The 'Made in Umbria' Pure Cashmere by Ileana!
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When I first met Ileana and she showed me her beautiful colourful shawls, I immediately fell in love. They are incredibly soft and come in a range of vibrant colours.
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Ileana, who has a background in fashion design, says "If you look at green in nature, it is not just one colour, but thousands of different shades of green. All my designs are inspired by the colours of the natural gardens in Umbria."​
Ileana at work
Cashmere wool
Ileana in her garden
Ester Ileana, you have had a long career as a designer. What brought you into the world of fashion?
Ileana Actually, my career as a designer began more or less by accident. As a young girl after high school, I looked for a job to go on vacation, and found something with a fashion house in Bologna. Initially for a month. At the time I didn't really know much about this profession, but I was eager to learn and just started drawing. My first designs were leather dresses with a knitted wool neckline and sleeves. The company loved it and decided to put the dresses into production, which proved to be a great commercial success.
Ester That sounds like a dress I would have loved to buy!
Ileana Since then, I have been working on many different designs for them, including 'prêt-à-porter'. I traveled the world, went to Paris and New York to find inspiration and match my designs to the trends. The company grew fast, but unfortunately it reached a stage where they couldn't keep up with the demand. However, by that point my name was established, representatives knew me, and I was able to find new work quickly.
Ester How did you end up in Umbria?
Ileana Also thanks to my work, because one of my clients was based in Perugia. I immediately fell in love with the region and decided this was the place I wanted to stay and buy a house. When I started to slow down a bit, instead of painting canvases, I began to combine Umbrian cashmere colours in scarves. For me, all those different wool threads in a rainbow of colour are the palette.
Ester You have a beautiful flower garden with a fantastic view. Is nature in Umbria of inspiration for you?
Ileana Yes, absolutely, I don't go to New York or Paris anymore, but get my inspiration from my garden. I have yellow flowers, next to them a purple flower grows spontaneously in perfect combination. Not only in spring, but also in the other seasons there is an unimaginable colour splendor. Look at the leaves, there you see ochre, green, brown, beige in endless variations. I transfer these colours to my shawls. 'Mother Nature' is my teacher. She shows me how to do it!
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Ester That's a wonderful story, thank you Ileana ! I am proud PortaPerugia has the opportunity to show your shawls on our site. ​