LONDON–James Kearns, a luxury footwear maker and leather-smith from London’s rising Hackney neighbourhood, learned everything he knows about crafting luxury footwear from You Tube. That’s right, you read correctly… You Tube.

“It basically all happened quite out of the blue,” Kearns said.

His home is dotted with fresh fruit that he macerates into juices, jars of vitamins and discs of Puercha tea from the Yunnan province of China — an elixir of sorts that uplifts the spirit and expands the mind.

As we sip the tea, we realise that Kearns, with his pristine skin, healthy hair and bright eye whites, is as much of a purist about what he puts into his body, as he is about making his ultra-comfy boots that are sold in the luxury promenades from Boston to Tokyo.

A bonafide health enthusiast, Kearns, 35, opted out of his work as a sound engineer to follow his passion for fashion, first by making suits, then leather jackets and finally dedicating himself completely to the shoe business, totally by chance.

“One day I had 70/85 pairs of shoes on order, and I knew that it was time to quit my day job and make this my real job,” Kearns said, noting that sometimes orders take about one month to fulfil due to the meticulous manner in which they are made.

Kearns takes us up into a small attic studio where rows of patterns are neatly stacked, rolls of leather are tucked into shelves and the smell of freshly, naturally tanned leather fills the warm air. He blows our mind away, as he stitches layers of treated horse leather entirely by hand.

He develops his own patterns, weaves the shoes by hand, washes the leather, rusts the iron eyelit holes with home vinegar… and so much more.

“They are normally made over three to four days depending on the treatments and drying times,” Kearns said.

Kearns mostly uses horse leather because of the interesting yet modernist natural patterns it makes after it has been washed and tanned. The result is a unisex spirited line of lace-up boots that are a cross between a lace up hi-top sneaker and a boot that are perfect for a millennial culture of media savvy entrepreneurs and rebel creatives.

“My customers hail from the media world, advertising and even banks. What I find is that they usually come back 7 seven to eight years later.”

PRICE: GBP 900 to GBP 1000

WHERE TO BUY: http://www.jameskearns.co.uk

MILAN–Painting plates was a hobby for Costanza Paravicini, until she realized that her steady hand and immense patience was one-of-a-kind. Since setting up shop in a dimly lit courtyard on Milan’s Via Nerino in the 1990s, her Laboratorio Paravicini is now the go-to shop for affluent Milanese families, who believe every newly married couple needs a personalized set of fine dinner wear. It is also a hidden stop in Milan’s upscale 5Vie district for the fashion-forward crowd — those who admire Paravicini’s exquisite, yet endearing style.

“People want to have something personal. They want something envisaged by an artisan but at the same time reflects their taste,” said Costanza Paravicini in her studio stacked with plates and scattered with paint brushes and porcelain dust.

Not much has changed in terms of the process of plate decorating,  since it became an art about 1000 years ago in Imperial China — but Laboratorio Paravicini is satisfying global requests with its modern, abstract motifs like the Macula animal-patterned plates that are sold exclusively on Yoox.

Costanza, along with her daughter Benedetta, also paint or stencil nostalgic motifs like hot air balloons and circus performers or traditional ones that bear monogrammed initials or family crests.

Laboratorio prides itself on its hand painted designs or hand applied stencils that are coated with a non-toxic glaze, so that the colors will never fade. Painting directly on the biscuit, they say, is very difficult and it is a technique that is employed by very few.

AVERAGE PRICE: EUR30 to EUR150/plate

WHERE TO BUY:  Via Nerino 8, Milano, +39 02 72021006 by appointment, YOOX

IN THIS ISSUE: 5 Vie: Da Vinci’s Neighborhood Today,  Laboratorio Paravicini’s Fashion Plates,  Angela Florio of DecorAzione,  Italy’s Largest Collection of Da Vinci’s Works ,  5Vie: The Art of Restoration Endures, BACO STYLE: Lidia Pellecchia’s Sartorial Style,  BACO STYLE: Uberta Zambeletti of Wait and See,   Al Pascia': Pipes to Leather Goods , Fabio Crippa: The Ancient Art of Stone Cutting, Lorenzo Borghi: Old School Milliner

MILAN–If Leonardo da Vinci was still alive and living in his old nabe 5Vie, he would have consulted Fabio Crippa and his Nuova Taglieria Artigiana on masterpieces dealing with precious stones. Crippa has made a name for himself as one of the only stone cutters in Europe that practices ancient hand etching techniques like heraldry, or the art of inscribing badges, emblems and family crests.

