Cabinet Milano: a humanist project

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Cabinet Milano is a brand born from the collaboration of Rossana Passalacqua and Francesco Valtolina.

They do not like to associate the definition of a brand with their work, but Francesco presents it as a unique and defined concept, to which they dedicate themselves constantly and in continuous evolution, from which they subsequently developed their creations.

Cabinet is a formal line, which stands on a series of stakes, children of a reading that both give to their vision of fashion. Both have been working continuously within the system for years, although often investing different roles: Francesco deals with communication, the art direction of various fashion magazines and with graphic design; but also about contemporary art and a magazine called Mousse, of which he co-founded the Establishing publishing house and at the same time he has a design studio called Dallas. Rossana has been involved in Fashion styling for many years.

Francesco says: "Having worked in the system for years, it was immediately clear how the world of fashion was full of contradictions and how simply calendars were generated with frenetic and impossible rhythms and production times that have little to do with the human dimension of doing things: on the basis of these extremisms, we have generated the theoretical and conceptual skeleton behind Cabinet, in complete contradiction with what seems to pass for normality. "

He is keen to specify that everything that is produced, starting from the creative process, points to quality and the human dimension. Maintaining artisanal and non-industrial dimensions is a fundamental detail of their creations. He defines Cabinet as "a humanist project", explaining that he uses this adjective in its Renaissance meaning, as the result of a human network somewhat antithetical to the established models of fashion. He says: "Small and medium-sized brands should not feel obliged to align themselves with the production targets of the big brands, out of human reach, with calendars and rhythms that make you lose those that are important values, generating productive waste."

Their desire is to keep away from these frivolous and embarrassing needs. The fabrics of their collections, sometimes, are fabrics in stock or discarded by other brands that choose certain quantities of materials, but which then prove superfluous, confused by the incongruous numbers between production and distribution, which often do not coincide.

These fabrics allow them to maintain a sort of continuity and dialogue between their collections, so even if the pieces change, the material with which they are produced is also used for a couple of years, until stocks are exhausted, so such as to reduce the environmental impact and the pollution that their production can generate.

So he adds: “the word ethics always scares me a little, because it is not among our things to put ourselves in a teaching position. But living that kind of contradiction every day, we wanted something tailor-made for us and for all the people who in turn are users of fashion and in some way passively suffer it. To avoid this condition of inadequacy in the face of the incessant need to keep up with the latest trends and voraciously consume everything that the market offers us, our brand is born. "

They try not to conform to fashion calendars, trying to be freer even in the number and deadlines imposed by the system. But the difficulty arises when one begins to dialogue with shops, necessary for the physical distribution of the collections, which push to take into consideration their timing as well. Their production is carried out only after being ordered: it is a necessary choice to reduce waste and environmental damage. In principle, the strategy adopted is to present it at the appropriate times and in keeping with the buyers' purchase. They oppose the creation of collections of 25/30 pieces, proposing mini collections of two or three pairs of pieces, concentrating the production on quality and not on numbers and proposing some of them that represent a complete whole, without many variations in colors or fabrics. It is all linked to the condition of the spiritual feasibility of time and care for things.

Their project comes to life in a period in which street style is the trend that best responds to the wishes of the masses, making its way into every context and annihilating the tastes and styles, such as the more formal one, of minorities.

Cabinet is a formal and unisex line, which is perfectly suited to both men and women. It is built on the principle of monochrome, whereby each collection is produced in a single color. In general, they refer to a very narrow color palette, which prefers neutral colors. The other underlying principle is that they work on archetypes in order to create a sort of complete and essential wardrobe, which above all does not have a deadline and which is not fashionable exclusively in a defined time.

The ideal users are profiles who want to buy quality products, made in Italy, made entirely by Italian laboratories, fed up with a type of fashion that aims to satisfy the masses, towards a more formal but less bigoted choice.

“Our first color was gray, the classic business suit color or the stereotypical color of formality. I hope this can push you to want to be able to choose the formality, without being accused of being serious. Our creations are for all those who want to dress in their everyday life with formal clothes, without having to feel like penguins or out of place, just because with a different style from the others, without necessarily being elegant.

I'm interested in the daily dimension, but not in the ceremonial one. "