Italian knitwear label Vitelli is ‘saving the region one knit at a time’ says designer Mauro.

A stand out from the shows at Milan fashion week, the labels’ approach is simple and striking. Regeneration, sustainability, individuality.

By using up-cycled yarns created in their own ‘Organic Knitting Theatre‘ the team creates fabrics based on the harvest they yield, meaning varied blends, unpredictable colours, and limited quantities. Similarly, they have developed a new technique of fabric production, which they have coined ‘DOOMBOH’ that involves recuperating over 200kg of yarn waste from knitwear factories, and working it with needle punching, to then create fabric sheets, to be then tailored into garments. A revolutionary practice that renders the label virtually 100% sustainable and waste-free.

Using independent knitters and loopers, often from family-owned businesses, in the Northern region of Italy, the label is keeping its’ carbon footprint low and generating business for the craftsmanship and highly skilled, but largely neglected sectors found locally.

And the results are stunning, this season’s collection was inspired by ‘The Overland’, a route through the middle east trekked by hippies throughout the mid 20th century. Unable to physically travel, like the rest of the globe during the creation of the collection, the team took them selves on a virtual adventure, imagining themselves  »crossing boundaries, blending in, being mesmerised by faces and stories, languages and architectures, and of course by different styles of clothes. We virtually wandered through open-air markets, bazaars and stores, where we got blown away by the beauty of local designs and crafts. While fantasising about this impossible trip, the atelier started to fill up. »

VITELLI BACKSTAGE BY ERIC PERSONA