FOR ALMOST A DECADE, LUCA FERSKO HAS MAINTAINED A TOTALLY UNIQUE PRESENCE IN THE SPHERE OF SOCIAL MEDIA. FROM HIS EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO MAKING SHORT FILMS TO HIS SIGNATURE STYLE BUILT ON REINVENTING THE CLASSICS OF MENSWEAR WARDROBE, THE NEW YORKER HAS BEEN AN INFLUENCE ON A WHOLE GENERATION OF FASHION FANS (THIS WRITER INCLUDED). WITH HIS LATEST ENDEAVOUR, HOWEVER, LUCA IS FOCUSING ON WHAT’S UNDERNEATH THE CLOTHES. AS HE’S WORKING ON PROTOTYPES FOR HIS 1950S-INSPIRED UNDERWEAR LINE (THINK HIGH WAIST, THINK MARLON BRANDO), HE CALLED US FROM A CAFÉ IN NORTHERN ITALY TO TALK ABOUT EATING GELATO, BLUSHING IN PALERMO, AND LEARNING TO PUT HIMSELF FIRST.

Hi Luca! How’s it going? Where in the world are you right now?

Hey! I’m good, brother. I’m in Italy.

What are you up to there?

My mom is Italian and she lives in the north of the country. I actually lived here for about five years from 2011 onwards, I went to high school here. But now, I randomly had a [modelling] job in Palermo, so I decided to fly up north after and spend two weeks with my family.

What’s the first thing you like to do when you come to Italy?

My mom gets the first hug. In the summertime, we usually go for a walk and get some gelato, in winter, some mulled wine.

What do you miss the most about Italy when you’re in New York?

My house when everyone’s there: my mom, her partner, my three siblings, and our dog. When everyone’s there, the house is like a sitcom. In New York, I live completely alone, but when I’m here, there’s always some drama [Laughs], you know how Italians are. They’re very expressive. So there’s always this commotion that I love. Also, my mom does my laundry when I’m here, so that’s nice.

[Laughs] That’s always nice! And what do you miss about New York when you’re in Italy?

My motorcycle. Here, I rely on others to drive around, while in New York I’m completely free.

Let’s talk a little about your film work on YouTube – it has been quite experimental lately! Which part of the process of working on the videos do you find most enjoyable?

The revelations, the breakthroughs and the uncertainty. Making films is like having a child. Bear with me. There are three stages. First, you decide you want to have the baby and you have the ideas of how it will be raised. Similarly, with films, you have ideas of how you want to make them, who the characters will be and what the scenery will look like. Then, you get pregnant. You begin to film, you try to stay away from certain substances so you don’t go off track from the original plan. But as we know, there are many influences and constraints. You might be stressed. You may smoke a cigarette here or there. There might be a global pandemic.

[Laughs]

In the case of making a film, the lighting might be off, you might have to switch cameras, the audio may get corrupted… And then the film has a completely new mood because you recorded it differently. Then, the final stage is the editing, the delivery. Is it a premature baby? Is it a C-section? Did you change your mind and decide that you wanna scrap the whole project? Did you run out of money? The surprise of the final project is what keeps me engaged when I’m making these things.

What sort of YouTube videos do you find yourself watching the most?

There’s a comedy show that comes out every Monday called Kill Tony. I find it pretty funny and would definitely recommend it!

Do you have an item of clothing that has been on your mind a lot lately?

I’m making underwear at the moment, a hundred percent natural cotton underwear. I’ve been working on that for a few years now, so it has been on my mind a lot, how to make a product that I’m proud of.

What’s the shape of underwear that you’re an advocate of?

I wish I had them on now, I would show you. [Laughs] It’s a boxer, more flowy than tight. The inspiration came from a pair of boxers produced in the 1950s that were high wasted. The material is like a button-down shirt and it’s completely organic cotton. A lot of people are now going towards that direction because there have been some studies about underwear [that’s made with synthetic fabrics] messing with people’s hormones. So that’s very important to me as somebody who’s very conscious of what he eats and what he puts on his skin.

Where did this desire to be mindful about things that you use come from?

I think it was because my father passed away in 2011. He had a brain tumour. And I could never understand how that could happen because he was so robust, you know, he was on the rowing team. So since then, I have been trying to understand how that could happen to somebody and how do I make that not happen to me. And so I went down a path of trying all different kinds of diets, trying to heal myself from things that a lot of people struggle with, be it skin issues, stomach problems or energy fluctuation. Today, I feel like I have things in order and that’s a good feeling, to know what works for me and how I can give myself energy for certain things.

Who is your style guru?

Me. [Laughs] I think style is all about the man in the mirror. That said, Marlon Brando is one. I like to look at older, timeless silhouettes: classic pants, beautiful shirts, quite formal stuff. I used to care much more about wearing brands that were popular, but now it’s more about certain pieces that I know will work for me.

Whose advice do you trust the most?

I have a friend, his name is Vladi and he’s 65. He’s from Montenegro but he has lived in New York for a long time. I met him on the street about three years ago and we’ve been good buddies since. Recently, he told me that I need to put myself as number one in my life. And that was very important for me.

What’s a quote that’s stuck in your mind right now?

I love this question. “A failure to plan is a plan to fail.”

Where did you come across it?

I don’t know, I can’t remember. Who said that? Let’s Google it. Okay, maybe Benjamin Franklin…

[Laughs] Or maybe someone repeated it after him. But it stands true.

It does. I’m trying to be better at planning. My family was always late to everything, we missed flights all the time. And so I’m trying to break that curse and be more structured.

Do you have any skills that you want to learn?

There’s this guy who puts his chin on the pull-up bar and he’s just able to hang from there with no hands.

That’s crazy!

I wanna learn how to do that. [Laughs] I have been always attracted to these physical feats.

Okay, what is your latest obsession?

Coffee. I quit every few months but when I’m on it, I’m really on it. And now I’m on it. And I love it and look forward to it. [Laughs]

Maybe it’s because you’re in Italy, you have no choice.

Exactly.

What do you think about in the shower?

Again, love that question. It’s usually an act of emptying my mind, sort of washing away excess thoughts. And in doing that, something usually comes up that makes me think, “I need to remember that and write it down.” Something in the subconscious. Something about the shower opens up a world I can’t access otherwise because there’s so much distraction [around]. So maybe we should take more showers, creative people.

What’s a movie you can watch over and over again?

Goodfellas. Also, Tom Ford’s A Single Man. I love that film, especially the costumes. It’s so beautiful. The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos. That one made me realise that you can make a film about anything, there are no rules.

Which sport reigns supreme in your eyes?

Climbing, and specifically, free soloing. Do you know what free soloing is?

I think so!

It’s climbing with no ropes and no protection. It’s so physical and primal. And your focus has to be so sharp.

What was the last thing that made you laugh?

Probably my brother, Henry. We crack each other up. We don’t see each other very often, but we have the same sense of humour. When we’re together, we’re always laughing.

What was the last thing that made you blush?

There was a pretty girl in Palermo that I was hanging out with just last week. I was smiling at her and she asked me why I was smiling. And it made me blush because I thought, “Ah, she caught me.” [Laughs] But I couldn’t help it. I was just looking at her like, “Oh, wow.”

Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Torian Lewin

MAN IN THE MIRROR

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