The work of Pierre Antoine Vettorello focuses on using textile design and clothes as a foundation for narrative. He makes sculptural and statement silhouettes that represent militancy and poetry. Some are inspired by military technologies, ordinary materials, West African textiles and materials, and methods learned during travels and workshops. As a designer, he seeks to incorporate hand-made processes and discarded elements into the creation of clothes and forms in order to center them in his work. As a human being and a scholar, he is challenging our personal relationship with our sartorial past, as well as how we manufacture mythologies about 'designers' in Western nations, repeating colonial practices. He identifies how we view and get inspiration from the African continent, as well as how we interact with it.
He is currently involved in:
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Researching as a PhD fellow at University of Antwerp and Sint Lucas School of Arts with his thesis 'Black Yarns'
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Researching transmission of craftsmanship in Belgium via diasporic networks, EU funded project 'Crafting Futures'
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Teaching research methodology at the textile department of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels
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Tutoring at Istituto Marangoni in Paris
He is Afropean, grew up in Bordeaux and works and lives in Brussels. He has an MA from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, fashion department and an MA in Artistic Research from Sint Lucas School of Arts.
Vettorello received the ASVOF Diane Pernet award in 2010 and Arise Award in 2011.
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Latest Work
May 2022
Villa Ndar, Institut Français du Sénégal, Saint-Louis
January - March 2022
Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
January - March 2021
AAIR - Artist in Residence, Antwerp
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Education
2021-2025
University of Antwerp (ARIA) & KdG Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerp
Ph.D. Research Fellow (candidate)
2020
KdG Sint Lucas School of Arts, Antwerp
Advanced Masters in Artistic Research within a Social & Political Context.
2010
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Fashion dpt., Antwerp
Masters & Bachelor in Fashion Design.
2005
ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres, Paris
Certification in Textile Design.
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Teaching
From September 2023
Spring 2021
Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels.
Teacher in research methodology, project monitoring at the Executive Masters in Knitting Design program.
(French)
Since January 2022
Istituto Marangoni Paris.
Teaching master's students (Design Thinking & Neo-Craftmanship) and tutor.
(English)
Since 2015
Oxbridge Academic Programs, Paris.
Teacher of fashion design, history of fashion and fashion criticism to grades 9-12 major and minor programs. Focus on Parisian Fashion.
(English)
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Lectures & Paper Presentations
Organiser and participant in an upcoming event:
- "Disrupt! Imagine Fashion in the Post-Museum, the Archive and Beyond." Research Seminar. Sint Lucas School of Arts and University of Antwerp (paper presentation), Antwerp, BE
link to the research seminar (October 3-4 2023)
From February until July 2023 in the following institutions:
- Universität der Künste, De-Fashioning Education conference (paper presentation), Berlin, DE
- Institut Français de la Mode (IFM), Executive MBA Global Fashion Management (lecture), Paris, FR
- IFM Paris, IFM alumni association (lecture), Faverolles, FR
- Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule University of Art and Design, Master in fashion design (lecture), Halle, DE
- Trinity College Dublin, Text & Techne online symposium (paper presentation), IE
- LUCA / school of arts, Masters (lecture), Brussels, BE
From May until December 2022 in the following institutions:
- Dakar Design Hub, Master Class (workshop), Popenguine, SN
- Sint Lucas School of Arts, Masters (lecture), Antwerpen, BE
- Royal Academy of Fine Arts, fashion dept., 3rd year Bachelor (lecture), Antwerp, BE
- LUCA / school of arts, Master Textile (lecture), Ghent, BE
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Publications
October 2023 (upcoming)
On Colonial Violence in the Fashion School (ed.)
Vettorello, P.-A. (Ed.). (2023). On Colonial Violence in the Fashion School, The Yarn Zine #1. Antwerp: Black Yarns Publishings.
March 2023
Decolonial Methods for Artists and Researchers from the Diasporas. Damien Ajavon: Archiving the Invisible
Vettorello, P.-A. (2023). ‘Decolonial Methods for Artists and Researchers from the Diasporas. Damien Ajavon: Archiving the Invisible | Méthodes Décoloniales Pour Artistes et Chercheurs des Diasporas. Damien Ajavon : Archiver L’Invisible’, Decoloniality & Fashion RCDF e-zine, (2), pp. 74-77. (link)
October 2022
The Curation of African Textiles in Belgian Fashion Museums from a Diasporic Viewpoint
Okemwa, N. & Vettorello, P.-A. (2022). The Curation of African Textiles in Belgian Fashion Museums from a Diasporic Viewpoint, TYPP#8 Blind Spot. Antwerp: Yellow Press, pp. I-XVI.
April 2021
A conversation with Diana Bamimeke and Rima Hamid - Black Pride Ireland
Vettorello, P.-A. (2021). A conversation with Diana Bamimeke and Rima Hamid. TYPP Special Issue. Antwerp: Yellow Press, pp. 35-42.