Have you ever wished you could design your own bag? For sure I have. Now that wish has become true thanks to Quattropiume, the latest luxury accessories brand born in Florence from 4 friends who wanted to give everyone the chance to design their dream bags. 



Making this little dream of mine of designing my own bag was the reason of my trip to Florence a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful experience of discovery. While you are the one putting your creativity into making your dream clutch, local leather artisans are the ones molding your bag using the process and techniques they are famous for.

 

 



The Quattropiume process seems easy to our internet savvy generation but having the customer and the best leather artisans involved directly in the creation of a bag isn't an easy fit. The time, expertise and effort that goes into creating a piece of fashion art is lots of work and that is why this is a very luxury experience. In the era when fashion is going towards customization, Quattropiume takes it to the next level by offering a total new experience of creating your style from scratch. 



"Quattropiume" is born in Florence and its name identifies the nature of the brand itself. In English, it literally translates “four feathers”, but in Italian it actually conceals a pun: QUATTRO means four, referring to the four founder minds, while PIU'-ME means PLUS ME, dedicated to the customer who becomes the stylist of her own clutch bag, translating her idea of beauty with creativity and originality. 





The steps to be taken in the creation of your dream clutch are made easy by Quattropiume, having them already selected a wide range of shapes, colors and precious leathers of python, crocodile, and lizard. Once you have designed your clutch through a 3D design program the bag will be delivered to you in 45 days. While I know that in the era of online shopping we expect everything to be delivered immediately, in this case, the clutches are handmade by leather artisans and it takes time for luxury fashion to come to life. 

Design you bag with Quattropiume

An easy 3 step guide to making your dream bag

 www.quattropiume.com

The best fashion collaborations are done with artists where we are given the opportunity to wear what usually goes on walls or stays on paper. Fortunately, starting from its creation in the 50s pop art has gone hand in hand with the fashion world.

Andy Warhol was the first to make the association with his paper dresses,the most famous being his Souper Dress that you guessed right was done featuring Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans print. Roy Lichtenstein has been for years a big source of inspiration for high-end fashion brands. Some of my favorite collections of Louis Vuitton & Gucci have been those presented as collaborations with Yayoi Kusama for the former and the creation of the Flora Knight print with Kris Knight for the later.

This Spring 2016 a new collaboration has caught my eye and been  my favorite. Ana Strumpf the brazilian illustrator and designer has brought her playful universe to the Italian iBlues brand. For ure you must have seen her artwork covering fashion magazines, and now we can finally have our clothes covered. The collection is called iBloom and decorative motifs and graphics cover dresses, skirts, and t-shirts.

Check out the mini video #iBLUESiBLOOM

🎶It's a beautiful day 🎶 #ItsAPrimaveraPop with @iblues_official #iBLUESiBLOOM by @anastrumpf

Un video pubblicato da ANJA TUFINA (@dollsfactory) in data: 20 Apr 2016 alle ore 02:06 PDT

Wearing//

Shirt iBlues iBloom collection by Ana Strumpf 

Skirt iBlues iBloom collection by Ana Strumpf 

Shoes Isidora Racine Carree

 

 

The day I was given this vintage dress by my boyfriend's mother I was over the moon. She tells me that everyone in the Milan of  the 60s and 70s would go through a long process to get dressed, starting with doing research in the magazines, going fabric shopping and then ending at their personal tailor to get the dress made. A dress that would last for years and in this case even for decades and still be stylish. Nowadays this process is called by the fancy name of 'slow wear' and we are all trying to build wardrobes that make sense and don't go out of fashion.  This made me think of what is in my own wardrobe that my daughter would love to wear in 30 years time. My list came down to 8 dresses, lots of coats, a few bags and hopefully she will be size 39 to get the chance to wear all my (unworn) shoe collection.

Trends come and go, the only thing we are  left with is style, a personal style that is timeless. Timeless like the Omega Constellation watch, part of a family of watches that were first launched under this name by Omega 1952. Just like fashion, the watch has changed a lot during the decades, while always being defined by a style of elegant cases and dials with ultra-precise movements.  Todays design on my wrist was introduced in 1982 featuring the four "griffes" which originally held the sapphire crystal in place and helped ensure the watch remained waterproof. Given its success at the time, it has become the design standard for the Constellation line.

Watches embed better than any other accessory the concept of eternity, being a perfect gift that can be inherited by many generations to come. While I'm still hoping for my daughter to have a shoe size of 39, at least I don't have to worry about giving her a time piece like this one given that they come with adjustable wristbands. A perfect gift of love, with the watch ticking and counting every cherished moment spent together.

Wearing

Constellation Omega Co-Axial 35 MM

Vintage Dress

Vintage fur coat

*In collaboration with Omega. Check out all the looks of the #OmegaInMovement Project on Facebook

Wearing:

Top Twisty Parallel Universe

Pants McQ by Alexander McQueen

Watch Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial

Back to Work

Getting back to work after 2 weeks of total relax is hard. This Monday I was trying to find new ways to procrastinate while on my desk, like writing endless to do lists for 2015. It got weird when one of the To Do Lists ended up being a list of shoes and clothes from the Spring Summer 2015 trends to buy. It started as a work moment with the first thing I do when I open my computer, checking the WWD news. And of course the SS15 trends were there, which then brought me to search also for Spring Summer 2015 beauty trends, that finally brought me on Pinterest and the time flew by and it was lunch time.

Back to work again after the break, answering all the pending emails which had accumulated after my 2 week digital detox, then suddenly I had an urge to plan my Easter holidays and escape from my inbox. So I found myself browsing for Cuba tours, hotels and planes.

By the end of the day I had completed 1 task from my Back To Work - To Do List which fortunately was a meeting where I couldn't get distracted.

Office Style

A while back, when I was finishing my studies and doing the first job interviews, I followed the safe route of buying a skirt suit in black. Once I wore it, it became obvious that such a plain outfit wouldn't work for me so I added a brooch to the jacket and a bold monochrome shirt. You can try to fit with the work environment but you can't hide your true self for a long time. Eventually when I got hired they saw that I didn't try to hide my femininity just because I was working in an investment bank. Now that I have more freedom in expressing myself at work, being my own boss and all,  you'd think I go crazy with colors and prints, but actually I keep applying some office style rules because meeting clients in jeans keeps being a bad idea. The office style rules are simple:

• Hemlines should be to the knee


• Sleeveless tops can be worn only with button down conservative shirts


• Pumps Yes, flip flops or super high heels No


• Jeans only if styled with formal shoes and a blazer


• No print mixing. Prints work best when worn with a white top or bottom

[caption id="attachment_8798" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Omega Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial[/caption]

Omega in Movement

No office look is complete without a power watch from the men's collection. Because when women mean business,  a watch is a better steal from the menswear wardrobe than the pantsuit.  What I picked to style this office look was a watch that could be both understated, with the stainless steel bracelet and black dial, and powerful in design. The OMEGA Seamaster 300 Master Co-Axial is the upgraded version of the 1957 iconic Seamaster 300 which was designed for divers.

 

*In collaboration with Omega. Check out all the looks of the #OmegaInMovement Project on Facebook