THE DIZZINESS OF WONDER – Enrico Sassi
BACK TO MY MOTHER’S VILLAGE TO FIND TRANQUILLITY – Antonella Bonandini
10 June 2019
CARDBOARD SUPERHERO – Koko Burgoa
6 August 2020
Person in charge of a few product categories in an important fashion house. After having graduated in Bocconi University, Paris gave him a chance and he has now been working and living in France for 5 years. When he goes back to the Apennines, the homely atmosphere makes him want to idle, eat and enjoy his family. We met him (Enrico Sassi) in November and the students of the Nelson Mandela Institute interviewed him. Here is the detailed story.
Paris chose me. After the university, I wanted to enhance my CV with an international experience: I was thinking about English-speaking countries and France was not at all in my thoughts.
In 2014, I was proposed an internship at Givenchy. In July, I had the first interview with HR and I received the confirmation call end of August: in a time span of three days, my life had completely changed. Finding accommodation and understanding the complex inner workings of a big fashion house was anything but easy in such a short time.
Every day I am amazed by the luck I had and I am grateful for all the people I met along the way. It has been very hard at the beginning, but the melting smells, colors and cultures of this metropolis gave me the chance to see the world and all the opportunities it can offer.
Less than 10 years ago I was in Castelnovo ne’ Monti, I was already dreaming to leave but I had no idea of what my life would have been. Now I work in Place de la Concorde. Routine makes me rush into days, preventing me from seeing what surrounds me. But I force myself to stop the thinking for a few seconds: I exit the metro, I open the mind, I listen to the sound of the city and I see people coming from all around the world here to visit the monuments. At that point, I feel dizziness. My head spins round, I shiver and I see my life floating from the outside and then I realise: I’m in Paris, I live and work in Paris.
I hate and love France at the same time. I haven’t chosen it, but I feel a strong connection with it. I found love and a fully rewarding job allowing me to travel. My mind is still set on the sizes of Castelnovo ne’ Monti and it is hard to realise all the things I have gone through. After years of rejection, I am going back to basics: I grew up in a small reality and I cannot get rid of it. However, all this acts as a counterweight: it keeps me grounded in my outbursts of curiosity I have towards new adventures, sometime impossible ones. And I smile thinking of what my mother has always been saying: “you’re always looking for new, different and ambitious things, and you’re always unsatisfied!”
