This month's blog is dictated to San Lorenzo (today the 10th of August) and it being the co patron of Florence (together with San Giovanni which is June 24th)! I cannot ignore the fabulous moments that this past month or so has brought to us here in Italy, and for many, (Italians and not), around the world with all the fantastic international events taking place.
I wish to tie today's celebration here in Florence with the celebration of life! Fashion is an instrument for fun and happiness and I literally believe that the entertainment we got from the recent months with all the sports events and hearing the National Anthem many times over, without it being tied to the difficult moments of anguish due to the global crisis of this past year, has allowed us all to breathe in fresh air and live a little more light heartedly. We are literally all living the "Chiellinisch" effect - for those of you unaware, this was a term coined by the German Journalists for Chiellini's fun attitude during the European Cup! A huge THANK-YOU to all the athletes, artists and musicians that have made this summer so far, one of the best in a long time and truly a much needed moment of celebration!
Pure entertainment, as mentioned from the European Cup, but also Wimbledon, the Eurovision Song Contest, and now, the Olympics. It seems that Sports, music and art all help bring out the emotions of being part of a group, part of a nation. Italy, for those that know us well, is very diversified in its habits, in its geomorphology, in its culture from North to South - sometimes enough to create gaps in collaboration and in unified efforts for progress and a general common good. But Sports, art, music, culinary moments, ... well they all definitely tie us together and allow us to rejoice in unison! The Dolce Vita effect I'd call it! brings down barriers and resistance! And fashion is a part of this love for fun and playtime!
Indeed, festivities and festivals are a way to bring out the joy of life and hopefully become contagious. To a small degree, we hope that with our artisan goods here in the #Oltrarno of Florence, you will find tolkens to this Viva la Vita motto. Today many of you may have seen the parade in Florence, for San Lorenzo, (a very important character in the Renaissance storybook). If not, we hope to help you enjoy it even if from afar, by following the video posted by #firenzeprimaedopo on
whom I thank for posting this video and allowing me to share it with all of you!!
How does fashion fit into all of this? Well, because being very tied to my roots and living here in Italy has allowed me to connect with the history which is my own too, and express my creativity to the utmost and hopefully bring the message of fun in fashion to other parts of the world with affordable accessories. And even a parade, such as the one today, gives me ideas and spurns inspiration. Being creative and artistic is a way to indulge in your emotions. Fashion accessories, in my humble opinion, are a manifestation of those emotions and we hope that you can feel the vibrations of the Monnaluna proposals and make them your own by allowing us to customise them for you.
One of my most significant lines are the Monnaluna cross elements. Each cross is dedicated to a place that is close to my heart. So far, we have made crosses named after Florence, Rome, Bologna, Siena, Pompeii and soon, more will follow.... Everywhere I go to in Italy has a special flavour - the sights, the people, the dialects and the food. So when I feel the place in my heart, I generate a new cross element that I dedicate to those magnificent places
But I will save the discussion on colours and their emotional meaning, for another blog post. Stay tuned for some summertime "joie de vivre"! We will be posting some very new and original photos VERY soon!!