Nonna Maria

A few years ago I taught a course on Advanced Style at IED Roma. I had all my students go out on the street and photograph and interview older people and then share who they met with the rest of the class. Many of them had little contact with anyone outside their own peer groups and it was incredible to see how much they learned from this exercise. One of my favorite students, Eleonora Carrano, brought in her beautiful grandmother, Nonna Maria, to talk to the class about her work as a costume designer for the opera. All the students really enjoyed hearing Nonna Maria talk about her career and it gave them another perspective on what you can do with a degree in design. Last week I met up with Nonna Maria again and she was as vibrant and gorgeous as ever.