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Everything is made to measure, nothing is out of place in Miranda Di Sipio’s world. She is a 34-year-old craftswoman born in Piacenza, who grew up near Crema. She has created much more than a mere workshop near Florence. Her atelier is a meeting point between her world and everything that inspires it. Like the ivy that climbs up in front of the loom and, thanks to painstaking workmanship, becomes a silk ornament for “Le Fanciulle in Fiore” dress collection. An evocation of Proust and his novel “À la recherche du temps perdu” (In Search of Lost Time).
Every single detail, ranging from the locations to the literary references, is the result of a precise choice. Miranda explains: “I make clothes that combine femininity and comfort, so that femininity is not experienced as an obstacle, but as a symbol of strength”.
Miranda’s collections do not follow time or fashion. The dresses that come out of her hands are eternal. In every single dress she designs and makes, there is a call for uniqueness. “I think that craftsmanship is one of the most beautiful trades in the world because it is all-encompassing”, she says with a touch of pride. “It is marvellous to see something that was only in your mind made concretely!”
It is marvellous to see something that was only in your mind made concretely!
For her gowns, designed for brides, but also for exclusive events, gala dinners and soirées, Miranda uses only natural materials: 100% pure silk and cotton canvas for the first dress fitting. The same attention is paid to yarn and threads: silk for the buttonholes she makes by hand, and cotton thread for machine stitching.
She explains: “For me, it is essential to be sustainable. With a view to reducing production waste, I reuse fabric scraps and leftover to make all the botanical elements”.
In 2019 she joined the Italian Confederation of Crafts and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (CNA). Miranda explains: “For me it was fundamental for business and interpersonal relations. Before joining the CNA, I did not know many entrepreneurs and so I was alone with my difficulties. It was great to make new connections. So many opportunities have opened up that I had not before”.
Before joining the CNA, I did not know many entrepreneurs. So many opportunities have opened up that I had not before
The choice of the location, in the hills around Florence, was very important to Miranda. She finds great inspiration here every day.
She says: “Most of the flowers embroidered on my dresses are those I find around here”. An inspiration linked to nature, as well as to the time and pace of the countryside. She explains: “The workshop is a place where people can enjoy a moment to themselves and experience the creation of a tailor-made dress. Far from the idea of entering a shop in a hectic part of the city”.
Behind the embroidery, on the loom, in the tools that animate Miranda’s atelier there is the synthesis of all craftsmanship: the slowest trade in the world.
A cura di Paola Toscani
