After securing investment from Style Capital, his second round after the unnamed investor in 2016, di Morabito finally felt ready to stage a runway show. The collection, entitled ‘Alone with the Stars’, is inspired by an accident the designer had in Namibia last year, causing “a moment of solitude that brought out suppressed emotions, transforming them into creativity,” he says. The collection featured transparent draped garments expressing vulnerability, and armour-like metallic corsets and masculine jackets representing resistance and authority. Accessories, including jewellery made from metal flowers, underline the idea. “And the humanoid robot, Ameca, represents the contrast and the speed with which society is rushing toward the future, often without pausing to reflect on itself,” di Morabito adds.
Navigating tough times and scaling operations
With this collection and a 240-piece pre-fall collection designed for stores, di Morabito is hoping to continue bucking the luxury slowdown. “Yes, the industry is facing difficulties, and many retailers have become more cautious with their purchases. However, strong design and customer demand have kept interest in the brand alive,” the designer says.” Of course, some stores have reduced orders, but others have increased their buy, so brand growth has remained stable.”
The brand has long collaborated with the prominent Riccardo Grassi showroom — which also sells brands like Farm Rio and Erdem — to help secure distribution. Until recently, the brand operated with a tiny team of two, packing all the orders with 12,000 dresses to ship from a small warehouse space. “We used to take the car and go to all the factories to check thousands and thousands of units,” he says. “We managed all the production with files, and we didn’t really have a system — it was crazy!” Sometimes, stores would call because of missing boxes, and di Morabito recalls pretending to be different people to make it seem like he had a bigger team.
