Milano, Northern Italian Fashion Flaunt

When the afternoon collapses into evening, the teeth of nightfall gnawing at the light, display windows catch the last rays, the wawl of traffic singing its song, as walkways become an Italian movie set of street entertainers, couples at small sidewalk café tables pledging never-ending love, welldressed college students, arm-in-arm, devouring gelato cones, while others check the tower clock in eager anticipation of the 9 p.m. dinner hour. Like the Milanese proudly say, “We dress our best and that’s why Milano is the crowned queen of Italy.”

Instituto Marangoni

The Milano school of fashion, design and art founded by Giulio Marangoni in 1935, is among the premier fashion schools hosting students worldwide, and during Milan Fashion Week featuring the collections of the ten foremost fashion students. The vitality and passion within the walls are intense and overriding, students striving towards a lifetime dream, a huge bell of fabric hanging on wellused mannequins, pins dangling from mouths like toothpicks. In another area students are sitting at long tables sketching, the subdued room a heavy gesture of inspiration, creative thoughts banging heads with eyes lost in their sockets; eyebrows curved like willow leaves.

istitutomarangoni.com

Franzi Milano: A brand with a story to tell

With Celia Abernethy opening doors for us, the skirl of the pervasive motorbikes fading, we enter the sacred Franzi studio and meet Marco Calzoni, Creative Director of Franzi, an illustrious leather bags and luggage brand founded in Milano in 1864 by Rocco Franzi. Franzi is Italy’s oldest Italian brand of luxury leather creations, and the first to use vegetable tanning. By the early 20th century Franzi was a supplier to royalty and nobility, and Guccio Gucci, while learning the trade, worked for Franzi until he founded the house of Gucci in 1921. Franzi, with their long-standing artisanal tradition, in addition to bags and luggage, have also created interiors for luxury cars, yachts and brilliant furniture designs. Presently Franzi is vividly bringing a vanished era back to life, while drawing inspiration from the first queen of Italy with their Margherita Bag, “The Queen of Handbags,” named after Margherita of Savoy, Created in Italy with the finest leather, embellished with a pattern from the 1940’s, with one artisan in charge of one bag from beginning to end. franzi1864.com

L’Artiginato

The collection of inspired and creative intellects in Milano is captivating. Eric Egan’s exquisite L’Artiginato studio, across the city from Franzi, is where walls are afire with large format art, elegant artistic wall paper designs, subtle decorative art pieces, and furniture with a personality, illustrate the creative genius of Egan. Born in Chicago, a Milano resident for some 24 years, he is one of the world’s top interior designers with a resume that could reach to the Duomo and embracing everything from historic renovations to Venice’s Gritti Palace Hotel, historic 17th century Italian farmhouses, hotels and private estates in South America, Asia, and the United States. ericegan.com

Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

In the heart of Milano and highly ranked scholastically, the expansive, Universita Cattolica dating to 1921, is noted as the world’s largest Catholic University, and the largest private university in Europe, the fashion departments hosting students from throughout the world including Antonia Ventimiglia from Washington State, who said, “I love the city, the architecture, and the fashion. It’s a place to learn.” ucsc.com.it

Andres Romo – Mexico to Milano

Fashion Designer, Andres Romo, first arrive in Italy in 2006, attended a fashion school in Rome. “I first had to learn Italian, and during the early years it was difficult. I have two styles in my work, one house is Mexico, the other Latin. I love romance, elegance, and femininity, the collections all made in Italy. I adore belts, and a fresh young look, nothing like we see on the fashion streets in Milano. I cook Mexican dishes when I have the time and La Piedra Del Sol is Milano’s best Mexican restaurant. Milano is a cultural phenomenon. The city has it all.” info@andresromo.it andresromo.it

When you go

After a few days in the city the Milano mystic took hold, an impulsive anonymous ecstasy, and appreciating that Milano has two premier fashion schools. I questioned our companion, Celia Abernathy, a resident of both Milano and Lecco at Lake Como, “Does Milano have too much fashion? She quickly answered, “No! Just enough.” alessandra@amilaneseinsider.com

Enjoy the secrets of Milano with Alessandra Dell’ Andrea, a city insider who holds the key to the city. Her insider recommendations; Guja for shoes, Casa del Bianco for friulane and pajama’s; Giovanni Galli for Marron Glace; Laboratorio Paravicini for handcrafted thin ceramic tableware; Raw for home decorations; Pellini Jewels for accessories; Pizzeria Meucci for authentic Milano, and Peck’s, the best deli shop in the world.

Travel Consultant and Itinerary Designer, Celia Abernethy, publishes the popular and informative, Milano Style newsletter, and organizes personal itineraries for Milano and Lake Como. She said, “Both destinations are layered with discoveries that are easy to bypass.” celia@milanostyle.com; editor@milanostyle.com

The Spanish owned NH Hotel Group have 13 hotels in Milano and one in Lecco, all with impressive locations. nh-hotels.com