In conversation with GATTO2025

With the imminent comeback of wedge sneakers, crunchy iPhone 4-quality selfies, and nauseating vignette filters, nostalgia for the early 2010s can be felt everywhere — yet GATTO2025 stands out by crystallizing this chaotic charm into a singular, redefined entity. The Vienna-based duo, Olivia Lottersberger and Floyd Rorije, first met while studying fashion design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, and what began as a curiosity – and a shared styling experiment – soon prowled into a consistent yet disruptive exploration of what it means to create (and subvert) together. Like the feline whose name they embody, the duo moves with curiosity and sharpness, landing on their feet every time. Their spirit, just like their clothing, is pinned together by playful irony and infused with a rebellious attitude against conformity, already embraced and worn by the likes of SZA, Yseult, and Tommy Cash. Yet fashion is just the start for GATTO2025, extending their ironic sensibility into music production. This has culminated in various DJ sets, mixtapes, and their last two singles, “Sexdreams” and “grow up,” whose hard-hitting yet prismatic melodies and humorous but contemplative lyrics, reveal a different dimension of their ever-expanding GATTO-verse. Catching up over a video call on a gloomy Sunday afternoon, the pair opened up about their origin, introspections on generational youthfulness, favourite fonts, and future manifestations. 

I would like to begin by asking about the start of your collaboration. What was the thread that bound you two together? 

Olivia: We studied and met at ArtEZ [University of the Arts] in Arnhem. We started dating in our first year, and even though we graduated separately, we were always involved in each other’s individual processes. After our graduation, we prepared to do some internships in the fashion industry, but heard from our friends how intense it was, how little money you make, and how hard it is to actually get a spot. So then we were like, if we have to work our asses off, we would rather do it for ourselves. This whole project was an experiment to see how people would react to us, and how well we would work together. 

Floyd: Initially, we did one styling session to mix our collections, and it went quite smoothly. We literally just started with a couple of looks, and then tried to come up with a name. 

Speaking of that, where does “GATTO” actually come from?
F: We were looking at all of these names from bands and musicians that we like. I’m a big The Velvet Underground fan, and I found that they got their name through a person they studied with, who had a vintage erotic book called “The Velvet Underground.” It was about the fetish scene. So, I also started looking at erotic comics on eBay…
O: At one point we had, like, 50 different options.
F: …and I found a book that stated “She walks through the night, like a cat,” in Italian. I liked the Italian word for cat – gatto – even though I didn’t know what it stood for at the time. We just agreed that it was the best choice.

Purr. Coming back to the present day, how would you describe the GATTO attitude?
F: We do more than just garments. We’ve been trying to blend photography, film, styling, and music, so it’s about way more than just the fashion. That’s what we always wanted it to be. But I don’t know if I want to call it a lifestyle.
O: The attitude is very important. It was always about wearing whatever you like, regardless of size or fit, and making it personal. It is shaped by whoever is wearing it. 

Your work blends a lot of subcultural elements — from 70s punk to early 2010 swag era. If you could be reincarnated in a certain era for a day, which one would you choose?
F: I have phases, but I think I really would want to know how it was back in the 70s – like, classic punk era. Just to observe all of these people, like Vivienne [Westwood] walking around the street.
O: Me too, even though I would like to try the Baroque era… which would maybe be too much of a culture shock, actually.

For some reason, this kind of reminds me of those Victorian-era child memes. I feel like if we had to flip it and show GATTO to someone from those centuries, they would have an aneurysm.
O: Ha-ha! I feel like everyone is really into romanticising the Victorian era now, even though everyone then was literally eating poison and the clothes were dyed using God-knows-what. But I think the 70s would maybe be a bit closer to now, so I would actually join Floyd. Maybe that’s the better choice – we will do it together.

Do you ever feel like you were born too late?
F: I thought that for a long time. But I am also really happy to be in this timeline. Sometimes I do look at the past, also in the 90s, when all of these starting fashion brands were doing their shows in Paris, for example. Everything seemed slower. And those opportunities aren’t really possible now. Also, with social media, everything just goes really fast, and you feel like you have to keep up with that.
O: I feel like that, too. But also, social media has been very helpful because you can grow without being in a big city or something. Even though it’s a full-time job, we have gotten to connect with other creatives — like photographers or stylists — and so many collaborations have happened through it.

You’ve made some custom garments too for celebrities like SZA and Yseult. What does this process consist of, and is there a dream person you are manifesting to dress?
F: We’ve already worked with so many great artists but we had a request during the summer while we were on vacation to make a custom look for Julia Fox. It sadly didn’t happen because we were in Greece and couldn’t make it in time.   

I read her memoir last year! I think it changed my life forever.
O: I know, I love her book! She would still be my number one. Also Yves Tumor, or FKA twigs. We have been requested by Wet Leg, which is fun because I really love their music. Yesterday, a friend of mine texted me about this other one – she sings that one song that goes “X-X-X-X-X…”

Kim Petras?
O: Yes! She’s also getting into the early 2010s vibe. I think we’re all on this wave that a lot of people are doing right now, which is great to be a part of, because I think all of us just influence each other all the time anyway.
F: And I think for us it is super personal to connect to, because we grew up during that time – like 2014 and so on – so it is all happening quite naturally.

