As Europeans depart for the beaches of Cinque Terre and Sardinia – August is a notoriously high travel time for the southern part of the continent – we are reaching for the most colorful parts of our closets.
A celebration of high summer, sunshine yellow, cloud white and poppy red seem to fly into our hands, beckoning us out on a holiday of our own. While still relevant to the upbeat tempo of city living, these pieces remind us of long, sunsoaked afternoons eating fresh tomatoes off the vine.
Daniela Gregis is drawn to this palette like a bee to pollen, exploring and transforming its vibrancy with every new collection. Red in particular is a powerful component of her work. To understand its significance to the Italians is to immerse oneself in thousands of years of Greco-Roman history. It’s the color of passion and verve – of sangue, vino and a favorite lipstick.
Chromatic hues such as Titian and Pompeiian Red both originated from Italy’s famed artistic eras. Red stretches across the country, from the sunset cast on the Dolomites to the cheery, striped umbrellas found along the Amalfi coast. Perhaps that is why Daniela is so drawn to the color – even tucked away in the verdant hills of Bergamo, red’s magnetism is inescapable.
Splashed across a pair of lightweight linen pants, or peeking from the pockets of a breezy cotton top, Daniela presents the freedom inherent to such a storied color. She showcases red both in its most simple form, rendered in lovely cotton and silk, but in a decorative interpretation in her use of organic Liberty fabrics. To be cheeky: in Daniela’s playful hues, we’re given the permission to bee.
“The plants have enough spirit to transform our limited vision.”
— Rosemary Gladstar
