Passerella di Milano: Pink & Chic Communication, Fashiontimes.it & Fashion Illustrated

This morning came sooner than I thought. Brittany and I stayed up till 3:30 in the morning just talking and getting to know each other better by telling funny and many embarrassing stories. We received an e-mail from our professors around 11:30 the previous night with our days itinerary, in Italian. I wasn’t too worried about receiving the message but it’s the little things, like an e-mail, that forces us to connect to the culture. The first mission was to make our way to NABA by ourselves, all set to go at 10AM. It was 9:20 and we conjugated downstairs in the lobby and the first excursion was to a start. I keep finding myself in a state of mind where I am well aware of where I am but am in such disbelief that I get a rush of adrenaline and feel as if I have thousands of butterflies in my stomach. I am extremely anxious.

I feel in such peace when I am here, my all time nirvana. We had our first class session at NABA and went over grading, projects, expectations and received our culture group. It’s amazing that we have students from three different campuses and we mesh together like peanut butter and jelly, beans and rice, Sunny and Cher. There are 22 very unique people but we all share the same feelings about this program and this industry that we all have a uniformed connection. This is what will allow this program to succeed. Sitting in class reminded me of when I sat in class in Italy. The desks, the height of the ceiling, the courtyard and the windows gave me a flash back of so many memories.

After class was over a bunch of us decided to have lunch in NABA and as we were sitting in the cafeteria I noticed that the walls are completely bare, compared to every other wall in NABA, that are full of art, graphic design and graffiti. I wasn’t sure if that meant something and done on purpose or they simply repainted the walls as a blank canvas to get redecorated again.

Finally, at 2:15 we were ready to parade ourselves to the Pink & Chic Communication office to meet Maria Chiara Arona. On the walk to the Metro we always walk by a fence that is covered with a plant and flowers and the first time I spelled it, I stopped in my tracks and it is true; scent is the strongest sense that reminds you of something in the past. This smell reminds me of my home in Italy and my father who loves that plant and flower. As we were approaching her office, I noticed some man recording us and felt a little uncomfortable but found out quickly that this was Fulvio, the man we are working with at Fashiontimes. it!

As we walked into courtyard I saw a blonde woman peek through the door and ran in her stilettos straight to Prof. St. Jean. This was Maria. Her show room is decorated with all of her clients’ collections. As we walked in, Fulvio started right away, filming did not stop. We each had to go around and answer questions that Elise asked us about Milan, what we expect from the program and Italian fashion. Meeting Maria and being in Pink & Chic finalized and reassured me that this program is really happening. She was more than excited to see us and her love for fashion permeated from her but her love for her company and clients predominantly showed. Maria mentioned to us that what we saw from Vladimiro Gioia collection, not everyone could see and that we were very lucky because only a few specific people can see his collection before his show. She is right, we are lucky.

We went around asking questions about her business, how she got to where she is now and I think we overwhelmed her but her very generous and spunky personality instantly gave me and I think the group a sense of relief. She studied at IULM, a University very close to our hotel, and received her degree in Fashion Communication. She’s had many jobs with different companies such as Chanel, than for 4-5 years worked for Moncler and Fretté for home. Than Pink & Chic Communications opened in 2007. She mainly focuses on Fashion but she also does beauty, press kits, brand identity and food sectors. She works from fashion shows, opening days, photo shoots and much more. She now has five fashion clients and three in other sectors. Some of her clients include H|Williams, a RISD student who designs shoes, Melys who makes only cashmere goods, Vladimiro Gioia who works with fur, Laura Mancini who specializes in dresses that fit to a true women’s body and a handful more.

When asked how she gets her clients she usually goes out and looks for them but Vladimiro Gioia was the only one who came to her, a short time after she opened her business. She doesn’t want to represent big brands because she wants to have the luxury and unique companies. Along with that, she mentioned she doesn’t want to represent too many brands at once because she wants to build a strong relationship with her clients, even though she open to build new relationships with new clients. Since 2007 Maria has done a job that takes five people to do but her passion for it was clear to see and understand. One of her biggest event was with Smart with a Hello Kitty theme. She explained some of the logistics and timing it takes to get catwalks and editorials completed. Magazines work 3 months ahead of their release date and that they are working on the September Issue now and it takes 2 months to prepare a fashion show. She also expressed her desire to write a book one day and hopefully publish it. I am very honored to be working for Maria. She shows how humble she is when she cracks jokes and explains how overwhelmed and nervous she actually is. She already made one of her dreams come true by opening up her own business but the next one is to write and publish her own book.

After leaving Marias office we all were left with high spirits. We were invited to go see one of her clients; Laura Mancini a young and established designer who specializes in specific areas that yield to women’s needs. One day she designed a dress with out any prior experience, researched and found out that her color and fit that she chose was 2 years ahead of the fashion.; a clear and unrecognized talent. Since than, at 2009 she had the chance to start a business or buy a home. She was so confident and truly believed in her idea that she took the chance and just opened her first store in Milan. There are peacock feathers behind a gray/ slate background as her logo and interior decoration. When looking for a logo, she knew exactly what to chose since she was a little girl, she would always draw peacock feathers and see them as decoration around her home. Her main belief in her designs and inspirations is the common woman, not the models. She reassured us that she starts designing on her body and works from there and designs for all types of bodies because not everyone is the same. She has a very unique tailored cut to her dresses without jeopardizing sensuality and sophistication. Rich Italian fabric and custom made tailoring. She looked back to what worked for Italian fashion; simple cuts with excellent fabrics that accentuate a women’s body such as the famous form fitting black dress, the tubino. She was the first to make a collection of 12 dresses, 3 for each season. Each dress is designed for a specific women’s body. She is working so hard in her brand and company that it shows by all of her editorial representation such as GalaWedding, Gente, Vogue, Shopping Milano and etc. Her dresses bring class and comfort. Her brand is quickly getting recognition and I hope nothing but the best for her. Hopefully one day I could get one of her dresses.

After meeting Maria, Laura, Fulvio and Elise we went back to our rooms to complete our project but was told that Maria invited us to go somewhere and to dress nicely. First of all, no one had any idea what was going on and where we were going, we just went with the flow since this industry is very spontaneous. We ended up going to the Libreria Della Moda, a library strictly holding all magazines but most importantly,fashion magazines, not just a couple hundreds but 41 million! During the day, the library is used as offices and the public can pay a fee, visit the library and actually sit down and read as many magazines as possible, you can even photo copy something and there are some for sale! This was the first fashion event I have ever gone to. We met representatives from many PR companies, Armani Sales and the editorial assistant of Fashion Illustrated. Is this what fashion is all about? It felt like I was in a movie. I am so thankful that Maria invited us on such a short notice. Life was good at the end of the night here in Milan. Very good.