C R E AT I V I T Y
28 · MONEY
ISSUE 56
Dayna is a senior speech therapist by day and feature writer by night. When she’s not busy fixing words, she is travelling the world to add to her fridge magnet collection.
CREATIVE MINDSET Photo by Emma Tranter
Carla Grima Born on the Maltese islands, Carla spent her childhood immersed in the Mediterranean lifestyle. She recalls fondly her earliest memories of falling in love with design was during summers spent at her family’s ceramic workshop playing and painting on clay. Carla was inspired to take her passion further by studying at the local design college, MCAST and then reading for a BA Hons in Fashion Innovation Management at UCA, Rochester. Her studies led her to gain experience with fashion houses between London and Paris with designers Jonathan Saunders and Marc Jacobs as well as mentoring students at UCA. Holidaying back home in Malta in 2014, Carla was desperate to find clothing made from natural fibres that fit our hot climate. This organically inspired her to create a resort wear brand, Carla Grima Atelier, which is now based in Malta, produced in Italy and sold in Malta, Thailand, St Barths and Antigua.
The name Malta Creative Collective been doing the rounds in the Maltese creative scene. Dayna Clarke speaks to co-founders Carla Grima and Rossella Frigerio to find out more about this movement of like-minded creatives.
Her love for telling a story through carefully crafted production has inspired her latest collaborative project Salt&C, a Maltese concept shop hosting locally designed products. Rossella Frigerio With both Maltese and Italian roots, Rossella was raised in Asia and completed her university studies in law at UCL and LSE in London. Following several years working in-house in a multi-national corporation and subsequently within Vivienne Westwood in Milan, Rossella decided to combine the legal, creative and practical commercial experiences that she had accumulated to co-found Sofia Capri – a niche sandal brand which was handcrafted entirely on the island of Capri. Alongside her then business partner, they brought the brand onto the shelves of numerous concept stores, malls and 5-star resorts internationally, including within several One & Only hotels in the Maldives, Mauritius and Mexico, Level Shoes in Dubai,
Eden Rock in St Barths and the King Street Precinct in Perth. Selected by Vogue Italia as one of the emerging brands to watch, Sofia Capri garnered press from numerous international publications, including Monocle, Elle Singapore, Vogue USA, and Conde Nast Traveller. Today, since moving to Malta in 2014, Rossella co-manages her family-run hospitality venture, Locanda La Gelsomina and runs One Blue Dot, a consultancy that provides brand development services, copywriting and practical commercial advice for emerging creative enterprises and makers globally who uphold a positive purpose.
Photo by Justine Ellul
