Billy De Luca is a Designhead
A design object you love: The electric toothbrush, velcro shoes, or the steamer. And the four-wheel suitcase (I don't know why it took us so long to get there but we are here now).
Designheads is a profile series featuring members of our community and their relationship to the world of design.
In the realm where art, culture, and fashion converge, you'll find Billy De Luca. Billy is not your typical artist; he’s a writer, a critic, and a painter whose work reverberates with the blunt and humorous undertones of a mind unburdened by convention. Rooted in his deep appreciation for the arts and culture, including fashion and contemporary and modern art, Billy's compositions serve as windows into a world where perspectives on all things art and fashion are fluid, ever-evolving, and refreshingly authentic. His critiques are cheeky, his paintings carry a boyish charm, and his energy runs on childlike wonder. We can learn a lot from Billy, the most important lesson: all you ever really need is a suitcase.
Name: Billy De Luca
Pronouns: He/Him
Age: 25
Location: Europe
Zodiac Sign: Taurus
Instagram handle: @isbn.billy
Website: https://www.billydeluca.com/about-me
Are you a designhead? What does that mean to you? I'm definitely interested in design. I think that having an overall appreciation of how things work and the values of design is great. Being a designhead can help with understanding our surroundings, and appreciating aesthetics alongside functionality. I think it can also really help with mental health. Every now and then I look around and think about how graphic designers can just make my day. I could spend days going through magazines or 1980s advertisements for exhibition openings and drooling at how nicely everything fits together and how easily words can flow on a glossy page.
The last thing you made: I used various cardboard boxes (that packaged blenders, microwaves, pots and pans, etc.) as furniture. I wrapped black stretch film around the boxes and placed various Italian marble plates (3-5 inches thick) over the boxes to make all my coffee tables and dining tables. The tables are therefore dismountable and can be cleared away, and the plastic wrap can be rolled up for reuse. The marble? Haven't decided yet but it's definitely not fitting in my carry-on
Next thing you want to make: I’m going to help a friend redesign the interior of his mountain shack in Asturias in Northern Spain. The house is in an arboreous valley, but there's a path to get there so heck, why not rent out the place? I'm going to be looking at how to make the interior an effective AirBnB situation: a synthesis between the rustic bones of the home (for the guest), and whatever I can find at Ikea (to avoid maxing out his card)...
A design object you love: The electric toothbrush, velcro shoes, or the steamer. And the four-wheel suitcase (I don't know why it took us so long to get there but we are here now).
A design object you can’t stand the sight of: Shoelaces and those obnoxious mirrors with immense pastel frames. Also, I really dislike skinny jean-shorts.
A moment of pure creative joy: Pants that turn into shorts are probably one of the greatest ideas in fashion design since the front zipper and belt loop. I also think that the mute function on phones makes impromptu toilet breaks easy and mostly stress-free.
What does it mean to "design the future"? Improve upon stuff. To even out the grounds of technological accessibility and provide equity for a better-suited population to deal with the ever-growing world and its never-ending complications. Or it means more ways for conglomerates to grow capital, but that's very harsh. It means more iPhones and fashion weeks!
Words to live by: “Style is only common sense. You figure out what people like about you, and you exaggerate it.” – Jasper Johns
Your aesthetic embodied as a ... :
song: Sabotage by the Beastie Boys
color: Brown-ochre-rust like Prada ss05 or Dark brown like some of the dresses in Bottega FW20
texture: Toughened silk straight out of the freezer, or rippled fake cashmere
natural material: Mohair (preferably Marni)
meme or tweet: Something LOTR related
scent: Comme des Garçons Series 3 Incense Avignon
What's one design object that has your same energy?
Madreñas (traditional clog worn on farms in Asturias in Spain's North) or a beanie bobble.
If you could show your work to anyone in the world, it would be: Alive, whoever is interested in the sort of stuff I do? No longer alive, probably A.A. Gill or Robert Hughes.
What’s next for you? More work hopefully. And also unpacking my furniture and living out of a briefcase since it's turning into a personality trait I can't shake.
Are you a designhead? Write us at hello@pinkessay.space to be featured <3