Valerio Leone – Head of Fabrics

How did you learn your craft?

My family have always been in textiles. I remember even as a child that I tried to cut and sew a sweater for myself at my parents sewing mill. Later, I went to the technical school for the textile industry. Got my first job as a weaver and climbed up the ranks in the mill until I became a designer.

How did you choose it? Why do you love it?

A historical weaving mill close to my hometown was looking for someone new and I was there! Weavers are wonderful people. If you have a humble approach, they will teach you all the secrets of the art that you won’t find in any book. I really loved learning fabric making from them.

How come you specialize in shirting fabrics?

I wanted to be able to play with yarns, colors, graphics, and weaving – and shirting involves all these aspects. A shirt can be classic, sporty, formal and fashion so working with these fabrics offers a lot of variety.

How do you create a new design?

Ideas usually comes to me in my mind. I can be inspired by a dream vision, I start tasting the air, the colors, and when I see the people in this dream, they always wear the right fabrics. After I visualize this, choosing yarns, graphics and colors comes naturally. Today, we use mood boards with images to visualize. I just create fabrics according to what I can see there, it’s easy!

What kind of fabric excites you personally?

All fabrics made using a blend of natural fibers. Take some linen, wool, and cotton, weave them together and just let them take their natural shrinkage and convolutions – the fabric just comes to life! I consider all my fabric designs like my little children. In Italy we say that a child is the most beautiful in his mother’s eyes. Personally, I really love hemp. It’s a humble fiber that used to be considered as poor and controversial. But with new technology you can create a superfine yarn and mix it with cotton and silk to create a unique luxurious aspect. Kind of a fairytale…