You Can Finally Shop Italy's Best-Kept Secret: Dressmaker Rina Milano
A quick meditation for troubled times: imagine that you are in Italy, standing in a Florentine atelier overlooking the Arno River, with a faint whiff of espresso and the rustle of silk…better, right? This rarefied space of Rina Milano was a fashion insider’s secret—until now—and digital window shopping is an ideal balm for Zoom-weary spirits.
Milano began working as a designer in 1984, creating a small collection of blouses that were snapped up by Italy’s fashion set so quickly that she sought out her own atelier, which also happened to work for Gucci. Milano expanded the collection to skirts and pants, then jackets, and dresses. Her dedicated following grew as well, but rather than join retail, Milano stayed independent and fiercely private (a trait her clients, a small group of high-level women, appreciate), traveling to London, Paris, and New York twice a year to show her collections to an exclusive group and then again to finish the custom fittings. “My goal is that everyone feels comfortable in any circumstance, whether it is a gala dinner or an everyday office look. I often adjust my designs to my clients’ social, professional, and personal conditions,” Milano said.
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With COVID-19, however, Milano had to suspend business as usual. Serendipitously, this coincided with meeting Natalie Bloomingdale, founder of the SIL—well, almost. “I had booked a flight to New York see Rina at The Mark. Finding a designer with a strong following but no retail presence is pretty much the holy grail for me, but when New York shut down, I had to cancel my plans,” Bloomingdale said. She worried that the language barrier, not to mention the cultural divide between an old-school Italian atelier and an American shopping site, would prove difficult, but the two hit it off seamlessly. “Sartoria, which is the Italian word for our type of atelier, means to work together, to create something unique and essential,” Milano said.
Her capsule for The SIL, one dress for fall/winter and a second for spring/summer (to be released), will be the first time anyone can buy one of her pieces without an insider tip. The first dress, which recalls London’s Swinging Sixties, is available now—consider this the only invitation you need.
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