We had the good fortune of connecting with Maurizio Bortolussi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maurizio, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I decided to start Bortolussi it was showing everyone my background, my history, my life, brought into garments. I wanted to bring my Italian, Mexican and American heritage and bring all of that into my brand. When people see my brand it’s not something you would usually see at a store, these are more Avant-Garde, hand crafted garments by me and only me. I’ve never wanted a team to help me out designing my own thoughts. The people who buy my garments have a part of myself but they also resonate with the garment. They understand the meaning behind it and the hours put into it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was personally able to get here by putting a lot of hard work into my business. But it wasn’t only me who made me get to where I am, Fashion Stylist Kris Shelby helped me out a lot through my career, putting my clothes on various artists such as YFN Lucci, TrouBle and Calboy. Being an upcoming designer isn’t easy at all, their were a lot of moments in which I had to plan my next designs to be different from the rest of the designers. I was able to overcome these challenges by basing my garments off of certain inspirations such as my heritage, famous people such as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata. The biggest lesson anyone should know in fashion is that you either have your prices low or you have them high, changing your prices will make customers want discounts or no longer want to buy your clothing. If anything, I want the world to understand the prices behind my garments, the dedication and perfection put into each garment made. These garments are all 1 of 1. They will not be replicated nor made ever again, once it has sold it is gone forever.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I haven’t really explored Atlanta a lot due to work and school but I would definitely take them to the Aquarium, Coca-Cola museum, the High Museum of Art. Some places I would take them to go eat is UpBeet, Yumbii, and Barcelona.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There’s definitely a lot of people I have to give credit to. My mentor, Fashion designer based in Mexico Barbara-Sánchez Kane. My family, my friends and models Megan Doyle, Maya Woltz, Leila White, Nicole Calderón and of course the photographer Xavier Thompson.

Website: Bortolussi.myshopify.com

Instagram: Official.bortolussi

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurizio-bortolussi-296062157/

Image Credits
Maya Woltz, Leila White, Julio Resendez, Xavier Thompson.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.