Issue #59
Elisa Padrin
L'Innamorata
Elisa Padrin is currently Design Director for the accessories department of Maiyet, a New York based brand that celebrates rare artisanal skills from unexpected places, revives ancient techniques and elevate the next generation of master craftsmen from places such as India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mongolia, and Peru, and promote stability and prosperity in their communities. She is in charge of ideating and designing shoes, handbags, belts and small leather goods. Elisa studied at IED, European Institute of Design in Milan and already in that period she started working for iconic Italian brands like Robera Di Camerino. Right after graduation she has joined the team of Alessandro Dell’Acqua, now Creative Director of N’21, where she was in charge of the accessories collection for men and woman. After 5 years with Dell’Acqua she moved to Yves Saint Laurent, working with Stefano Pilati first and Hedi Sliman after, designing some of their bestsellers bag. She moved to the US in 2012 and felt in love with the Maiyet project, philosophy and enterprise. Maiyet was the reality in New York that was giving her the unique opportunity of working on a luxury brand combining the craftmanship of the “made in Italy” approach with the ethical beauty of a social purpose.
I love Theatre, Cinema, Art, Photography, Nature. And somehow I leverage these interests in anything I do in Fashion. I love to keep my mind wide open, absorbing external emotional inputs and transforming them in inspiration for my design or my personal art. I have the fortune of traveling a lot for work and meeting new people, seeing new places, being exposed to new things going on around the world.
I followed my heart. And I wasn’t that sure at first, I love deeply my country, and I’m very close to my family, but New York got me immediately. There’s so much that this city and this country can offer, and everything here seems possible. There’s a positive energy and that’s the perfect home for my dreams and my passions. There’s so much of everything. In my work as fashion designer this is a great creative challenge and opportunity, if you succeed in capturing the attention of your users and engaging emotionally your consumer in a city like this one then you are already half way in the path to success.
There’s so much that happens here daily, that I can’t really define one best memory. I met amazing people and amazing friends, and I had amazing experiences. Probably one of my best memories tough was the feeling I had the day that I have actually felt that I was perfectly integrated in the city – that I was a NewYorker. It was a day that I was travelling back to the city from Europe and for the first time I felt that I was going “home”.
Seaport is my heaven on earth. I’ve lived in different areas of the city, but this is the more “european” one.Every time I go back home, after work or traveling, I love to go on my terrace and look at the skyline and the River and “re-charge my batteries”. Nature is what I miss the most in New York, but the red sky during a sunset brings a fragment of that nature straight to my heart. I wore Maiyet, because that’s the output of the work and spirit that I love. I’m wearing a nice peace of design and I’m proud of the “soul” that’s behind it. I love dark colors, I find them still elegant.
It is the tale of the love story between Italians and New York. We show who we are by choosing a place that means something to us, and New York shows itself trough us, and the way we have been changed by the city. It’s amazing to see all those talented people sharing the same love and passion for the city, and seeing how that “love” have been changing them too.
When you are in love with your country and proud of it, you’ll naturally promote it by communicating this passion daily. Food, Art, Design, Fashion: there’s so much that our country can offer. My office and my apartment are full of art, photography, food and books that tell a story about my passion for my country, its history, elegance and culture. All my products are made in Italy, and I can proudly say that that craftsmenship is still unbeatable. I’m also working with my company to promote artisanal skills and elevate the next generation of master craftsmen hoping to remain unbeatable for many more generations.
