A Bergamo family business challenging the fast fashion status quo

In the medieval city of Bergamo, is a design store that creatives head to like pilgrims. They come to Daniela Gregis, who has been on Piazza Vecchia for almost 30 years, for her thoughtful interpretation of timeless style that bends like a willow in the hurricane of trends. Here, noble, simple fabrics – cotton, silk, linen and cashmere (often remnants or deadstock) – are wrought into playful, elegant shapes showing off their delicate hand finishing. Her silhouettes might have jettisoned into the current day from the 16th century.

‘Our style is supposed to be practical and feel-good – it is not about having to be “someone”. In the making, we have to like and love the item so that we can share that invitation to wear it,’ says Gregis. Over the decades she has gradually evolved the business, building out a lexicon of styles including patchwork cocoon skirts, high-waisted gathered dresses, voluminous trousers, snug wool jackets and tabard tops. ‘Some shapes are born from the fabric; we respect the material and want to cut it less,’ she adds.

Self-taught, Gregis grew up knitting, crocheting and sewing with her family circle. Experimentation, invention and the urge to emphasise the beauty of yarns and cloth is her drive and also an ethos. She became a pioneer of circular fashion long before the mood and necessity hit the mainstream. Yet, at the same time, she strives to move things forward, create new techniques, fabrics (working with historic Italian mills) and shapes. ‘We evolve every item because from the imperfect comes ideas for new items: the wish to have something better, so it is a natural process,’ adds Gregis. The acceptance of change being part of human nature, rather than enforced through trend cycles, is a compelling one.

A Bergamo native, Gregis showed her first collection at a local restaurant, creating looks for all the staff and inviting a few journalists into her world. Over the years, the brand has attracted a devout following. Marisa Lombardi’s boutique in Milan was one of the first stockists and the range can now be found at stores including Mouki Mou and Dover Street Market, in both London and Ginza. The brand was later accepted onto the official Camera Nazionale Milan Fashion Week calendar, where her seasonal shows always offer up a neat counterpoint to the bombast of ‘glamour’. For her AW26/27 collection entitled Briciole (crumbs), Gregis chose the Oratory of Passion, in the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio complex. One of the regular models in her sunny, lo-fi presentations is 82-year-old Benedetta Barzini. The Italian icon – journalist, author, feminist – is an ideal pin-up for these ageless designs.

Right now, Gregis is happy that she and her team (a small community including her daughter Marta) are able to grow and keep going. The work spaces are scattered around the city, which the team move around ‘like a house’. But you have to keep evolving to keep fashion slow. ‘When time is not running fast, it means there’s something wrong,’ she smiles.