Ending the week with weekly inspirational dosage - this time featuring a brand that might not be the most familiar for many in Scandinavia, Europe or in the US but that has during the last years gained a lot of appreciation and success in Asia, especially in Japan and South Korea. Today taking a glimpse of summer and spring look book of Italian Mario Muscariello.
In general could be said that Mario Muscariello offers a contemporary and sophisticated style featuring touch of casual & sporty elements. The selection as well as the look book for the season combines casual and chic total look with Neapolitan tailoring traditions.
Mario Muscariello - The Company
Mario Muscariello is Neapolitan tailoring house with over 50 years experience of producing hand-sewn shirts and jackets - a family business now run by Mario Muscariello who continues the work of his father Giuseppe Muscariello.
All the garments are made in Naples, Italy and the company provides two different lines - first of all ready-to-wear garments under the label “Mario Muscariello Naples” and secondly exclusive made-to-measure tailoring under their so-called black label “Mario Muscariello Sartoria”. As mentioned, the company concentrates on design and craftsmanship of men’s shirts, jackets and suits. Probably the most well-known pieces by Mario Muscariello are the “CapriShirt” - a very light weight popover-type of shirt usually made of linen fabrics and the “ShirtJacket” again light weight, totally unlined and unstructured sport coat especially suitable for warm climate and hot summer days.
According the company, the man who chooses "Mario Muscariello Napoli" is young at heart regardless of its true age. A person who likes to keep in shape and appear in public, who often travels and plays a dynamic role in modern society. A person of taste who likes to dress without being confused between the mass. A man that when traveling, it needs unique garments that fit between them so as to minimize the size of his luggage, but which at the same time give the possibility to be combined together in order to create different fit for different circumstances.
Mario Muscariello spring and summer 2015
I met Mario last January at Pitti (unfortunately very shortly) and recently he was kind enough to send me their new released look book for this spring and summer. The look book was quite broad so I have picked here a few of my personal favorites - mostly representing the more restrained and monochromatic pieces of the collection. As you can see from the company's website they do carry in their selection full range of bold colors and shirt featuring very bold and exclusive prints for example and in the bottom you can get a glimpse of those as well. However I dare to say that the pics I've chosen quite well capture the very essence of the brand featuring light weight and unstructured garments made of linen fabrics that confirm their origin to a hot and seductive country which is the Italy.
What's special for Muscariello products - according to Mario is that he and they try to find new and innovative ways of producing their garments featuring sustainable materials. For this spring and summer there are two materials highlighted - Corozo and Gelsolino.
The Corozo that is used for buttons, is also known as vegetable ivory and made from the seeds of a palm tree that grows in the rainforests of South America. Once the fruit has dried texture, color and appearance much like animal ivory and can be easily processed and dyed. It's a substitute for animal ivory, and in addition to its ecological importance Mario chose it for its hardness, gloss and no flaking. The Gelsolino is a fiber made from the mulberry, white in color, soft and flexible. According to Mario he puts it in the collection for its shine, silky, perfectly in keeping with his philosophy related to the use of natural fibers and maximum sustainability. In fact, the Gelsolino is derived from the collection of seasonal pruning of mulberry plants which are still widespread in different regions of Italy and instead of just being abandoned the energy is used to produce this fiber extremely soft and shiny.
The look book is a great source of inspiration not only for those interested of Mario Muscariello's products but once again for anyone interested of keeping his selection simple, interchangeable and restrained.
And as it seems that popover-shirts are going to be one of the biggest trends this summer - I'm really looking forward to visit Mario's showroom in Milan in June. Pics and review will follow.
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