The city of Florence contains several major fashion designer boutiques. Every time I walk by the shiny glass windows of Gucci, Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo I frown in despair as I realize the luxurious pieces are simply a mirage. Luckily, my frown quickly turned into a hopeful grin when Lisa Simon and I stumbled upon ITD Boutique right around the corner from our apartment on Via de Serragli. The quaint yet trendy corner store is filled with stylish and affordable clothes. Despite the great fashions, the real charm is found in its owners, two amiable and down to earth fashion designers.
Rene Thuber and her boyfriend recently opened up ITD Boutique just this past November. Rene, who is actually American, is a charming thirty year old brunette woman with big brown eyes and an eager voice. It was obvious her Italian boyfriend, who unfortunately spoke very little English, was used to having Rene as his translator. Taller than Rene, his dark short cut, chic designer glasses, button up and tight jeans screamed “I know fashion”. Through the kind and professional voice of Rene she told us how she started off in America as a handbag fashion designer and actually had her own line in the States after meeting and collaborating with her boyfriend there. Unfortunately, after three years of success the economy crashed and they lost their line. Nevertheless, they still kept their passion to create unique accessories brewing.
“We had been to places like The Mall of America too many times and wanted to create accessories, particularly shoes, which would appeal to women and actually sell,” Rene said.
As that passion lingered in her voice she continued on to explain that to them the only logical place to successfully manufacture and sell shoes was Italy. Here, in Florence they acquired an agent and began to manufacture their line of clothing and shoes. After running for 8 months strong they hope they will continue to find happiness and success here in Florence.
After 5 minutes of talking it was fascinating to discover that even in a time of crisis, great opportunities and choices can emerge. I can only hope that shopper friendly ITD Boutique retains its success among the Chanel’s and Gucci’s of Florence.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteNice to see you and Lisa interviewing "strangers" and learning something about the fashion industry in the process!
Good choice.
And you write very well about Rene's experience losing her fashion line in the States. You also capture some key pieces of info, as in how long they've been in business here and their design targets.
You nabbed a decent quote and also painted a picture of the boyfriend so well I can visualize him!
Some key pieces of info are missing, though: What is the boyfriend's name? How did they get their start in fashion design (school, apprenticeships?)? How did they meet? How would you describe their pieces (fabric or material choices, color, austerity?).
When you are writing, have someone who knows nothing about your subject peruse your piece before you turn it in. That way, missing info that an ordinary reader would want to know comes to light easily.