Davide Marello

On the heartbeat of luxury

We meet Italian fashion designer Davide Marello at an interesting time in his life. Only a few weeks before the sunny Saturday afternoon at the end of February, when we meet in Bar Luce at the Prada Foundation, he had left his position as the very first creative director of Boglioli: the 100-year-old tailoring company that reinvented itself at the beginning of this century with a distinct broken-in and garment-dyed aesthetic. Marello’s departure took place quietly, gathering even less attention than his surprising—and thus underexposed—appointment two years earlier. Nevertheless, for those who were paying attention, the recent ‘intimate’ presentation of the Autumn/Winter 2017 collection, instead of the usual runway show, could clearly be seen as a marker that things were, to say the least, in turmoil.

After the presentation in January, Marello left the company, making the impeccable collection — inspired by foggy Milan in the winter, Leonardo da Vinci’s velatura painting technique, and the photography of Saul Leiter — the last creations from his artistic vision to bring a modern elan to the label, known for its ‘soft’ unstructured and unlined tailoring. Although never mentioned directly, the end of his two-year tenure at Boglioli lingers in the air throughout our conversation, forming the perfect backdrop for Marello’s perspective on the state of Italian tailored fashion and how it could, and should, change its framework to regain its traditional position as a ‘luxury good’ — a position that, in Marello’s eyes, its DNA inherently demands.

Davide speaks better English than anyone we have spoken to during our trip to Milan. He chooses his words deliberately, is elegantly polite, and speaks in an understated, thoughtful tone, without ever betraying any sense of insecurity about his insights. Despite having been born and bred in an era when Italy was still the epicenter of the global fashion ecosystem — a position that has steadily shifted over the last two decades — Marello proves to be clearly in touch with the capricious zeitgeist of today’s fashion. He has found a strong personal position in a context that is constantly in flux, a position that is no longer in line with those in charge at Boglioli. This may, for the first time in his career, take him outside of Italy for work. “I wouldn’t mind living in Paris,” he states about what lies ahead, although he aims to stay true to himself: “I have no interest in starting my own label. I’d rather dive into the heritage of an existing label, making it my own and adding to a legacy that already holds cultural relevance.”

Classically trained as a tailor, Davide previously held a 10-year-long position as head of tailoring at Gucci, first under Frida Giannini and later during the early years of Alessandro Michele’s reign. Yet, despite his deep expertise in tailoring, it becomes clear that Davide is part of the new generation of ‘curatorial’ creative directors who have come to dominate the industry. Although not directly related to his craft, the fact that he speaks English so well — in contrast to most Italians — seems to reflect Marello’s deep awareness of the intrinsic importance of communication beyond design as an integral part of contemporary creative direction. For us, this also paints an image of Marello as the ultimate ambassador for his creative vision as applied to Boglioli: combining a modern, globally-rooted curatorial approach with the extraordinary level of craftsmanship in Italian tailoring and its inherent cultural ties. This still forms the heart of the label, but needed to be reframed in the digital age.

We continue our conversation about the history of Italian tailoring, which, despite its inward-focused culture, succeeded in appealing worldwide through a stronger appreciation for and understanding of the lush craftsmanship behind it. This situation changed when globalization — and its ever-growing demand for speed — began to sweep away the existing paradigms of the fashion world. Marello holds a rare, modern attitude in Italian tailored fashion, much like his former creative director, Alessandro Michele, who has introduced a similar globalization-proof attitude (and rising global sales) at Gucci. However, Michele has done so without much substance on the design level, holding on to a very thin narrative. Marello, on the other hand, at Boglioli spoke the language of the globalized world, but never lost touch with the essence of what sets Italy culturally apart from any other country in the world: a deeply ingrained cultural finesse at its core, ranging from its diverse traditions in craftsmanship to its remarkable cuisine, which still makes Italy a highly refined country with no equal.

I don’t believe that there exists such thing as affordable luxury. Luxury always takes time, because luxury demands the close attention of an expert … regardless of  the high agility many of the luxury houses advocate at this moment, there is only one tempo that really matters in the end: the heartbeat of a human being, who expertly crafts luxury into being.

The subject shifts to how, in today’s world, many people seem to believe that speed has become an essential asset in the luxury industry. As a result, the phenomenon of affordable luxury has risen in its wake. Davide clearly takes a position against it:

“Personally, I don’t believe that there is such a thing as affordable luxury. Luxury always takes time because luxury demands the close attention of an expert. The so-called affordable luxury phenomenon consists of non-luxurious products given the right make-up. And regardless of the high agility many of the luxury houses advocate at this moment, there is only one tempo that really matters in the end: the heartbeat of a human being, who expertly crafts luxury into being. One can obviously push it into overdrive for a long time, which has been the case for years now, but in the end, it won’t be able to cope, and the heart will stop.”

When asked if any of the traditional Italian menswear tailoring houses is engaged in preserving the cultural heritage of its discipline in a globalization-proof way, Davide’s answer is clear: “No, I don’t think so.” He continues: “Business has taken over as the primary motivation behind many of the choices that are being made, with the cultural element remaining relatively relevant for the middle-aged consumer in Italy. But even here, it is fading, as people don’t seem to be as interested as they used to be… The sartorial tradition was formerly much deeper ingrained in the cultural matrix of any Italian.” At this moment in time, only food still holds its undisputed cultural position—much to the relief of our Another family member Roel, who joined Davide at Boglioli as a graphic designer just over a year ago and (to Marello’s laughter) still gets excited over lunch every day: a daily experience for the senses, in stark contrast to the Dutch approach of simply refueling the body for the rest of the day.

After this string of rather pessimistic conclusions, we end our conversation with a more positive outlook about the future when we agree on the following: while the situation is what it is today, it is people like Davide who will be in the position to change these developments firsthand. A conclusion that ultimately becomes the thought that resonates most strongly after our conversation. When discussing the exponential decrease of worldwide appreciation for culturally rooted, refined tailoring that can only be found in Italy—and, even worse, the fading framework that cultivates an understanding of what lies at the beating heart of this form of luxury—it’s not easy to stay optimistic that this understanding will ever return to its former level. This means that we have reached a situation that strongly demands those who still believe in and understand these values to find new contemporary ways of sharing their vision in the digital age. And although this context has grown more complex than ever, at its core, this situation is not different from the past, which, after some contemplation, leaves room for only one thing: hope that the current situation will change again, as it always has. After speaking with Davide, our hope has found some restoration.