The "infinite love" of Aurilio's debut collection

It's a bit unusual, in the days of quiet luxury, essentials and whatever trends are buzzing these days on TikTok, for a brand to draw inspiration from such ancient and esoteric imagery as that of the Middle Ages. But that is what Aurilio has done, a fledgling brand that made its debut last February whose initial spark was already ignited in May 2021 when, as its founders told us, Aurilio was born «as a true act of faith». Aurilio's story is the story of «unconditional and pure love», which becomes the foundation of the brand's values right from its name. In fact, as the founders explain «Aurilio is the surname of the mothers of the two brand founders. Their love for Aurilio is the driving force behind our products and our story made not only of clothing but also of values, messages and teachings». The brand is not only all-Italian but ultra-local, based in Castellanza, in the province of Varese, where 80 percent of the in-house team was born and raised. This area is known for its great textile culture, which prompted the brand's founders to «keep production in the Olona Valley area to ensure that the standards of the KM0 supply chain were met».

As mentioned, Aurilio's creativity draws on an esoteric and medieval aesthetic, a value to which the founders define «spiritual identity». The idea of creating a brand that was endowed with a spiritual (and therefore not only aesthetic) identity was born at a moment in history «dense with social questions and uncertainties», one year after the start of the pandemic. To answer these questions, Aurilio's founders chose to create a brand that looked at luxury but interpreted it under the sort of «Noble values that were applicable to the individual rather than to the "mere" garment». And that is how Aurilio's emblem became the Modern Knight, who is «an individual who shows himself for his values by inviting others to pursue the path of the common good, leaving behind the pursuit of personal glory». An emblem on which then inevitably medieval visual suggestions have been accumulating, linked to a past evoked with idealism but without inapt nostalgia: «The medieval aesthetic was a natural consequence, and we decided to elevate it with a touch of esotericism». And it is precisely this research in the field of esotericism, myth and legendary narratives that has produced the collection An Infinite Love, which originated as a study of archetypes associated with the medieval world and brought back into contemporary contexts. «From the cross-temporal examination of these characters», the founders explained, «a marriage of past, present and future, of medieval and contemporary fashion, of classical and more experimental and innovative manufacturing techniques is born».

Mystery and the unknown are subtly present in Aurilio's collections, «like a shadow» or «a mystycal aura» that surrounds its designs. And the debut collection just presented wants to «on the one hand experimenting with the potential of haute couture and on the other hand offering less elaborate garments that perfectly fit all needs», using techniques such as up-cycling and 3D printing that combine the ancient technique of repurposing used fabrics and the innovative technique of creating them from scratch. The decision to adopt a basic color palette, based on black and white, serves to create an initial neutral background on which to progressively build meanings based on history and symbolism as the collections continue. «Indeed, since the Middle Ages, black has always been the emblem of evil, white on the other hand of purity. Even the few color accents added to the collection are not accidental: Yellow was associated with the outcasts, the different». But the brand's cultural quest also moves on the cultural tracks of nobility: noble is the purpose of the brand's creative and production choices, and noble is the respect brought to its values and products. «The aesthetic of the archival collection differs from the ready-to-wear part in the purpose of the two lines», the founders explain. The idea is to build bridges between the past and the present but also between the present and the future - harking back to the imagery of the Middle Ages does not mean relegating oneself to the past. «Commitment to communicating the past with the future is represented by Aurilio's digital component, an aspect that we attend to just as carefully», they explain. «Aurilio wants to insert itself into digital fashion, and to make this happen we have a meta platform that will soon give people the ability to wear digital garments through VR technology».