C41 and PAURA combine their aesthetic signatures characterised by the passion for utility, durability, and simplicity. After a long day at work, people express their individuality through diverse clothing choices, reflecting personal preferences, cultural influences, and social trends. As workwear found its fertile ground in street culture, the idea behind the total look presented by C41 and PAURA is inspired by the late-night shift that proceeds till the early hours of the morning.

It’s a Wrap total look is worn by Giulia Marotta aka Giulia Eightlines. In 2016, she started the Eightlines project. She was only 20 years old. What mainly characterises her “is a head bursting with ideas,” she says. There are no constraints, no limits to her practice.

Ilaria Sponda: How did you start tattooing?

Giulia Eightlines: A passion for art and drawing has been with me for as long as I can remember. For as long as I can remember I have always painted and drawn in a totally spontaneous way, and it was this spontaneity that introduced me to the world of tattooing. At the age of 16 I was in my third year of art school, and my father gave me a class to start tattooing. It was a village studio, very traditional, from which, however, I hung all the secrets and techniques of the craft. Every day after school I was eager, looking forward to taking the train and going to the studio to watch my master tattoo. I was so fascinated, I was discovering this wonderful art and felt that it could become something great and unique. I had to commit myself to this new path at all costs, and every day was really a new challenge. For three years I cultivated this passion uninterruptedly, with great efforts and sacrifices in search of my own style, until finally at the age of 20 I opened my studio Eightlines and kicked off my great little art project.

IS: How would you describe your style?

GE: I consider my style to be unique and elegant, delicate both in line and in the approach that I try to cultivate with those who rely on me. The choice to introduce botanical subjects in my tattoos and to create compositions on skin was very natural. I have always loved flowers, plants and nature in general, and when I was looking for a style that could set me apart, the desire was to enhance the body, not to weigh it down. To rather lighten it, enhancing curves and characteristic features with delicate but impactful lines and compositions. Flowers also have a very strong power: that of having an implicit meaning, which they manifest through their timeless beauty. When you tattoo a flower, you are not looking for a great meaning, because you know it is contained within its perfect balance of form and beauty. Tattooing a flower means tattooing a period of life, a moment, a lived moment not to be forgotten. That is why my flower compositions are the result of plays of lines, contrasts between solids and voids, light and dark. The continuous search for an ever-evolving harmony.

IS: What’s your take on it? What can tattooing say about a person? And how does it dialogue with clothing?

GE: The absolute most common phrase when it comes to tattoos is “what if I get tired of it? How can I expect to have something on my skin that will stay forever?” True, choosing to have a tattoo is a bit like wearing the same dress forever. But I personally believe a lot in evolution and change. Getting a tattoo for me means remembering a period of life, but aware of the change. When I look at some of my tattoos made a long time ago I think about how much I have changed and how much they have changed with me. It is inevitable to admit that now I would never make that same subject in that same position. But all of this fascinates me and gives me some melancholy. So I believe that wearing a tattoo says so much about a person, it outlines one’s style and personality just like wearing a dress. This is the concept I try to express when I design clothes. My clothing brand picks up on some of the values and ideas that can be recognised in my tattoos albeit untethered from them. The artistic process I take up in the clothes is different from the one I develop when I create a composition to be tattooed but in both, there is always one constant: evolution.

IS: Do you have any rituals before a tattooing session?

GE: Before starting a tattoo session, I always try to stick to my routine. Tattooing requires great concentration, and the people who choose me travel from all over the world, so I need to stay focused and calm before the session. Resting, eating well, and practicing Pilates are three key elements that allow me to be physically well and to cope even with long sessions. I also try to always keep stress in check, which very often builds up during particularly tiring and full periods that would not allow me to tattoo quietly. The moment of tattooing should be a real experience and it is important that those who choose me feel total trust in me, allowing both of us to experience the process in a relaxed and comfortable way.

IS: How’s Milan’s tattooing scene?

GE: I have never been attracted to the Milan tattooing scene, I have always rather followed realities across the border, admiring interesting and innovative projects. To be honest, at the beginning of my path, I perceived a lot of rigidity and disapproval in trying to take up this craft in a “different” way.
In Milan the style par excellence was traditional, and trying to follow different currents was perceived almost wrongly. Attracted and intrigued by revolutionary minds, I have always believed in the power of creating something unique, far from the norm. Hence also the decision to start the Eightlines project away from the city. It was a bit of a challenge, in fact, to open a studio in an area with no transit and located outside the metropolis. I always wanted to create a multifunctional art space where every artist would have the opportunity to work in total comfort, so I turned an old shed into a very spacious Loft where you feel at home and comfortable. At Eightlines everyone has their own space to create and relax, being inspired by a bright environment with attention to detail.

IS: Where do you take inspiration from?

GE: I take inspiration from beauty. This may seem like an obvious answer, but for me it is not at all. I try to be inspired by anything around me and that gives me emotions, I never feel satiated in being carried away by beautiful and fascinating things. “Living in my own world” helps me preserve the gift of storing details that perhaps many people would not see and jealously guarding them. It is hard to explain, but it is as if there is a world created in my head based on the things I want to remember. I like to think I have a different view. Sometimes I would stand for hours staring at a flower moved by the wind, the gesture or movement of a person, or the color of an ever-changing sunset.
I often stop and look and observe, and this helps me nurture the beauty I want to have within me and that I try to share through my works.

IS: Do you travel a lot as a guest tattooer?

GE: Over the past few years I have started to travel often as a Guest and it is not out of the question that–here’s a little spoiler–in the short term I will organise a European tour to various studios and cities. When I travel and do a Guest I like to combine work with exploring the place where I am. I like to make a connection that goes beyond the tattoo by establishing new connections and letting the vibe of the cities I visit transport me. I think of my Guest periods as little vacations where I get to unplug a bit and change my environment. When I then return from Eightlines, I always feel enriched and with my head exploding with ideas. The city that has really stolen my heart so far, however, is New York (I even got it tattooed!) I have been working on a really cool project involving my beloved Big Apple for some time now. Right now it’s still top-secret, but I’m really looking forward to telling you all about it!

IS: What’s the “wrap” that frees you?

GE: There is a phrase I read on the ground as I walked the streets of New York City that quoted, “DREAM UNTIL IT’S YOUR REALITY.” A phrase that has entered my heart and will be engraved forever. I think there is no truer thing than to keep dreaming until we realise our small, big dreams. I have so many projects in my drawer, and my dream right now is to have the lightness to be able to achieve them all.