Milan: Shopping Secrets in the Fashion Capital

Milan, Italy is known as the fashion capital of the world. When people think of this city, they think of couture designers-- Versace, Prada, and Roberto Cavalli to name a few. When they think of shopping in Milan, they think of Via Monte Napoleone and Via della Spiga, areas where all the big names of the fashion world have outposts. These streets are fun for window shopping, but most of the clothing is so conceptual I don't think anyone would actually wear the pieces in their real lives. I know I would never spend that much money for something that only lasts for "a season!"

Designer brands aside, there is still some fabulous shopping in Milan. In fact, I think the most interesting shopping to be done in this city is the kind that's off the beaten path. That being said, I wanted to share with you a list of my favorite places in Milan that I've found through the years.

Brera
This neighborhood is home to the Brera Academia delle Belle Arti and its attached musuem, Pinacoteca di Brera. Both are places in Milan worth visiting. I love walking by the studios and seeing students sculpting, modeling, and painting.

Also nestled in the heart of this area are two of my favorite shoe stores in the world, which is not an exaggeration in the slightest.

Alfonso Garlando Via Madonina was founded by a ballerina from La Scala ballet in the 70's. The styles are timeless and the shoes are exquisitely made with the best Italian leather.

Spelta is another store nearby that sells handmade shoes. They have what seems like 1000's of ballet flats in every color, finish, and style. All of them made from leather so soft it's like butter.

In a neighborhood across town, I found another one of my favorite stores. It's called My Cashmere. This store sells, surprise, cashmere! The cashmere comes in all different colors, weights, and styles. I wear the things I buy at My Cashmere all year round in the cool Pacific Northwest weather. But, what makes these pieces so special is the fact that they are designed with the female form in mind. Each piece is cut specifically to show off the curves and the line of a woman's body.

Via Manzoni
Another amazing store called Ventillo is located on this street. This store from Paris specializes in embroidery and embellished silks and fine cottons. The clothing I find there is always unusal and beautiful, drawing on the vibrant color palette the French are known for. This last trip, I found an amazing coral-colored scarf with heavy pink and chocolate embroidered accents.

Via Monte Napoleone
Etro, a fashion company out of Italy, has a location on this street. I went in looking for a pocket scarf to give my husband Mimmo for Valentine’s Day. I found a cool vintage boho/hippy scarf that looked like it was right out of the 1970’s and my youth. It looked beautiful on Mimmo, and gave just a hint of spice to his classic navy blue suit.

Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle
This area, named for King Victor Emmanuel of Italy is located right next to the city's Duomo. I have one more favorite shoe store in this area called Lolita. They sell all types of off-price, surplus shoes from winter boots to flats to slippers. I found two pairs of ballet flats for 18 euros each there (what a bargain!). They're beauful, they fit wonderfully, and they make my feet look petite and feminine.

1. Special clothing often comes from special places. Look beyond designer labels to independent boutiques to find some extraordinary pieces.

2. Incorporate a few singular items into your wardrobe to create a style unique to you.

3. Dress high-low. Pair an expensive piece with something inexpensive. The effect is surprising; the inexpensive item takes on a sophisticated look.

4. Take fashion chances. Don't follow what everyone else is doing....express yourself!





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Portrait a Young Artist

Last May, as we were just getting this blog off the ground, I wrote a post about our children's involvement with Rosanna the company. At the time, Mimmo's son Marco was working in accounting, my older daughter Alessandra was working on our book proposal, and my youngest Francesca was designing a new collection, which I mentioned would be out Spring 2008.

Nearly a year later, here we are! I'd like to introduce to all of you Francesca's very first dinnerware line, Portrait of A Young Artist. The name of this line was inspired by James Joyce's famous novel Portrait of An Artist As A Young Man, but the line itself was all Francesca.

When we traveled to Washington, DC last April, we visited the National Gallery. Francesca went around the whole museum with a video camera, narrating as she saw different works by Impressionists, classical Italian painters, and classical statues from ancient Greece. She especially loved the three paintings by Johannes Vermeer, recently portrayed by Colin Firth in the film Girl With The Pearl Earring.

Francesca was enthralled by Vermeer's work, and when I suggested perhaps she could design a dinnerware line based on her inspiration, I didn't have to say much more.

Francesca's dishes are collaged with a mixture of her own representations of famous paintings, including works by Monet and Renoir.

Here's a shot of the collection.

A photo of Francesca painting a plate in a ceramic factory in Deruta, Italy this summer.