When we arrive, Crippa is washing a piece of jade found in a  river bed at the foot of the Italian Alps. “This is a new discovery and this is very rare,” Crippa said, emphasizing that his vocation is also his hobby.

Piles of rough quarts, sapphires, amber and citrine imported from exotic places like Madagascar and Russia, Asia and the Dominican Republic.  The sound of rotating surface grinders permeates through the busy room filled with apprentices and jeweler and even watch maker friends of Fabio and his wife, who pass by to work on their gems and seek their expert advice.

Not much has changed in the 4000 years since stone cutting has been employed by the Ancient Minoan, Greek and Romans, who Fabio said also used metal apparatuses to shape their jewels.

“We can do a lot of stuff with machinery, and even though human intelligence operates the machine, naturally people want hand made,” Fabio said, as he held up his latest project: a jade figurine that resembled something excavated from Imperial China.

WHERE: Via Carlo Ottavio Cornaggia 12 Milano, 02 8909 6082, http://www.nuovataglieria.it/

AVERAGE PRICE: By appointment. Not for individual sale

IN THIS ISSUE: 5 Vie: Da Vinci’s Neighborhood Today,  Laboratorio Paravicini’s Fashion Plates,  Angela Florio of DecorAzione,  Italy’s Largest Collection of Da Vinci’s Works ,  5Vie: The Art of Restoration Endures, BACO STYLE: Lidia Pellecchia’s Sartorial Style,  BACO STYLE: Uberta Zambeletti of Wait and See,   Al Pascia': Pipes to Leather Goods , Fabio Crippa: The Ancient Art of Stone Cutting, Lorenzo Borghi: Old School Milliner

MILAN–At The La Scala Theater Academy, a group of about 16 young women between the ages of 20 and 30 are celebrating a job well done on the tutus and the leotards they crafted embroidered by hand for the “Cinderella” ballet that recently closed at the 18th century opera.

The school’s year-long costume design program students are exposed to the theater world – from the building block stages of costume design to the anxious moments before showtime, where gowns and capes need last minute alterations before stepping out under the spotlight and before the world’s most formidable opera and ballet critics.

During the 1100 hours of coursework and manual labor, the students are also faced with the task of crafting by hand period pieces like 17th century brocade gowns and boleros fit for the Bonapartes or the Coburg Gothas.

“They really have to start from zero – from the petticoat to the wired corset to the embroidery,” said costume design professor Chiara Donato.

“After completing this course, a lot of them go on to work with big ateliers like Versace or to start their own ateliers making wedding dresses or ball gowns, mostly because they obtain such a broad range of education from this program,” Donato added.

The school’s organizers said that about 50 or 60 young people apply per year. Only about 16 or 18 of them will be selected for the program. The cost of the course is 7000 euros, which is considered a competitive college tuition by Italian standards. Only a handful are allowed to apply for need-based student loans.

Milan native Alessia Fregonese, a 21 year old from Milan said that in high school she made purses and wallets by hand for fun and played drums in an orchestra. She found out about La Scala’s school through a friend who had heard about their Open House. “It was the perfect environment for me.”

Also seeking the excitement of the stage, Francesca Gennari, 21 year old from Torino opted for La Scala’s school rather than a traditional fashion school because she wanted a full-immersion course in how things work backstage.

“In the end, I am really learning a sense of teamwork here. I don’t think I would have gotten that from a traditional fashion program.”

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Costumery At World’s Oldest Opera, Gherardini: Preserving Icons, Musella Dembech: Father and Son, Brunello Cucinelli: The Solomeo School 

MILAN–Half a million visitors invaded Milan for the latest edition of Salone del Mobile which ran April 17 to 22, under the aegis of a “Living Nature” theme.

