That’s Artisanal

Meet Monica, Romina and Zora-- the entire production staff for the women's half of Biella Collezioni designed by Maria Luisa Barbera. If you have a favorite garment in your closet from her collection, these ladies probably made it.

Talented, highly skilled and hardworking they are the behind-the-scenes heroines who figure out how to make a designer's dreams happen. Without a carefully coordinated team like this one to develop patterns, cut, sew, press and finish garments, and control the quality of every item, a designer can produce ideas, but little else.

Now as always people are asking for clothes that are stylish, but today they also want to know where those clothes are made and in what kinds of factories or workshops they are produced. We are often asked about the products we sell and the people who make them and our research almost always unearths a good story or two.    

So here's a picture story-- let's visit a small, spotless workshop in Biella, Italy, (there they call it a laboratorio) and see some  of the steps that lead from designer's idea to finished garment ready for you to add to your closet.

And as you can see, 'though computer technology plays an important role, much creativity is required and real people are doing lots of careful handwork and giving lots of attention and respect to these products.

Now that's artisanal.