While designing your own set of dishes as a child may seem like a singular experience, with the event of paint your own pottery studios, Francesca's situation is not so impossible to recreate. But whatever sparks you child's enthusiasm, be it painting, drawing, acting, singing, or playing a musical instrument, I encourage you strongly to expose your children to the arts. We often assume that children don't have the attention span for a trip to the museum or a night at the theater or ballet. But, if you choose a show carefully, beautiful art can inspire and enthrall children the same way it does adults.

Arts education is so very vital. Too often, arts education funding is cut from the budget in favor of raising money for a new gymnasium or other "more important" activities. But the arts are just as valuable to raising curious, well-rounded children as the rest. By teaching our children about the arts we are being advocates for the arts, raising another generation of patrons, creators, and performers. And that is something to be proud of.


1. Bring your child to an art exhibition in your community on a weekend afternoon. Buy a guide on the artist or show so you can describe each piece and engage your child.

2. Make an outing to the theater a special event. Have your child invite a friend. Go out to dinner or lunch afterwards and talk together about what you just saw.

3. Take your child to family concerts in your community.





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A Night At The Opera

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently took in a wonderful opera at Teatro La Scala in Milan, Italy with my husband Mimmo and daughter Francesca. In that post, I wanted to discuss some larger implications of the experience for human connection across the globe. However, I didn't mention something that is one of the most integral parts of going to the opera...getting dressed up!

Especially in Milan, operas are still high couture events. Ladies and gentlemen stroll through the lobby in evening gowns and tuxedos, glittering with jewels and dapper in their cumber-buns. Dressing myself for an occasion is an experience I cherish. But, because our opera adventure was very spur of the moment, I didn't have any of the right accessories with me. So, the afternoon before we went to La Scala, I set out on Via Manzoni, a street filled with beautiful boutiques, to find a few particular items to wear for the evening.

One accessory item that I feel is often overlooked are stockings. Wolford Boutique out of Austria makes beautiful, high-end fashion legwear, bodywear, and shapewear. Fine hosiery is not something we think of often, but a beautiful pair of stockings can add a touch of unexpected elegance to an evening ensemble. I also found a pair of sparkling costume earrings at a store called Bijoux de Paris, and a black taffeta clutch studded with Swarovski crystals that transformed my simple black dress into a perfect outfit for the Opera.

Certainly, appearance is not everything, but taking care and putting extra effort into looking special is a luxury and a joy to indulge in every now and again.





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Mexican Glass

Exciting news! Our Spring 2008 collection is now available on the Web! I am very proud of the ingenuity and hard work our designers put into these lines, and I encourage you to visit our website and explore all of the new items we have to offer.

There are five lines in particular I want to tell you about, all made from raw recycled glass. These pieces are mouth-blown out of recycled Coke bottles in a Spanish colonial town in central Mexico. We recently visited the factory where the owner took us on a tour, showing us how the artist's make these pieces. The process is extensive and involved! All of the designs are hand-etched on to each piece after it's blown. Seeing the process in action, I have such great respect for the artistry and painstaking attention to detail that goes into each new piece. I also love our Mexican glass because it is a sustainable, beautiful product with soul and integrity. Already, the lines have sold enormously well in Europe and America. We hope the glass will continue on this trajectory because already our commerce has created 25 new positions at the factory in Mexico. We would love to employ as many people as we can through the production of these lines.

Now, without further ado, here is our beautiful new glass!

Madre Terra is the purest of the organic genre. These pieces maintain the original color of the coke bottles they're made from. They feature lovely renderings of birds and butterflies that gracefully swoop and flutter across the clean surface of the glass.

Mondo Glass is currently our number one seller. The designs for this line were inspired by traditional motifs from six countries around the world-- India, Spain, Africa, Greece, Bali, and Morocco. They compliment our Mondo dinnerwarebeautifully.

The Beach Cottage Glass tumblers and votive holders were also designed to be paired with another line. Match them with our Beach Cottage dinnerware for a beautiful table setting perfect for enjoying meals in the midst of burgeoning nature.

Cin Cin! (which means "cheers" in Italian) is a versatile line that can to be paired with a range of collections from our classic green Dinner Party Place Settings to our more festive Pasta Italiana lines.

Lastly, we have our whimsical Darjeeling Glass in a gorgeous turquoise jewel tone that provides a striking contrast to simple white dinnerware, and makes an already opulent table setting even richer.

I certainly hope you enjoy our new Spring Collection as much as we do. We also love to hear back from you about lines you feel especially love, and, of course, about the traditions you create through our tableware.

