The Style Behind - An Interview with Sam Cosmai

Photographer Sam Cosmai has been documenting fashion for several years -from his unique approach- in Milan, Italy. It’s fashion that doesn’t take place on the catwalk, but on the streets.

“I always go out with my camera. I always hope to be able to make known what I feel when I photograph. I hope my sweetness, my anger, my romance to Milan to be understood”. Sam Cosmai

Sam Cosmai is a well known street photographer, renowned for his images around the city, the suburbs, events, and fashion shows in Milan. His permanent presence, with his unfailing Nikon, made him as much of a character as his frequent subjects. He was born in Sardinia (Calasetta) June 18, 1957. He lives and works in Milan.

With his creative drive, Sam Cosmai -among others- conveys what he sees on the streets to a larger canvas and audience. When fashion and technology collide online, the effect they have is unpredictable. The Internet is the largest canvas currently available; it’s common to see different perspectives and ideas on every subject, because it is the ultimate way of expression. If you are talking about fashion and a critical eye, it’s even easier to find a niche. You just need a cellphone with a camera, Internet access, and you’re in. It is no wonder that photography tops this contribution: it only takes a browse through Tumblr or Flickr to confirm this.

With such a wide spectrum of possibilities, the information overflow is massive. Everybody can contribute. However, there is no work without competition. The intense battles to find out what is ‘in’ or what is ‘out’, can be quite challenging in a world where the latest is the better. With a hunger for the state-of-the-art, there is no better field of action, than what we know as street style photography. This type of photography gained strength because of the Internet: people outside the fashion industry wouldn’t know about street style photography without the access Internet provides. Specially in the meccas of fashion: Paris, Milan, New York, and London. Where does Cosmai see not only the major personalities from the fashion industry, but also the general public expressing their points of view through fashion?

“I think that what we see outside of the catwalks are fashion ideas that we will see developing in the future; they are very often prototypes that we, photographers, have just in front of us. They know that our pictures will be worldwide. Lately we’ve seen very often photo settings created by companies outside of the catwalk, on the streets.They have understood how important are the photos that we are going to take … just look at how many sites are posting our pictures!”

Street style is about making people aware of fashion, making them a little braver to explore beyond safe grounds, and to know the possibilities we have to express with fashion. It’s making fashion, way more exciting. Street style is creating trends that merge with social groups, which in turn merge with different industries, such as music. Many brands have developed from what we see on the streets. We can look for inspiration from all sorts of people, while walking in Milan, or going to Florence for Pitti Uomo. Does he think major houses, such as Givenchy, are thinking about this new type of fashion, and influences, when they create their new collections? How does he think street style impacts what we see on the runway? We can also mention Marcelo Burlon (DJ and designer), with County Of Milan, who created his brand from his own inspiration, and his connection to the fashion industry.

“It often happens that when I enter the shows I have a feeling of losing something important that’s going on outside. And often I am happier in the street and I run after clothes and details. When I ask: “-Who is the designer”, they often answer “-Students in school, who create”, and I’m really excited to know that one day they will be renowned designers. Persons that pass by the showroom and dress like a uniform end up by boring us. Is nice finding something more genuine. A photographer does not search an ideological documentation, you photograph what you like. You run and when you find an ideal frame -between asphalt and cigarette butts- you take the picture.”

The streets have become the new runway, if you want to make a statement, and be seen, you just have to go out. And now we have personalities from the fashion industry who inspire people to be more fashion forward. Does Sam Cosmai think street fashion overpowers what designers are trying to tell us with their collections?

“I believe that they take inspiration from our pictures, but they would never admit it. If they want us to understand something, it’s still not very clear” says Sam, with a laugh.

Street style is about changing points of view, both inside and out of the runways. We have haute couture (high fashion), and prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear), two very different ways to approach a collection, and manufacture clothing. Does he see street fashion as a way to combine both; to make couture more approachable to the public in terms of wearability?

“You can study the wearability of a dress on a person that you meet every day going to the office or at the factory wearing maybe more comfortable sizes. But there are also those people who make their daily way a catwalk and in that case, the designer has to study strategies.”

The role of street style photographers is to communicate what’s going on outside. All those beautiful photos expose and examine taste and aesthetics of individuals, and the skills of the photographers shape the end result, or maybe fashion knowledge reigns supreme when a photograph is taken.

Street style is more than just recognizing replicas and looking for the most well-known faces: it’s about having fun, inspiring and being inspired…and, in the process, maybe even about becoming famous. Why not?

We have to look for the next big thing, and face the challenge. As Sam Cosmai says “Sometimes I get home and I did not even pull out my camera. This is Milan, it gives you everything, but sometimes nothing.”

For more information about Sam Cosmai’s work, go to his website and fan page.

All images in this post are courtesy of Sam Cosmai and should not be used elsewhere without prior authorization.

Interview and text by Alberto Lizárraga