“The fair ponders the possible reconciliation of man and nature with an emotive installations that enter into the debate on the value of sustainable living,” organisers said. As a result,  many designers showcased solutions for our ailing planet.

One such project was the PET Lamp collection that combined sustainability and artisanal craftsmanship.  The collection, which involved the work of Aboriginal Australian women, featured prominently at the gallery of one of the most influential design curators, Rossana Orlandi, who is currently in the process of launching a the “Guiltless Plastic” project aimed at changing the way the public views plastic and revolutionising the way it is used in the design.  Founded by Spanish designer Alvaro Catalán de Ocón, PET Lamps are the product of mixing reused  PET plastic bottles with selected traditional weaving techniques from different corners of the world in order to create unique handmade lampshades.   Catalán de Ocón told BACO that he was inspired to launch the project after his first experience in the Colombian Amazon in 2011.

“My goal was to introduce solutions through the artisan world and through craftsmanship,” Catalán de Ocón said,  adding that a growing quantity of plastic waste is invading every corner of the planet. “Despite the size of this problem no country has taken responsibility yet.”

After studying Aboriginal paintings found at the Du Quai Branly Museum in Paris and later at the NGV in Melbourne in 2016,  Catalán de Ocón’s team traveled to Ramingining, Australia, an indigenous community that lies on the northern Australian coast, where he and his team met a community skilled in the weaving of Pandanus palm leaves that are boiled and left to dry in the sun before weaving.

Courtesy Photo: Álvaro Catalán de Ocón

“My goal was to introduce solutions through the artisan world and through craftsmanship,” Catalán de Ocón said,  adding that a growing quantity of plastic waste is invading every corner of the planet. “Despite the size of this problem no country has taken responsibility yet.”

After studying Aboriginal paintings found at the Du Quai Branly Museum in Paris and later at the NGV in Melbourne in 2016,  Catalán de Ocón’s team traveled to Ramingining, Australia, an indigenous community that lies on the northern Australian coast, where he and his team met a community skilled in the weaving of Pandanus palm leaves that are boiled and left to dry in the sun before weaving.

The result was an artistic galaxy of interpersonal relationships represented by orbs that represented family bonds.  “It was amazing to see how they interpreted their relationships,”  Catalán de Ocón said, adding the lamps are currently produced and distributed by the edition brand of his studio, ACdO, which has completed similar cultural projects in Colombia, Chile, Ethiopia and Japan. For more info click here.

MILAN-When Connection Knitwear’s co-founder Daniele Savaré rode into the BACO photoshoot with a vintage green and gold Lambretta scooter, we knew we were in for a treat.  Drag racing, British mod styles and iconic bands like The Who are just as much at the heart of the brand as the luxury fibres that are woven into each and every sweater.

Slow fashion and fashion with soul is taking the world by storm and Italian brands like this one are really at the heart of that trend.

“Farm to table” is as much a catch phrase for the organic foodie world as it is for clothing.   Connection Knitwear boasts just that.   Their retro knits, some of which feature fine details like delicate ribbing broad stripes and covered buttons, are made from antique hand looms in artisan studios, which are located just a few minutes from the city center.   “Nothing could be more farm to table than our sweaters,” said co-founder Brazilian-born Camila Angelini, who is also Daniele’s wife.  The two, who hail from fashion PR and the finance world respectively, say they now have a global following, especially from markets like Japan.  Daniele and Camilla met at a drag race on Italy’s eastern coast and continue to share a love for cars and their passion for mod fashion and 60s rock.

Overall, these pieces are characterised by a contemporary wearability and great comfort thanks to an artisan manufacturing process and to the use of materials of the highest quality like Pima cotton, Merino wool, Alpaca and cashmere for knitwear, while Italian or Spanish vegetable-tanned suede is used for their outerwear. Ventile cotton or British Millerain-waxed cotton are fashioned for anoraks and overcoats.

