Avant Toi
Genoa, Italy
Avant Toi sits at the cutting edge of luxury knitwear. Forward-thinking, innovative and extraordinary, they have revolutionized classical cashmere into an aesthetic urban and avant-garde without sacrificing the material’s inherent elegance. Their superior quality knits are shredded, painted and spattered to create Avant Toi’s signature juxtaposition of grunge and luxe.
Founded in 1994 by Liapull Cashmere, Avant Toi flouts stylistic standards and instead gives life to innovative and experimental techniques. Today it is led by artistic director Mirko Ghignone, who continually manipulates the boundaries of luxury cashmere, silk and linen. Pieces are smoked, torn, destroyed, blended and air-brushed to become new creations that are refined, yet provoking. Mirko’s originality blends distinctive character and custom colorways that emphasize the texture and beauty of each knit.
By creating collections alive with contradiction, Avant Toi has perfected a broad empirical language that resonates with many. A true creative, Mirko finds inspiration for the pieces in fine art. His uncanny eye for color is only surpassed by his profound love for it, imbuing the heart of Avant Toi with an emotional potency only found in a storied palette.
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Featured Pieces
Red & Orange
Camellia e Mandarancio
Artistic director Mirko Ghignone’s affinity with nature can be seen throughout the collection. With hues such as Camellia Red, Mandarancio Orange and Goji Red the ultra-soft silk shirts and lightweight knits pull inspiration from the natural world. Hand-painted with Avant Toi’s signature rebellious style, each piece tells its own color story.
Pink & Purple
Quarzo e Clematis
Among the silky cashmere and soft cotton bouclé textures for spring, designer Mirko Ghignone has keenly slipped in a handful of upgraded floral prints into the Avant Toi collection. True to the style of this studio, the prints are stamped on raw fabric before being dyed by airbrush–a handwork technique that creates a unique spray of color across each piece.
Shades of Blue
Ginepro e Titanium
For every collection, new techniques are used to create highly saturated and sumptuous garments. Because every garment is initially knit in white, the fibers are able to absorb a kaleidoscope of color. Paint rollers, paint brushes, airbrushes, color throwing and color dripping are just some of the many artistic methods used by Mirko Ghignone.
Vibrant Green
Verde e Pepita
Avant Toi’s silks radiate more like gemstones than textiles. These pieces, like all Avant Toi garments, are made in Genoa by artisans with decades of experience. The results are silk pieces unparalleled in softness and hue such as the Nero Lime and Pepita Greens.
Grey & Black
Nero e Ghiaccio
While we love Avant Toi’s bold colors, their nuetrals also know just how to shine, from the subtle sheen of the silk Barchetta top in Nero Avena Grey to the texture of the lightweight cashmere and silk Stondata sweater in Nero Black.
Earthy Brown
Carruba e Avena
While we often get caught up in their rich colorways, Avant Toi’s textures are nothing short of heavenly. They are adept at mixing silk and cashmere in particular to create slippy, lightweight knits that sing against the skin.
Scarves & Shawls
Sciarpe e Scialli
Pioneering the unconventional treatment of cashmere and silk, Mirko Gighone’s Quadrello scarves artfully mix intense color with the absence thereof. Shimmery silk meets irregularly felted cashmere edges. Vintage floral prints are sprayed with pigment until each piece enters a balance between refinement and sophistication on one hand, and an avant-garde spirit on the other.
