Roberta di Camerino Handbags Company History.
The Roberta di Camerino story is common knowledge.
It all started with a bag, almost by chance, followed by others, many others, in a kaleidoscope of forms, colours and materials. In fact she was the first designer to attribute a key role to accessories in a woman's wardrobe.
Her creations feature the inborn style and class she conveys to all her work, united with a remarkable sense of colour and a predilection for fine materials. First and foremost "soprarizzo" velvet with new Trompe-l'oeil designs, handwoven on antique looms, according to the Venetian tradition, to retain its unique qualities intact, as well as satin, nappa leather, suede, crocodile, python, shaved mink.
Her path to fame was rapid and relentless. In 1956 she received the prestigious Neiman Marcus "Oscar of Fashion" Award and her bags were all the rage in fashion circles, lauded by greats such as Coco Chanel and Christian Dior, not to mention the success of her famous "Bagonghi" bag as carried by Grace Kelly, Andie McDowell and Isabella Rossellini, or the "Caravel", preferred by Madonna.
In 1963 Roberta di Camerino was invited by Giorgini to Palazzo Pitti's Sala Bianca to present her apparel line, featuring a range of extremely innovative garments that drew their inspiration from trompe-l'oeil, that most magical and deceptive of pictorial traditions.
Each garment's features are printed on jersey fabric, from the buttons and button-holes, to jacket lapels, the blouse, double cuffs, pockets and skirt. Outfits designed to offer the dynamic woman a briefcase-sized wardrobe, commenting with a touch of irony on the limited practicality of the traditional tailleur.
A style revolution in which the cut of the outfit and its construction are replaced by drawn outlines.
In 1965 she bought an island in the Venetian lagoon, once the Republic of Venice's Polveriera or munitions depot, transforming it into a multi-purpose space where she organized a series of spectacular "fashion" shows from 1966 to 1976.
Roberta di Camerino has always been a precursor of the times and an enthusiastic experimenter of new techniques. And while she is the source of numerous innovative styles that draw on the irony of Pop Art or the mysticism of De Chirico, her true passion is surrealism, the artistic style with which she feels greatest affinity, with its intentionally "hyper" forms and triumphant colours.
Salvador Dalì told her: "It's the first time I've seen art in fashion. It takes talent and you've got plenty of that..."
Today the Roberta di Camerino brand offers not only lines of leather wear, apparel and scarves, but also accessories, including footwear, belts, watches and glasses, plus décor objects and much more. This creative scope has made the brand one of the most highly reputed in the world, not to mention one of the best represented in museums.
In the Far East, she has had unprecedented success in Japan, followed by Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
Finally, in 2001, Roberta di Camerino International was set up in Hong Kong to handle the Chinese distribution of her Italian made products, as well as to supervise local licensing contracts for a limited number of non-critical segments.
