5 italian brands to discover
From the poetics of Valentina Ilardi to the regencycore of Lorenzo Seghezzi
Fashion
October 26th, 2022
October 26th, 2022
Building an identity that is immediately recognizable or functional to the demands of an increasingly competitive market is, perhaps, the greatest challenge for a fashion brand. Here we have selected 5 brands that, although different in attitude and reference, all have clear aesthetic imagery. From Valentina Ilardi's lace bridging streetwear and couture to Feelomena's tailoring to Domenico Orefice's 3D prints or Blasted Skin's cult accessories, the selection offered here reaches Lorenzo Seghezzi's corsetry.
VI Valentina Ilardi
VI is a brand born from the mind of Valentina Ilardi, editor-in-chief of Grey Magazine and internationally established stylist. The eponymous brand represents a further development within her creative journey that, starting in 2020, began shaping threads, fabrics, and textures. Her radical narrative has found in the VI clothing line an aesthetic and material extension of the imagery previously explored through editorials and portraits. Retrofuture, the brand’s latest collection, investigates the concept of temporal dimension through silhouettes that are layered in asynchronous contrasts that now draw on the poetics of Romanticism, and then on the American grunge scene. From pieces taken from the sportswear wardrobe such as cycling leggings inlaid with lace and mesh to the volumes and draping that seem to evoke the Gilded Age and the world of deconstructed couture in technical fabric, VI evokes the narrative power of fashion that is not afraid to trespass on the contamination of poetically contradictory imagery and languages.
Feelomena
The brand name is a programmed case of phonetic homonymy: Feelomena bears the name of its designer (Filomena Saltarelli) and recalls the English verb "feel." All to give voice to femininity and minimalism with unprejudiced tones that make sartorial rigor the core of its trenchant aesthetic. Her collections take up narrative strands developed from Japanese culture such as harakiri, the obligatory or voluntary suicide by which the samurai escaped capital punishment. In addition, it is the solemn manifestation of his protest against an injustice suffered by slashing his belly with a sword. Blue, white, gray, and black are the primary colors used to create a narrative punctuated by a minimalist aesthetic rich in cuts, slits, rigor, and proportions. This aesthetic combines Made in Italy with Japanese heritage.
Domenico Orefice
Domenico Orefice is a young designer who trained at Polimoda in Florence. He started working on the idea of founding his brand at high school age, launching his line when he was only 17. His aesthetic imagery draws from the world of extreme climbing and trekking to fuse them with the codes of made-in-Italy tailoring. From black jersey dresses to 3D-printed slim shoes to embeddable accessories on outfits, Domenico Orefice has conceived a hybrid sportswear that has the disruptive in it. His interdisciplinary team draws on the expertise of 14 profiles divided between graphic designers, computer scientists, 3D artists, art directors, and designers who leverage a 3D approach to develop TPU-printed accessories or apply the same technology to the site's interface.
Blasted Skin
Blasted Skin is a brand of unconventional leather accessories created by Federica Sivieri in 2017. Bustiers, choker necklaces, belts, bracelets, and handbags evoke the bondage lingerie sphere in carefully crafted leather with inlays that give it a delicate and exclusive look. Transporting the world of underwear from the private to the collective dimension, Blasted Skin combines the provocation of the sexy with the sacredness of the liturgical and the Northern European clubbing scene. The brand wholeheartedly carries forward slow fashion values for human-scale production: all materials are sourced in Italy, using full-grain leather,vegetable-tanned in Tuscany from natural tannins extracted from plants without chemicals to reduce environmental impact. In addition, each product is meticulously made using a process that uses digital systems combined with long and elaborate craft techniques.
Lorenzo Seghezzi
Lorenzo Seghezzi is an Italian brand specializing in the production of custom-tailored corsets made in Italy. Working on the concept of gender and the construction of self-determined bodies, Lorenzo started working on his first collection in 2020 after graduating from NABA in Milan. His SS23 further expands the brand's queer imagery by structuring a collection that has made distressed denim the poetic manifesto of an inclusive fashion that can be modulated based on one's needs or aesthetic aspirations. Starting from the exploration of the contradictions associated with the art of corsetry and lowering it within an avowedly queer narrative, Lorenzo Seghezzi ended up finding a community willing to reiterate the importance of walking paths not reducible to gender binarism.
