Venice’s artisanal excellence promotes the city and offers a unique perspective on fashion: here are eleven ateliers and their iconic creations.
Let us discover eleven Venetian artisans together with an itinerary through the Open Ateliers and their creations featuring upcycling and reuse, innovative materials, design, and new concepts.
1. Teod’Amar
The beautiful Calle della Mandola is enriched by the new boutique of the artisanal brand Teod’amar. Creative director Norma Marzà offers a selection of objects and accessories made by her craftswomen: feathered straw bags, furlane slippers decorated in precious fabrics by Luigi Bevilacqua and Rubelli, Salviati glass, gold and silver jewel tattoos produced by Mario Berta Battiloro, the precious beach towel—from which the brand takes its name—and the brand-new clutches with a bracelet handle that becomes a necklace, wearable and versatile works of art.
Teod’Amar, San Marco, Calle della Mandola 3708
info@teodamar.com
2. Alessandra Micolucci
The brand of Venetian eco-designer and seamstress Alessandra Micolucci is a tribute to wearability and nature.
Seasonality characterizes the phases of her entirely artisanal production: garments are made with organic and biological fabrics such as nettle, hemp, and linen. Each fabric is hand-painted with inks obtained through techniques of fermentation, drying, and boiling of natural elements or foods: vegetables, leaves, peels, bark, wood, and materials found in nature during a specific time of year.
A great alchemical work composed of waiting, patience, respect, and knowledge of processes; a continuous experimentation that gives each individual garment an absolutely unique identity.
Currently, in Alessandra’s atelier, one can find clothes and accessories in red and earthy tones, marbled colors derived from onion and eucalyptus, the result of last season’s treasures.
Alessandra Micolucci, Calle de la Racheta, Cannaregio 3741/3735
info@alessandramicolucci.com
3. Lara Perbellini. Tailoring for gentlemen
The men’s tailoring shop of Lara Perbellini is a gem: located in front of one of the most beautiful churches in Venice, the Church of Miracles, Lara creates bespoke garments with natural, high-quality materials, remaining faithful to traditional men’s tailoring and historical cutting. Her distinctive element is tailoring for gentlemen, characterized by impeccable lines and the smile a client wears when entrusting themselves to her hands.
Every element, from the buttonhole to the inner lining, is hand-sewn. One of her garments is a combination of ideas and desires, enhanced by the timeless art of tailoring that fits and follows the anatomy of the body for fashion to be worn for a lifetime.
A spoiler: Lara confided to us that she will soon create a pocket square with a poem inside, because “if a man must make a woman cry, it should only be with joy.”
Lara Perbellini, Campiello dei Miracoli, Cannaregio 6075/A
tailor@laraperbellini.com
4. Valeria Boncompagni
The titanium flower ring from the Flower Collection created by artist and artisan Valeria Sacchi Boncompagni is on our Must-Have list. The uniqueness of this ring lies in its color customization, also available in a rainbow version.
The technique that characterizes Valeria’s work is lost-wax casting: a millenary craft that creates true art sculptures with inlays of semi-precious stones, coral, gold, silver, and bronze. Wearable works of art that tell stories of emotions. Valeria also teaches this type of craftsmanship in her workshop in Piazza San Marco, founded by her grandfather Icilio Boncompagni in the 1920s.
Valeria Boncompagni, Piazza San Marco 130
valeriasacchi7@gmail.com
5. Paperoowl
Ancient techniques and precious handmade works of art in paper. Rare, marbled, or screen-printed prints, all handcrafted and sourced from around the world. This is the Paperoowl world of Stefania Giannici, creator of a unique brand in Venice for paper jewelry, collars, decorations, home decor, and stationery.
Her incredible three-hexahedron earrings made of colorful and lightweight paper beads are a beautiful gift to collect and customize.
Stefania explains: “The Ori Iconic earrings are the model that represents Paperoowl. They get noticed without being flashy; they are versatile, you can wear them during the day if you love dangling earrings, and they are perfect for any occasion. They are made entirely by hand using the origami technique with high-quality Japanese paper, decorated with traditional kimono motifs.”
Paperoowl, Santa Croce 821, Fondamenta Rio Marin.
info@paperoowl.com
6. Ramosalso – Upcycling tailoring
Sartorial style and upcycling creativity: a perfect union of innovation, craftsmanship, and contemporary design. Demis Marin plays “Only For You” with your beloved garments and transforms them into new and original creations.
The scarf-tie is considered his “garment zero”: a fashion accessory that combines the characteristics of a scarf and a tie, suitable for any formal or informal occasion.
“The tie is perhaps the most ‘useless’ item of men’s clothing – explains Demis – because it has only one function and today it is perhaps even in decline: I therefore find it perfect as a starting point for designing new garments and finding new uses for it.”
