Prototype
One of the toughest phases of making a bag like my heart handle shopper is going from the idea, dream, style and vision to the actual engineering and building of it with real materials.
It is maybe the most delicate and important moment for any designer.
I was fortunate to find one of the most dedicated and passionate professionals with an expertise in this field.
Massimo Grieco, the prototype artisan of Le forme collection, is capable of reading in my mind. He does what is humanly possible to make possible what I envisioned for this collection.
He is talented and knows a lot about technical problems that arises with materials and models and he tries his best and always manages to find solution that satisfies technical limitations and the vision of the designer.
He has worked for the Le forme collection with great passion and he has put his genius at work under pressure. When no one believed these handles could be done he just sat himself down to work and he found a solution.
Fashion is built upon these kinds of men too. In fact they are one of the most important pieces needed to make a beautiful bag.
It takes a great idea to invent something new in fashion and it takes incredible talent and handicraft to make it a reality.
Read Massimo’s technical description of Le forme collection here.
Leathers
All the leathers for my Romana Correale bags have been bought, checked and rechecked continuously by Samuele Ceccherelli. He and his family have been in the leather business in Florence for generations and they have a family run business.
He has accompanied me personally to all the tanneries. Together we have gone through the whole process of seeing the desired effect on the leathers and the quality of the tan. He is well know by national and international designers. He, like
Massimo and Raffaello, has followed the work of making the prototypes
and strived to achieve the best quality possible in every step of the way.
I am very very proud of this team, how they work and how passionately they have
participated in building and constructing the foundation for my Romana Correale Le forme collection.
Fabrics
The fabrics used for the inner parts of the bags of Le forme collection have been carefully produced by another family run company: The Gf group in Prato.
Maria Rita and Alessandro are siblings and the owners and they are the must wonderful and genuine persons. They love their product and they are proud of it and they follow their clients work and they are very professional. Letizia, one of their employees has followed all the work of my Romana Correale logo carefully and with love. All of them have a great respect for producs “made in Italy”, or even better I should say “made in Tuscany”, and together we share the vision of going back to the high quality and artisan workmanship as it once was.
Metals
All the metal parts of Romana Correale bags have been commissioned to a company named Laap located in the area of Arezzo.
Laap has worked for years in fashion with some of the most famous brands in the world. They work hand in hand with prototype artisans and designers to achieve the best result. They offer a wide range of possibilities and coloring and they are always open to find the best solution for small parts or beautiful and outstanding parts of the bags. Raffaello is always available and determined to give his best to deliver a good and functional product.
The farfalla locking mechanism was quite a challenge that gave us a lot of headaches but at the end it came out beautiful, functional and unique.
Production
The production of my Romana Correale bags is done in a company named Il borgo which is located very close to the beautiful city of Pienza.
Il borgo, like all the other companies that collaborate with me, is a family run company. Simone is now the young and leading head of the company. I have met his father and listening to him talk about all the history of their company gave me tears in my eyes. It is exactly what i wanted for this brand.
My Le forme collection has to have the best of the best people in the world working for it. People that know what leather products are all about. People that understand not only catwalks, models or stars but that also do hard work, studying, inventing, research and that have love for their work.
My products have to be made entirely in Tuscany with Tuscan tradition and for me this adds to it a mentality and style and personality that comes from travelling all around the world since i was just four years old.
This is what this brand is all about. Me, my style and way of seeing things, Tuscan handicraft and knowhow on leather products and the modernity and intelligence of the internet world and the doors it opens to such a localized and specific product to the world.
Packaging
The only part of Romana Correale products that is not Italian or made in Italy is the packaging, its concept and its first prototypes.
They have been made with collaboration of Argue Design in Stockholm and Joakim Flodman of Oakwood Creative.
This is a paradox in a country were “made in Italy” products usually means that only the box itself that contains the product is actually made in Italy.
I decided that the box concept had to be modern and elegant and that it had to be a “travel agent” that held the beautiful and handmade bags. I wanted the boxes to be the link between the product and the website. To be cosmopolitan and at same time show a love for tradition and for beautifully made products in a country were the art of making leather products is ancient and unique.
