Florania

WHAT’S YOUR BACKGROUND?

I am Flora Rabitti: designer, illustrator and founder of FLORANIA, a brand-collective of outsiders, made in Milan and 100% sustainable. As a designer, after graduating from IED Moda Milano, I continue my studies at European fashion schools, including Central Saint Martins London, Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne and private ateliers such as Tecnosartoria Rimini. In 2014 I am a finalist of the Swiss Cross Textile Award and winner of the Fur Futures London Award. Also in 2014 I start my career, first in more consolidated companies such as Prada or Alberta Ferretti and then in more independent realities such as Vitelli in 2019. In 2021 I founded Florania, a collective and an independent, genderless and no-season prêt-à-porter clothing brand, which proposes a project of total look garments, made and designed in a sustainable way, handmade in Milan. Florania was born from the need to find a place that would creatively and professionally represent a community of professionals and an ecological spirit. Everything started with an upcycled collection to which we then added prints and different finishes, building a very specific aesthetic that we define as Solar Punk. Our community echoes the energy and rebellious spirit of punk culture; however, it is optimistic about the future and relies on creativity rather than destruction. We haven’t even been active for a year but our ecological and sustainable ethos, together with our aesthetic vision, is opening up a multidisciplinary path.

THE CONCEPT OF YOUR COLLECTION?

Post-punk aesthetics, Japanese craftsmanship, multicultural mythology, surrealist artists such as Leonora Carrington.

In addition to these references, my family’s environmental and regenerative activism has also played a key role. Other wellsprings of inspiration are undoubtedly Donna Haraway, leader of the cyborg theory and theoriser of the Solar Punk philosophy-a subculture directly linked to a post-punk attitude but with an optimistic outlook on the future. Then Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miyazaki, Manara, Margiela, Sergio Toppi, Brecht Evens, Charles Freger. Then each person in the collective brings their own references and they are shared.

WHAT ARE YOUR LUCIDITY PILLS?

1 – Our brand, Florania, is a container of talent, an artistic collective in constant evolution.

2 – In our process we first look around and salvage what the industry discards, such as vintage garments or textile remnants. Then we create the collection.

3 – Each member of the collective is empowered and has authorship over a section of projects, in constant dialogue.