Ramosalso, Rialto Market, Calle del Bo, San Polo 838
info@ramosalso.com
7. Giuliana Longo
She is the Master of the art of hat-making in Venice. Milliner Giuliana Longo carries on the family trade started in 1901 in her workshop and shop in San Salvador, next to Rialto, which has received the title of Historical Enterprise of Italy.
Her skilled hands craft hats of every shape and origin. Famous worldwide are her bespoke headpieces, customized in infinite varieties: in straw, fabric, felt, and colorful, whimsical tricorne hats. One of her latest trends is hairstyles for special occasions: constructions of flowers and ribbons embellished with fabrics and innovative elements using 3D laser printers, offering unique and customizable elegance.
In her atelier, one can also find the traditional gondolier’s hat made of straw, woven with double satin trim for summer, or in black cloth with a pom-pom bow for winter.
Giuliana Longo, Calle del Lovo, San Marco 4813
8. Vanessa Milan
Fishing nets suspended on wooden poles and stilt houses are reflected in the still Venetian waters, which turn from green to blue and pink in the silence of the lagoon. This is the series of chalcographic engravings printed in etching on original Hydrographic maps of the lagoon from the late 1960s.
The Atelier Vanessa Milan is a creative space near the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Vanessa is an artist specializing in illustration, graphics, and engraving in screen printing, etching, and woodcutting. Editor-in-chief of her independent publishing house Edizioni DoppioFondo, she is a curator of exhibitions such as Project Room for CAMeC (Museum of Contemporary Art of La Spezia), and organizes workshops with associations, the Department of Mental Health, and within the prison rehabilitation program.
Vanessa Milan, Dorsoduro 3848
atelier@vanessamilan.org
9. PerlamadreDesign
Every single bead is handmade by designer Simona Iacovazzi, originally from Salento, who chose Venice for her love of Murano glass art.
“Sustainability is zero waste.” This is the core philosophy in Simona’s work for her brand PerlamadreDesign: making the best use of all available resources, avoiding waste, and reducing environmental impact.
Her contemporary Murano glass jewelry, made using the lampworking technique, is indeed created by minimizing waste as much as possible, recovering old glass rods and discontinued pieces.
Her shop-workshop displays her latest works: the Isolari are small, numbered works of art composed of colorful mosaics made from waste glass and the brand’s own production beads, set in gilded frames, telling the story of the seabed and the disappeared islands of the Venice lagoon.
Perlamadre design, Calle del fabro, Dorsoduro 3282
@perlamadredesign.com
10. Meracu
In the small shop near Campo Santa Maria Formosa, Shanti Ganesha is a young Venetian artisan who creates leather bags, folders, plant holders, belts, coin purses, and more.
The shapes are essential, with a strong spirit of comfort and sustainability. Each of her projects is handmade, designed to be durable over time and respectful of the environment: from cutting to sewing, from edge finishing to the use of vegetable-tanned leather, from natural and biodegradable packaging to donating a portion of her proceeds to reforestation initiatives.
Among her most iconic creations are the Crisalide bag and the Spigolo backpack—both with patented designs: the first inspired by the shape of a cocoon or a crumpled leaf, the second a minimalist tetrahedron. It is hard to choose!
Meracu, Fondamenta dei preti, Castello 5842
info.meracu@gmail.com
11. Atelier 23
Fosca Parisi is a young and talented Venetian seamstress. Her creative space is a workshop specializing in the creation of formal and evening wear near the Malibran Theater.
Her work is part of a life project dedicated to sustainable and bespoke fashion, where each dress is unique and reflects the individuality of the wearer. “I believe that my clothes should describe the uniqueness of each of us; therefore, every piece is conceived differently, inspired by the person who commissions it from me.”
Perfection in craftsmanship, the use of fine fabrics, attention to detail, and the use of local artisanal accessories form the basis of her creativity as a hallmark of her being a (fashion) designer of desires.
Atelier 23, Corte Malibran 5878
atelier23venezia@gmail.com
Article by Lucia Pecoraro.
Cover photo by Marta Formentello.
Photos are by Farid Zarrinabadi and Marta Formentello for Atelier23, Marta Formentello for Ramosalso and Teod’Amar, Massimo Peca for Vanessa Milan, Nicoletta Fornaro (jewelry) and Settimo Cannatella (portrait) for Valeria Boncompagni, Andrea Ganzaroli and Marco Paris for Paperoowl, Marta Formentello and Massimo Peca for Alessandra Micolucci, Marta Formentello and Igor Serdyukov for Meracu, Igor Serdyukov for Lara Perbellini, Rossana Viola and Marta Formentello for Giuliana Longo.
