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The names of the 20 emerging designers selected by Vogue Italia to pair up with the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015 finalists have finally been announced.
Each designer will reinterpret the work of their team-mate through a fashion creation inspired by the chef’s dish, in an unprecedented fusion of fine food and style.
Here is the interview with Canada region finalists: chef Paul Moran and fashion designer CG Chris Gelinas.
| What inspires the aesthetics of your creations? | What inspires the aesthetics of your creations? |
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The aesthetics of my dishes are inspired by monochrome colours. I’ll pick the colour red, then I’ll use red ingredients that work well together: beets, pigeon, blood, radicchio. I always try to create a natural landscape on the plate... The finished dish might look like a fall day with lots of red leaves, shades of soil and a early sunset. |
My creative process is filled with many layers of references and inspirations. I love to diffuse different elements of nature, movies, dance, music, art and history all together to arrive at something completely new and unexpected. |
| How do colours and textures influence your creations? | How do colours and textures influence your creations? |
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Textures are always present in my dishes. I like to keep my plates natural, so it’s easy to draw on the natural textures of nature. Serving crispy celery root with a mushroom broth poured at the table has a natural inspiration. A field of dry hay, ready to harvest, before a warm musty rain changes everything in a few minutes. |
Colour and texture is very important to CG. Many of my textiles are custom developments and they are all born from a certain colour that catches my eye or an amazing texture I find in art or nature that I want to reinterpret in a fabric. The fabrics of the collection are the starting point for all my creations. |
| How would you describe your creative style? | How would you describe your creative style? |
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I would consider my creative style to be naturalist. If a bird eats corn from the fields, then for me it should taste excellent with some corn polenta. I would even smoke the bird with the sticks from that same field. |
The style that CG best represents is a synthesis of conceptual design and classic femininity. |
| Is there any influence of your country's traditions, culture or materials in your creative work? | Is there any influence of your country's traditions, culture or materials in your creative work? |
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My dish has many subtle Canadian influences. My dish features smoked pigeon breast. Smoking is a very popular technique in Canada. All of the ingredients featured in my dish can be found in my hometown, yet they remain very worldly. |
The greatest influence I have from my surroundings is the pulse and energy of New york. |
| What food would you happily die eating? | What food would you happily die eating? |
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I would happily die eating at the finest sushi bar in Japan. Any and all Japanese food makes my stomach the happiest. Such an intense focus on quality of ingredients and simplicity. |
Any one of my grandmothers dishes, the food of my childhood. |
| The first top fashion designer that comes to mind? | The first top chef that comes to your mind? |
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Zadig and Voltaire. |
Daniel Boulud. |
| If your cuisine was something to wear, what would it be? | If your creations were a dish, what would it be? |
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My cuisine would be a tailor-made suit. Only for the most important of occasions. |
I imagine it would be some type of dessert, something that always feels special even if it is with every meal. |
| What ingredient would you never eat, and why? | What item of fashion would you never wear, and why? |
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One thing I will never eat is dolphin or whale. Besides the ridiculously high mercury content, it is against my morals. |
I never think much about what I wear personally, I prefer to think about the women I dress more! |
| What’s the first thing you’ll do upon arriving in Milan next June? | What’s the first thing you’ll do upon arriving in Milan next June? |
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The first thing I will do is find a cozy corner cafe, sit on the street and meditate over a coffee while people gazing. |
Eat! Some of my favourite meals have been in Italy. |
| What do you expect from this challenge? | What do you expect from this challenge? |
| I expect to be challenged to a point that I have not yet experienced. I also expect to come out on top as the world’s best young chef. I feel like I have something to prove. | I love the idea of my design language being applied to something unexpected and I am curious to see where the inspiration takes me. |
CG Chris Gelinas's interview was conducted by Vogue.it
