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

Hi Raimondo, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would say it’s creating your own style in your works. I never imitate anyone, not when I style myself or other people, neither when I take portraits or write an editorial for magazines. My way to work comes from listening to myself. This way I can give to the customers a unique work. Also, never let people put you down. In the fashion industry and in photography there is a lot of competition and sometimes envy. I do my job with a very relaxed approach.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I would divide my work in 3 sections: styling, photography, creative directions.

In photography: the fashion industry gives space just to some stereotypes and this can make pretty sad and depressed a lot of people. This is crazy. I am working to give visibility to every form of beauty, both in photography and in my creative directions for editorials. There is a lot more than “perfect” dudes in the world. Beauty is everywhere and I am working to help anyone, famous or not, to feel his/her beauty (for example, in my Vogue’s gallery, you can see different kinds of beauties, everyone no-photoshop).

In styling: my different types of fashion-styles (that kept the attention of leading magazines) want to demostrate that we can create always harmony, no matter if we love the dandy-style or the rapper-style (that are 2 examples of outfits very far from each other). And this is a message for everyone: trust yourself and create your own charming style, it’s not impossible. You can. By the way, the inner style (being a good heart for example) is more important then the outer (external) style.

In creative-directions (I direct a team for shootings), I’d take 2 examples: in the work “The emotions of fashion”, I tell a photo-video story about the connections between fashion and emotions, creating images of dreams, music, love, to give to fashion a meaningful message. In another work, “Dress me”, I told a photo-video story that, while talking about Fashion, is reminding to the viewers the importance of the respect-for-our-diversity: when we are teenagers, the most important clothes are our passions. The society and the families should help us during those important years. A philosopher and a painter took part in this project. I’m happy and proud of my works, because as I said before, I never imitated anyone. And even if it hasn’t been easy, I made it. Seeing my work going beyond the borders it’s a true satisfaction. Yesterday I’ve been asked for 2 video-interviews in Colombia and China, and this makes me glad. I come from a little town in the middle of Italy, very traditional.

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?
Oh there are so many beautiful spots in the city. It’s hard to make them see all in just one week. I would start from the Griffith! I would take them there at the sunset, or maybe at night. Looking at the city and the night’s lights over there, will make my friends understand the great vibes of LA. I have such nice memories at the Observatory, and I will tell my friends a lot of stories. Sure, 10 years ago it was less crowded, but it is still worth it! After, a beautiful walk in the night-life of WeHo, which is so colorful! At the Robertson meeting the Santa Monica blv we could have a delicious dinner, maybe at the Pump, under the olive trees. And I would push them to sing karaoke in one of the bars. The day after? DTLA, historic centre, a walk in the Millenium Biltmore and maybe the tower OUE. Lunch at Fogo de Chão. And so on, for sure one day in Venice, and one at the Universal or Disney. Oh, never forget Larrabee street, where I lived for a bit, because the Sunset Blv offers lot of nice spots. After 3/4 days of sightseeing, I would take them in places a bit less known, for example Angel’s point, at Elysian Park, where I love to walk. I’m so exited just thinking to take them around.

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?
In my case, more than the people in the industry, my biggest thanks and recognition go to the simple people that always esteemed me and followed me from the scratch. Few years ago, while people of the industry were telling me that I was too romantic for the world of fashion, lots of simple people were writing to me saying: “Hey Ray, thanks for your work against stereotypes! You are the good side of photography and fashion, you give a voice to all of us! “. Those messages were my fuel, thanks again to all of them. And.. if I have to pick someone to thank in the industry, I wanna say thanks to the staff of PhotoVogue Italy. It’s crazy how average stylists and photographers were trying to put me down, and in the same time Vogue Italy, the best in the field, mentioned me for my style and selected dozens of my photos. Also GQ esteemed me a lot. Thanks a lot for this beautiful talk, I really your great work for this amazing city and people!

Website: http://www.thestyleresearcher.com/about
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucaray.morrison
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Image Credits
Cover photo: Erika Bastogi Photos of Raimondo in the article: Alptekin Top All photos in Vogue: Raimondo Rossi (known also as Ray Morrison)