Warmly,





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Cross Continental Connection

As many of you who have been following the blog already know, we were in Europe for two weeks earlier this month, including February 14th. On Valentine's I was sitting in our hotel lobby in Milan with my daughter Francesca having tea and exchanging small gifts. The German couple next to us exclaimed that what we were doing looked more like Christmas than Valentine's day (how American of us!), and we struck up a conversation.

As it turned out, the couple has come to Milan to celebrate their anniversary. Because she was an opera lover, her husband had brought his wife to Milan to see a show at the famed La Scala opera house. At this point, I asked which piece they were seeing. "Placido Domingo is playing the title role in "Cyrano de Bergerac," the woman explained. I immediately became very excited at the prospect of seeing this amazing performer in one of the most eloquent classical love stories. So, I inquired at the hotel's concierge desk about tickets. As luck would have it, there were still seats available-- THREE ROWS FROM THE STAGE.

The opera was breathtaking. It was the performance of a lifetime. It was not only Placido Domingo's voice that made his portrayal remarkable. He is also a virtuosic actor. When the show ended, the audience sprang from their seats. The cast received 15 curtain calls.

Placido Domingo as Cyrano.



This post is not just about the profound emotional effect of beautiful art, which is of course a very worthwhile topic on its own. This post is also about a story. It is about connecting across cultures. By engaging with two people whom I did not share a country, a language or a culture, I was able to learn about an incredible opportunity. I took this encounter as a lesson. If we keep ourselves open, and we are unafraid of reaching out, we can learn so much about how to live a better life.





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Welcome to the World

The month of February finds us on another rapid-fire tour through Europe for three different gift and trade shows. Thus far, we've stopped in Birmingham, England and Frankfurt, Germany. We are now at the last stop on our circuit in Milan.


Our appearances at each of the shows have been fantastic successes, in large part due to a diverse array of new international customers. It has been an amazing experience to meet and work with people from around the world. After this trip, Rosanna product will be appearing in a host of new locales. Here is a sampling of places you will be able to find our products internationally:


South Korea
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Cyprus
Dublin, Ireland
Scotland
The Black Forest in Germany
New Delhi
Berne and Zurich, Switzerland
Japan
Kuwait
Dubai

It has been a pleasure to learn more about these countries through our customers, and I'm thrilled that the Rosanna message is appreciated by a community so rich with cultural diversity. I love the fact that so many people are excited by the lifestyle and philosophy we encourage through our product design. We are delighted to be a part of the global community.

Regards from abroad,





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Dare To Dream

On a particularly frigid weekend in the middle of January, I was freezing in Providence, Rhode Island. It is a part of the country I had little reason to visit until now. My oldest daughter Alessandra is a sophomore in college, and just transferred from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to Brown University in Providence.

Of course, I am SO proud of her accomplishment of acceptance to such a phenomenal institution. I was also glad I could help her settle in and see this new and exciting world in which she'll be living in for the next few years. Providence and Brown are both incredibly storied sites. They have histories that are infinitely more far-reaching than anything we have in the Pacific Northwest. The knowledge that so many people from so long ago had lived and learned in this one small place was exciting and amazing.

As a proud mother, I wanted to write this post to share Alessandra's achievement, but also to talk in a wider way about dreams, self exploration, and self actualization.

From the beginning of her time at George Washington, Alessandra wasn't happy. The school didn't ignite her passion, and the atmosphere didn't feel right. Very early on in her freshman year, she decided she wanted to change schools. No sooner than we said yes, she set to work and put the wheels in motion. After a long process of soul searching, applying, and waiting (both before and after her acceptance) we finally arrived at Brown on a snowy January day. Throughout the weekend orientation, Alessandra kept saying how happy and fulfilled she felt. I could certainly see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice. As a parent, you wish the world for your child. But, seeing your child go out and take the world for herself is another level of happiness I was fortunate enough to witness.

This is a photo of the new transfer students as they walk through Brown's main gate to begin their career as Brown students (it's only opened twice a year for new students to walk in and graduating seniors to walk out).

There's Alessandra on her way through the gates.

The second semester transfer students accompanied by the Brown Marching Band.

The lesson is this: regardless of whether you are a young adult with a horizon full of new possibilities or a mother with two school aged children, it is never too soon to to change your life for the better. As Brown is fond of reminding its students, you are the architect of your own future. You already have all the tools you need to realize yourself and your bliss. All you must do is be willing to explore and to take risks that unlock them.





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