“There have been a lot of changes in knitwear since the 60s, when yarns were much thicker and synthetic fibres were in.  We source our yarns from top mills like Iafil, in order to achieve knits that have that cool synthetic look – yet are made with natural, pure, more sustainable fibres… some of the best,” Daniele explained, while drinking a spritz cocktail in front of Milan’s Roman-landmark Colonne di San Lorenzo. Iafil is one of Italy’s biggest and most innovative mills, which prides itself on achieving modern yarns that are not only luxury material, but become more lightweight and durable season after season.

Their sweaters run from EUR100 to EUR150, while more pricier items cost about EUR400.  Made-to-measure products are available upon request.

Check out Connection Knitwear’s page and Facebook profile!

Florence, Italy — It’s Pitti Uomo 93 day two and the Les Benjamins FW presentation is just about to kick off in the majestic setting of the Teatro Niccolini, an ancient opera house tucked away on a dark street just steps away from the Duomo. As we take our seats quietly in the crimson red boxes, Seoul-based artist Suwa is milling about with her portable easel tray stained by watercolour paint… trying to find the right spot to connect with people. She decided to sit down next to me.
We chat about Japan vs. South Korea and the excitement of her neighbourhood Apgujeong, a lively, trendy nabe in Seoul that conjures the spirit of New York’s Soho district – full of cafés and fashion forward boutiques. She asks if she can paint me. I accept! I blush and my lips get rigid as I wonder if I should smile, be serious… but I  am drawn to her pristine Korean features and the artistic strokes of her paintbrush, as if she were painting antique Hangul calligraphy instead of a face. I can’t help but look down at the vintage Italian magazine that she is rapidly painting over. The lights dim to a deep purple and she finishes after about a minute. I’m skinnier than I normally look and my face is pleasant, but serious; my arms are folded and, to my chagrin, I look more melancholy than I would ever have perceived. But I accept that this is me in her eyes.

Suwa allows me to take a photo with my iPhone and continues to paint the presentation full of streetwear amid stars and magical strobes of light, illuminated stars and dancers in Punic-War-era golden robes. The show, dubbed “The Ancient Skyscrapers at Night,” conjured images of a Lumier brothers films like “A Trip to the Moon” or Giovanni Pastrone’s 1914 film “Cabiria.” Suwa is rapidly painting as the
models charge the stage and settle into triangular formation.

Little is known in Europe about this South Korean painter who simply goes by the name Suwa and who is a treasure hunter of old books and magazine pages as the surprising canvas for her subjects. Pitti Immagine invited her to the fair to infuse the street style scene with a touch of emotion, which is often lacking amid the throngs of peacocks who dress up on purpose.

Suwa‘s full name is Suwa Im. She graduated from Parsons School of Design and subsequently worked as a fashion designer in New York City.

Widely recognized in Asia for her fashion colouring books and her fashion 101 app, Suwa is also a well known artist, in her own right, as a painter whose aim is to demonstrate how fashion is a tool for
individuals to represent themselves. She travels around the world – Paris, New York, and Milan to capture the essence of the personalities that are driving this industry like Hamish Bowles and Carine Roitfeld… just to name a few, as well as the curious faces and fashion spectators that make this industry unique.

Here’s our interview:

SC: What is your life like in Seoul? When you aren’t here, what do you do?

SUWA: Basically, I’m an artist. I do make some books, like drawing books. I do drawing too and maybe exhibitions. What else? I’m teaching in school too.

SC: How did you make a name for yourself in the Western fashion world? New York, Paris – how did that happen?

SUWA: I’m not sure what happened there; seriously, I just wanted to draw people in person, not drawing the photos anymore. So, I just came out onto the streets and drew people. That’s what I do.

SC: You make caricatures out of people, or is there an actual likeness?

SUWA: Yeah, I just try to draw the people’s character in it with my style.

SC: Why aged paper?

SUWA: What I have today is vintage paper, Italian and American magazines. This is what I do; it’s very classic, but now what I’m
doing is very contemporary artwork to draw people on the streets. I like the contrast of the vintage paper with the new contemporary people in it.

