SLOWING DOWN WITH NITTO: THE SPRING/SUMMER COLLECTION
We were first mesmerized by Nitto when we met Giorgia and Stefano in their Paris showroom. They described to us how each piece has been dreamt up in Italy and hand-knitted and crocheted with the highest quality technique and attention to detail. Since then, we’ve welcomed the collection into the shop and gotten to know the duo behind the brand. Read on for what influences them and how the line first took shape.
Can you tell us a little bit about Nitto? What was the impetus to start the collection? And where does the name Nitto stem from?
We moved to Brazil and Giorgia decided to end her work experience with Daniela Gregis. While planning to look for a new job, the Pandemic arrived, making it difficult to find any job in the world. For this reason, Giorgia began to produce a small capsule and start an Instagram page and website. Suddenly it became Nitto, and it has continued to grow since then, 2020. The first real collection was presented just in late 2021.
The naming of Nitto came from Japanese friend of Giorgia, Maiko, who used to “Japanize” or “Italianize” some word in English – thus, Nitto was born when she wanted to say "I knit" in Italian. :)
I love that each garment from Nitto includes information on the seamstress/knitter who worked on each piece. Can you tell us a bit about your team that creates your designs? How long does it take to make each garment?
We work with independent women working from their own home, their identity is very important to us, and in order to value their time spent knitting we also write the number of hours worked to produce one garment. It takes around 30 hours on average but may reach up to 50 hours depending on the piece difficulty and yarn type.
Getting to feel the garments is so transformative as each piece has such rich fabrication, texture and design. What fabric are you most excited to work with right now?
We maintain all production in Italy because the quality of material and manufacturing is the highest; we aim to be at the best level we can at a decent price. For that reason, 100% Italian cotton poplin (we only use 100% natural materials) will always be in the collection for the weight and the ease to wear. Of course we also are always researching new types of fabrics and we love to introduce something new each season.
Do you have a favorite piece from the collection? What's your go-to Nitto uniform?
For the Summer it would probably be Quarto pants and Pincel vest. Easy and comfortable.
I read that your background is in classical violin. How did you transition from being a professional musician to fashion designer?
Giorgia learned to play the violin when she was 3 years old, so it was always part of her life. Eventually, it became stressful and a very competitive environment in Italy so she needed to take a break from it and fashion was the new chapter that she needed. Because of this, her artistic personality has been able to continue developing, just within a different topic.
Do you like to listen to anything specific while you're designing a collection? Is there a musician or song that inspired your S/S 24 collection?
Here is a playlist from the SS24 collection.
Coming from Italy, does the landscape and culture influence your designs?
The beauty we are surrounded by, of course, influences everything: our heritage is enormous and we feel it. Since we spent 4 years in Brazil, we were able to taste the difference and we are now able to appreciate even more the cultural influence that Giorgia has. Also she has done classical studies so she has an understanding of the classics and how it relates to culture and the arts, in general. She is quite sensitive in that way.
Thank you for your time, we look forward to seeing new creations from Nitto next season!
xx