The hipster-swag renaissance is in full force! In relation to that, there has been a continuous discourse about the “core-ification” of subcultural elements and the way this type of nostalgia and remixing is the reason for the disappearance of most of them today. What is your stance on this?
O: Yeah, I think it’s sad. It’s quite unfortunate. I think that the world is so overwhelming and filled with so much art, products, and ideas, that I don’t believe we can really make anything new nowadays. Taking stuff that already exists and reinterpreting it has been ingrained in us since the beginning. Everything is a copy of everything before, and that is a copy of everything before, and so on. When I was still studying in the Netherlands, I worked a lot with folkloric elements and always had discussions with my teachers about how the craft of it has really disappeared. My grandparents are from the South of Austria, and I know this elderly lady, who used to have a fashion brand, and she used to do these beautiful hand embroideries that nobody else really knows how to do anymore. It has died out, and it’s depressing, but maybe with those types of things, you have to try to embrace it, and try to put it on a pedestal, and preserve it as much as possible to keep it alive.
F: I sometimes think that maybe it isn’t that bad things are changing because we can look back at a certain period or thing and realise that we learned a lot from it, but at one point, just move forward. We can’t stop it; time goes on. I am, of course, sad that there’s no big punk scene anymore, but I still like to dress like it, and still see small parts of it in our close circles. It’s not disappearing – it’s transforming.

On a brighter note, what are some other non-fashion influences that have been essential for you?
O: Well, music has always been number one. Also, because we’re so print-focused, a lot of graphic elements and posters.
F: We also look at a lot of album covers.
O: Yes! I really love the one for “Sticky Fingers” by The Rolling Stones.
F: Yeah, it has this kind of erotic exposure, but it’s still just giving you a tiny hint of a dick print. At the end of the day, it’s all about attitude, really. Movies are also a big influence.
O: We watched Spring Breakers recently, and that was really inspiring.

Oh, that one’s a classic. Speaking of graphic elements, I think the font choices in your own graphics are always really fab! What type of font would each of you be if you had to pick?
O: OMG, I would be something kind of classy, like this one [She reaches for something out of view and shows me a mustard sweater with black swirly calligraphic letters spelling out “GATTO.”]
F: I like a thick font, so I would probably be this one called “Impact”. It’s fat and squished together. It’s just there!
O: I think that’s also why we work so well together – we contrast each other.

You’ve been teasing a lot of music recently, predominantly some mixtapes, and have dropped two singles, the most recent one, titled “grow up.” Would you say that you feel grown up?
F: No. At least I don’t want to grow up. But it’s funny because some people just don’t believe in aging, so it’s really about how you feel. And I like that. It’s like what the song says: maybe you should try feeling that instead of being scared of growing up.
O: But it’s a big topic in our work, specifically, youthfulness. Most of our friends are younger than us, and it’s interesting how generations merge, because a lot of older generations love GATTO, and we have many customers who are actually much older.
F: We have this one customer that we always sell to, who owns a store in Japan.
O: We have a feeling he’s probably in his 40s or 50s. Also, we just finished a really big project for a theatre in Cologne, Germany. And the customers there are in their early 60s, but they love to wear it. I just think it’s really cool.

So, it is a topic that really resonates in all mediums. Can you tell us more about your creative process when it comes to creating music versus when designing clothing?
F: We’re working with this cool artist, called 8nfra, with whom we write and produce. Both of us have quite different tastes in music, and when we first started making it, it was tricky because we were like, “What are we going for?” And then we just started mixing different songs from different artists, but it is always music that we listen to while we’re designing.
O: Always! And it’s quite a natural but constantly merging process. We want our image and fashion to fully go together with our music.

Do you have a favourite lyric you’ve written, perhaps, one that could become a future slogan on one of your garments?
F: I like this part in “grow up” that goes “…All your rules, they make me throw up.” I don’t know if that could be the slogan, but something with “throw up”. Like, going against someone…
O: Being a rebel!

Is there something specific you are rebelling against?
O: At the moment, posh people. There are so many posh people in Vienna, and I always feel degraded somehow. They look at you with so much judgment, and I hate the whole like classism thing. It really icks me out.

So, you are fully poshphobic.
O: Yeah, ha-ha! It’s terrible, it really is terrible! Maybe it is also the whole “clean girl” thing right now. Like, it’s too clean. I think perfectionism is something I’ve always had an ick for. I need some greasy hair sometimes.

Do you have any manifestations for the rest of the year, and what more could we expect from GATTO in the near future?
O: We talked about this earlier today! We are really excited to start working on our new collection!
F: Yes! And I’m really excited to start working on our album, and do both things kind of hand-in-hand!
O: We plan to get them out in January, so we want to finish in December, and reveal both – if possible!

Exciting! Can’t wait to see how things align!