Woman Particolare: Federica Messaggeri

Federica is an Italo-Egyptian DJ whose name should be better remembered: her music, her sensual and assertive gaze, and her sharp taste for fashion transports us to her very particolare universe.

May 17, 2023

Federica is an Italo-Egyptian DJ whose name should be better remembered: her music, her sensual and assertive gaze, and her sharp taste for fashion transports us to her very particolare universe.

You are Italian and Egyptian, what a particolare mix! How do you feel about the diversity between these two origins?

My roots have always been something very worthy for me, like a sacred call.

I was born in Milan and I grew up in the same place as the only child of a single parent: my Italian mom. So the Egyptian side wasn’t very present for real, but has always been an obsession for me: a restless curiosity. I remember that since I was a child I used to read and study everything about Egypt and Egyptian history, that’s also the reason why I chose to attend history at university. Then I landed in the fashion system and the social media where I tried to bring in my contents, in my style and in my makeup an Egyptian touch mixed with my European values and aesthetic: like a melting pot. But actually music is the most fruitful approach I’m having to express this thirst of roots. I’m working on finding (or at least creating) a combination of genres that embodies North African and Middle Oriental sounds and rhythms with disco/funky or house music, that are the main genres of my dj sets. To sum up, I could say that my Egyptian side comes across my life like a restless creative investigation about something far and missing but meanwhile near and necessary.

You are a Dj, do you still find that there is a gap between women and men in this profession?

I could say I’ve seen more men than women djing at the dj sets I’ve attended in the last years; but the number of women is growing and also the demand for female djs, especially in fashion events and happenings. I’m positive about the future. There are more women now than in the past in the pr and in the events organization, in music in general: there will be more women djs too, we only have to still trust ourselves and have the most fun that we can!

Where do you get your inspiration when creating a new mix?

I do a lot of research to always find new pieces to play at my sets and in my mixes. Usually I get inspired by the past, I love disco music -that’s a vintage genre I could say - but also from the world music, how mix and match different rhythms from different part of the world and creating something new; or on the other side, it’s cool to listen how different countries in the same years tried to approach the same style. For example 80s music or disco music in North Africa or in Brazil or in Japan, questioning the similarities through the differences.

Do you find commonalities between music and fashion?

Fashion and music have both a performative way of expressing themselves: I think that’s the strongest connection. And actually is also one of the parts I like the most in both industries. I love the link you could create with people you never met before, when you are playing some music. And the same happens when you are wearing your outfits and creating content about your fashion idea.

If you had to choose a song to describe Object Particolare, which one would it be? And why did you choose this particolare bag?

The Pina B Mini Cappuccino takes me to something very essential but at the same time timeless and very elegant, so for sure there will be a song by L'Impératrice, one of the most delicate: La Lune.