camilleri

Izzy Camilleri is a Canadian fashion pioneer. From internationally noted runway shows to countless A-list movie wardrobes, Camilleri’s name has been sewn into the best Canadian clothing design for more than thirty years. But as for many of the most innovative artists, it has not always been a straight ascension for her. Perseverance, talent, dedication, drive and a little luck have resulted in the upward trajectory of a career that continues to put forth rich fruits.

- Leopold Kowolik

Izzy Camilleri, 2020. PHOTO: TARA WEST FOR FAJO MAGAZINE.

LK: There’s a lot of press about your film work: the notable fur coat that Meryl Streep wears in The Devil Wears Prada (2006), for example. That’s fantastic, but it is interesting to hear how that came out of that shift in necessity.

IC: I was dragged through the mud for a year or two after ’87. I felt like the Canadian fashion industry had completely dried up and I didn’t know who to sell to any more. Money was trickling in and it was really, really, really, really hard. I was creatively completely dried up.

And then this whole film thing started to kind of creep in and it became quite lucrative. I was able to hire more people and we ended up working 24/7. There was so much filming going on in Toronto at the time, and there weren’t many places like mine that could service wardrobe departments so quickly with high standards. I bent over backwards constantly and we turned over so much stuff. That was what enabled me to get back on my feet to pay my parents back and to get where I needed to be.

Then 9/11 hit. And then a year later SARS hit. That completely dried up the film and entertainment world in Toronto; the Americans didn’t want to come to Canada anymore. And so things dried up again.

IZ Collection: Jeans, 2016. PHOTO: CHRIS CHAPMAN, COURTESY OF IZZY CAMILLERI

LK: When did you come back to fashion?

IC: I did end up missing fashion. The film work was still trickling in, but it was nowhere like it was and so I started to pursue fashion again. This was the mid-2000s.

LK: Then the show in March 2006 seems to be the one that was really a breakout in a lot of ways. Am I gauging that right?

IC: Yeah. That particular show was pivotal for me. I pulled out all the stops and just really went for it.

LK: It’s a show that has a very defined look. It’s a collection that has a dark and gothic element to it with a feeling of a sci-fi dystopia. But it also has a frank seduction, fuelled by optimism. So could you talk about really going for it.

IC: Well, I wasn’t thinking about sellability. I wasn’t being practical. I just let my creative juices flow. I think that that show really helped define my brand and what I’m all about. The whole goth and leather and chains and all of that stuff … My friend, Chris Chapman, my photographer who I’d worked with for a few years did the campaign images, came up with my logo — the two z’s crossed. It feels very goth, it feels very religious. I’m not a religious person but my craft is what I believe in. When you’re doing a show it is a show. It is an opportunity to put things down a runway that people are going to remember.

LK: It’s a fantastic collection. I want to take that with us as we talk about the genesis of the IZ Collection. We’ll begin in 2004, with your initial contact and relationship with Barbara Turnbull, the award-winning Canadian journalist who had been paralyzed by a robbery as a teenager.

IC: When I started to work with Barb, I had never worked with someone with a disability and who used a wheelchair. It was very eye-opening and educational. I needed to be all ears and listen to what her needs were. The first piece turned out great. We made a shearling cape, and then we turned that into a cashmere one. Then we made a denim one based on the same pattern. After that, we started working on pants. I didn’t realize that she had more specific clothing needs than myself, for example. I came to understand why she needed certain things and why she could only wear certain things. Clothing has to be adapted for people with physical disabilities. This can be life-threatening. For someone like Barb who’s paralyzed, she can't feel pressure sores. They’re just like a bed sore for the elderly — if they go undetected, a pressure sore can turn into an internal infection which can turn into blood poisoning which can cause death. If you’re sitting on a seam, sitting on a button, a rivet in a pair of jeans or even the corner of a jean pocket, which is a few layers of fabric that have been folded … those little folds can kill you. That’s how extreme it is.

IZ Collection: Peacoat, 2016. PHOTO: CHRIS CHAPMAN, COURTESY OF IZZY CAMILLERI

As one of Canada’s leading innovative and celebrated fashion designers, Izzy Camilleri has made a name for herself designing clothing for national and international clients for over 33 years. Top celebrities from all genres have worn many of Izzy’s pieces including David Bowie, Angelina Jolie, Jason Momoa, Daniel Radcliffe, Gord Downie and Meryl Streep, to name a few. Izzy is based in Toronto and continues to create pieces that provoke thought and push boundaries.

To read the rest of this interview, purchase the Fall/Winter 2020 issue of Studio.