Despite being bullied and struck by tragedy in his teen years, Dom Bagnato held on to his dreams, not sure how he was going to make them a reality, just certain that he would.

The Tatura-born fashion designer and singer says it’s vital that kids have a dream and hold on to it.

“If the dream is real, you become obsessed, and when you become obsessed, you don’t give up,” Mr Bagnato said.

After 40 years living one of his big dreams — selling his self-titled Dom Bagnato fashion brand throughout men’s fashion boutiques across Australia and New Zealand — and singing mostly just for fun on the side, entertaining with his voice is about to take centre-stage.

He and Sarah C, of television’s X Factor and Dancing With the Stars fame, are taking their Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga-inspired show on the road.

They will perform in Shepparton on November 22.

Attendees can expect a series of duets and solo numbers, including classics such as Sinatra’s The Lady is a Tramp and Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s Cheek to Cheek.

Mr Bagnato’s favourite to sing, though, is Tony Bennett’s (I Left My) Heart in San Francisco, which he predicts will bring him even more joy to perform it for the first time in the place he grew up.

“I love that, because it enables me to plug in to what it feels to love your city; I mean, I love Melbourne, I love my home towns, Shepparton and Tatura, where I grew up,” he said.

“I love when I go back to the country. I parked the car recently next to Tatura Football Ground and let the memory of the sounds and visuals go through my head of what it was like playing there.”

Mr Bagnato is filled with gratitude for where life has led him, but it wasn’t always easy.

A student at Shepparton South Technical School when it transitioned from an all-boys’ tech school to a co-ed school, he was teased and hit for taking up sewing classes when they were introduced.

“It was not a great time of life; it was terrible,” Mr Bagnato said.

“It’s why I left school early (at age 14) because I couldn’t turn around without someone trying to punch me in the mouth.”

Before he bowed out of formal education, a teacher who’d seen the potential in him had planted a seed in his creative mind by showing him fashion magazines and introducing him to the world of designers, such as Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent.

He went to work for his godfather, Tony Cascucelli, at his Tatura menswear shop for some time, learning to sew buttonholes and his first pair of jeans.

Then, sadly, his little sister was killed in a road accident.

“It changed our lives in a terrible way,” Mr Bagnato said.

After spending many weeks in hospital following her passing, a grieving 16-year-old Dom yearned for a change of scenery.

An uncle heard his call and whisked him away to Melbourne, where he knocked on the doors of clothing companies until someone ushered him in.

From there, his fashion star rose.

And while he says he’s been singing publicly at every opportunity he’s had — from sharing the mic with the band at his engagement party in the ’70s, to singing in a band in his early 20s — he’s kept that star on a shorter leash.

Now, with the Tony and Gaga Show, he’s about to let it fly.

Fashion design and entertaining are not mutually exclusive by any means, if you ask Mr Bagnato.

“It hasn’t changed how I am about my clothing business. My driver in that is to bring joy to our clients through dressing well and feeling great,” he said.

“And for me, this is kind of an extension; making people feel good on a night’s entertainment, it’s just a thrilling thing.”

The Tony and Gaga Show is at Riverlinks Eastbank on Saturday, November 22.

Tickets can be purchased via the Riverlinks website.

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Sunday, 22nd January 2023

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