SC: Who are your normal subjects?

SUWA: So, influencers… bloggers… they dress well and they are sponsored, so they try to be just pretty, like fun too, but you know. And editors like Anna Dello Russo – they are such cool editors with a great eye, so it’s fun.

SC: So you’ve done Hamish Bowles, Anna Wintour?

SUWA: Not Anna, yet. I have seen her only from a distance. She’s got like too many guards and I can’t get through. So many people, and old magazines and editors, things like that. Vanityfair, too many people, it’s great.

SC: Just editors or famous people?

SUWA: Lately, I have been trying to paint other people than just the normal bloggers.  There are so many people around fashion week… like writers and editors, for example, who have an amazing eye and stare. And that stare is so amazing, whether they are young or old. That’s really what I look for.

Twin sisters Ludovica and Ginevra Fagioli started their brand Caftanii Firenze as a summer brand.  In winter, they target consumers in perennially warm climates like Dubai, Singapore and the Pacific Rim.  A cool  Northern African, Tuscan “al mare” style breathes an elegance that tops many other high ticket lifestyle brands that reflect the resort culture.

Ludovica and Ginevra, the sisters behind Caftani Twins. Photo courtesy of Caftanii Firenze.

BACO’s Editor in Chief Sofia Celeste sat down with the 30 year-old Fagioli sisters to discuss what’s new: 

SC: Why are you stronger with summer clothes? Resort in other words. 

CF: Well, because it’s born out of inspiration from Caftan that has Moroccan origins.  All of our garments are really linked to a warm season. It doesn’t, however, limit the way we work silk and to work it year long. Yet it’s the main way we dress the summer because, in our opinion, one can go out morning to night during summertime in just one garment.

SC: What do you suggest for warm nights? 

CF: Caftan, long or short, slippers, a beautiful bag and some accessories, it’s perfect. It will carry you from morning to a seaside dinner.  For us, it’s a way of life to always be elegant and feminine during summer, and this is the reason also for which it’s developed for summer, the Caftan was born for the heat.

SC: So, what do you propose for winter 2018? 

CF: For winter, we always propose soft silhouettes for coats, vests, also for one pieces, suits, — each piece is very elaborated. It’s a collection in the form of a capsule, not a main.

SC: So, you’re both from Florence, how is it that you have this passion for seaside resort wear? 

CF: We’ve always traveled a lot with our family and of course when you live in Europe and you travel, it’s probably easier to go to warm places so, South America, North Africa, South Africa. So, for sure with our Caftan project and our collections come from the many trips we’ve made and it’s all linked to our experiences, to familiar things. When you travel and need to make your suitcase, you pack things that can be useful for many occasions, so this relation, this versatility of the Caftans, makes them a garment that’s always perfect for the suitcase and for trips.

SC: Tell me about how the collection is made, who makes it? 

CF: We always design the collection together, because we’re twins and the inspiration can come from one or the other, and growing up together and having lived the same experiences.  We’re both fascinated by the same tones, colors and shapes. It’s a project that’s born from a same experience and story. Ludovica is handier, so she draws, while I (Ginevra) have a passion for fabrics. I remember our mother used to take us to fabric shops, so it’s a family passion. The ideas are born together, then I take up on the fabrics and she draws. But it’s born together (just like twins).

SC: But, is it all artisanal and sustainable? 

CF: Yes, the linens and cotton are 100% certified bio. The fabrics are all 100% pure — 100% silk, 100% cotton, 100% linen, all Italian and from the best suppliers. Italian, because in Italy we have a premium quality.

SC: What about your dyes? Amazing colors are those eco dyes?

CF: In fact no, but we usually use mostly neutral tones, so white, natural linen. We are always looking for suppliers who employ sustainable dyeing methods.

SC: What’s your price-point? 

CF: Retail, the summer collection is between 450-900 euro for the long and elaborated dresses. For winter, obviously the fabrics cost a bit more and require more work, we go from 600-2200 euro.

With Caftanii Firenze women are ready to live the warm weather in style.