Breaking through in Italy is difficult, no matter the industry. And it gets even harder in a world like fashion, which has its cliques, its old and new legends, its dynasties, and its “sons of.” Nevertheless, in fashion, it’s still possible to emerge independently—if you dive in with the right kind of conviction. Giuseppe Di Morabito knows this well. Before his debut at Milan Fashion Week and before landing in top retailers across the globe, «for me, it all started with popstars», Di Morabito tells us. Everything began in Los Angeles. «We had no tools. I had no tools, let’s say. I didn’t know how to make myself visible. When I started twelve years ago (not this brand, which has been around for nine), there was nothing. It was a desert», he recalls. «I was like a stalker: I would look up stylists on LinkedIn—because back then, you didn’t even know who they were, even though today they’re celebrities. I was on Instagram sending messages to stylists. That season I dressed Zendaya three times, Lady Gaga, Emma Roberts—all through DMs. It seemed unreachable, but it was all just around the corner. We were just getting started, we couldn’t invest in big PR moves, so that’s how we launched.» It was 2017, and for a then-emerging Di Morabito, that awards season represented «a real push, especially in terms of distribution, to get the brand known within the industry», since those early red carpet appearances were quickly followed by interest from international buyers and department stores. «After the first articles came out, all the stores reached out to us», the designer remembers. But the real turning point came with the SS23 collection. «By then we were already in the market, we knew the buyers, and after Covid there was this kind of euphoria—everyone wanted to live again. After months in pajamas, people were going nuts and, when they went out, they wanted to dress more flamboyantly. That’s when the boom happened, and that led to StyleCapital coming into the company, the first show, and so on.»
As we speak, sketches of stage costumes, fragments of lace encrusted with crystals, stage layouts, and reference photos are pinned in order on the wall behind him—all the initial elements of the custom-made outfits Di Morabito has worked on for pop stars such as Dua Lipa and Lisa. But recently, Di Morabito has also turned his attention to the world of Italian pop, dressing multiple Sanremo winner Marco Mengoni for his tour. With him, Di Morabito explains, «we developed a fairly custom project, but it started from the show. I had already made his look for the stage, because I often work in womenswear using pieces from men’s wardrobes», he says. In this specific case, «the corset was already a men’s runway look. The female corset actually originates from the male corset—the ones men wore in the 18th century. If you adjust the size scale, it works for menswear too.» The crystal-covered corset, featuring a resin body mold and hand-applied crystals, took two weeks to complete. But does this first custom piece for Mengoni signal the arrival of a full menswear collection? Yes and no. «I started out designing for men. Around 2007 or 2008 [Di Morabito was already working, though the current brand would be born about four years later, ed.] we started with a project that was quite unisex, but mostly masculine. My approach to womenswear has never really been feminine in the classical sense», he explains. «There’s always a contrast—sharp cuts, masculine tailoring. The trousers, for example, are almost always men’s styles that I adapt for women. I wear them myself, too. That’s where my work really begins. I strongly believe in genderless fashion, so for me it’s very easy to shift everything to male sizing. Then came the addition of ultra-feminine dresses—but always counterbalanced by my very masculine DNA, which is always present.» A possible example of this hybrid approach—more structural than merely aesthetic—is found in his crystal-covered blazers, whose internal construction is entirely based on traditional tailoring techniques learned in his native Calabria.
Much like his legendary fellow Calabrian, Gianni Versace, Giuseppe Di Morabito has a mother who’s a seamstress and a deep connection to Southern Italy’s sartorial traditions — although, in his case, this link runs deep in the construction of the garments and rarely manifests in the boho-folkloric sheen that occasionally colors fashion collections with a so-called “regional” aesthetic. That distinction is significant, because Di Morabito’s work represents a truly modern model of how traditional craftsmanship can be transferred into contemporary styles, without falling into the usual nostalgic clichés. «Believe it or not, the first garments were all made in Calabria», he recalls, «the first collections were entirely crafted there, between my mother and the cloistered nuns who would embroider for me. My mother helped me with the crochet, the handmade macramé…» To this day, his mother still contributes to specific finishes for his show pieces. But now that the brand has grown, the primary production site is based in the Marche region. That early tradition, tied to tailoring workshops and classic women’s garments, is now quite literally «kneaded into» the internal structure of his clothes. «There might be a bodice hidden under a dress that holds the whole shape together — that corsetry technique was something they even used in the South for bed construction.» The designer speaks with a note of nostalgia for those early years: «When I was first selling 30 pieces, I could still have them made by the cloistered nuns. Some of those embroideries took six months to complete.» Those roots haven’t left Di Morabito, whose dream for the future is «a real atelier, where you can drape directly on the mannequin, where things are done the old-fashioned way. Unfortunately, craftsmanship is getting lost a bit, and many techniques aren’t even being passed down anymore.»
But a modern brand must face modern challenges. After launching his label, Di Morabito tells us, «the first issue to solve was all the distribution, the quality control… there’s a whole world behind it that’s really tough to navigate if you have no one backing you — not even just financially, but structurally. You’ll collapse.» That’s not a problem for those who «just want to be artists», he clarifies, but «if you want to build something on your own and you don’t know where to start, and you have nothing and no one behind you, you’re guaranteed to make mistakes.» In particular, the logistics around order handling and timing are critical. «It’s a whole system — and if you don’t keep up with it, of course it falls apart. Even we’ve had delays and complications, and that’s with a structure in place.» It’s an essential part of being a designer today: «It would be great if schools included training on business structure», adds Di Morabito, who admits he wasn’t very knowledgeable about bureaucracy at the beginning. «If you’re only taught to create, you can create. But you can’t run a business on your own. That’s why so many designers operate through licensing or with management. Why? Because those companies understand how the machinery works — 12,000 units in a warehouse, dividing them for 180 clients, notifying everyone, processing payments, shipping goods.» As they say, it takes a village. A fashion label, Di Morabito explains, «needs to be a war machine — and mistakes will happen. But if you want to avoid disasters, it’s essential to secure a structure first. You can’t do it alone.» For him, beyond the vision, «if you want to build a brand, you need a structured company.» Success doesn’t come just from visibility. «If you launch with exposure but don’t have the infrastructure, the risk is that you’ll generate demand you’re unable to fulfill.» The real challenge, in his view, is this: «either you manage to build structure, or you find someone who can support you — not just financially, but in terms of production quality, timelines, deadlines, deliveries, back office.»
Perhaps the most striking part of Giuseppe Di Morabito’s success story isn’t where he is now or where he’ll be in five or ten years. It’s the trajectory that brought him to this point — a path shaped by the philosophy of «they’re coming to me, I didn’t have to chase them», where “they” refers to the entire system, the industry, the world. Di Morabito has always chosen to show up on his own terms, without asking for favors. «Because even though I do get recognition for my work, the most important recognition is my own. I never wanted to be a wannabe. In the end, with concreteness and hard work, things reveal themselves.»