Laura: It all started with a twist
Winter 2019. We were living in Milan and I had just handed in my resignation at work. After the Christmas holidays, my notice period had just ended when the entire company closed its doors: Covid-19 had arrived and Italy had come to a standstill.
After a few days of respite, during which I allowed myself to revel in my newly regained space, I began to realize that all the responses to my resumes were frighteningly similar:"We are not hiring at the moment.
Who would have thought it: I had chosen the worst possible time to deliberately remain unemployed. Yet, extraordinarily, it also turned out to be the perfect turning point.
Paolo and I had been together for a while, we had met at a children's clothing company and often talked about creating something together. The current events gave us time to devote ourselves to that idea, immersing ourselves in a perfect phase of research and study, in which we asked ourselves what we wanted to do.
Very often, the problem with creative people is that they need guidance. Without Paolo, I wouldn't have known where to start. He studied economics and has always had a strong practical sense, familiarity with numbers, and an innate commercial spirit. Of course, if you ask him to match two colors, he might go crazy, but then again, we compensate for each other. On the other hand, I was able to try my hand at pattern making, styling, and tailoring, so I learned how to physically realize an inspiration by putting it "on fabric."
Paolo: What if we made aprons?
We started out knowing that we didn't want to get into generic clothing, because it seemed like a very competitive and crowded market for those starting from scratch. We allowed ourselves a month of intensive research, until we realized that aprons were the ideal product to start with. It's true that they are used less and less at home, and certainly little attention is paid to their shape and quality, but there is a whole world of workers for whom aprons are their daily uniform: artisans, creatives, and others. They represent the reality of those who work with their hands and, in most cases, pursue the dream of creating something of their own, like us.
We knew we wanted to create something unique in terms of shape, design, and even the choice of fabrics. Of course, the idea of making aprons seemed a little crazy at first.
Laura: then I fell in love with hemp
Hemp was a revelation. I remember the excitement of discovering all its properties, which I thought were perfectly suited to aprons and their use: its natural appearance, which improves with use, its durability, and the fact that it is a sustainable fabric. The more excited I got about the idea of using it for our aprons, the more Paolo urged me to be cautious, because it was certainly not a cheap fabric and we needed to understand how we could source it.
The first two years were a test. We Fortunately, we found the fabric and immersed ourselves in creating the first Japanese-inspired aprons. Meanwhile, the streets of Milan were beginning to repopulate, and people could go out and socialize again. Day by day, we took our aprons to local artisans working in a wide variety of fields, asking them to test them and let us know what they thought.
Paolo: the leap and the vision
A new phase began in 2022. I left my job, we founded the company, and threw ourselves into our business full-time. At first, we created aprons in different styles, as well as blouses and pants, creating a sort of "work outfit," but we gradually began to expand our range. The website had already been up since January 2020, but the time had come to structure our communication and management, as well as to strengthen our supply chain.
Looking back, it was a really uphill struggle, but passion is a powerful driving force. Our professional life was directly linked to our family life; we were each other's support, and there was always a lot at stake. However, when you start to see the first signs of satisfaction and feel that something is happening, that you are on the right track, then even the difficulties are mitigated and become more bearable.
Right now, we are looking for external investors to take another leap forward, and we are also working to open up new markets abroad.
Having a long-term vision is essential, otherwise, especially in a sector like ours, you tend to remain stuck. It is impossible to put the right price on your work when it is the result of an idea and manual labor without a view to evolution. As long as we see potential for growth, we will continue to believe in it, with the aim of never losing sight of our true nature.
What is Germogli
Germogli is the new column dedicated to the stories of those who, like us, have decided to put their heart and soul into designing a dream. Every month, you can read a new story here. Today, we have shared ours.
"But seeds are invisible. They sleep in the secret of the earth until one or another takes it into its head to wake up. Then it stretches, and timidly pushes a beautiful, harmless twig toward the sun."
From "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
