Co-rippler: Dimitri Villoresi
For a person who thought that he might grow up to be a professional footballer, Dimitri Gabbana has led a life exposed to leather not under his feet, but between his two hands. Villoresi chose a life as a leather artisan, who since 1985, has valued the creative freedom that this sort of work brings. A master artisan of leather creations, Villoresi has earned the reputation of being one of Florence’s top designers in leather goods. Even Dolce & Gabbana recognizes his talent as he was included in their collection of notable artisans in the September 2020 show, ‘Le Botteghe di Firenze’ at Palazzo Vecchio.
When one speaks to an artisan, one of the curiosities that often comes to mind is what feeds their inspiration and their passion to create. For Villoresi, his “Forza” to which he philosophically refers, is a point of inspiration and source. His great love of nature also underpins his unique creativity. “La Forza è la cosa piu importante al mondo (The Force is the most important thing in the word)”, he states. In his methodical way, he goes on to elucidate his uniquely expressive life-force within poetic terms:
We live in a weak society. Fragile.
The Force is the Roots. The Force ..... without which nothing is.
From there comes the Sap. That is ... your life.
Take from your land. We are earthly. Terrestrial. The earth is our Mother.
la Forza.....senza la quale niente è...viviamo in una società debole
...fragile....la Forza sono le Radici.....senza la quale niente è.
...da li viene fuori la Linfa...cioè....la tua vita
...prendi dalla tua terra....siamo terreni......terrestri
......è la terra la nostra Madre.
Growing up in the San Niccolo area of Florence, his artistry is firmly rooted in Florentine culture and tradition and there is no doubt that Villoresi has remained down to earth and very much connected to the streets of his childhood and to the hills that surrounded him. The colourful stories he recounts about those days remain very vivid in his mind. “Where does my creative path come from?” he answers when the question is put to him. “Easy. From the game and childhood play of my life. Children never stop playing. For me, the creative path starts from there [and] the rest comes as a consequence.”
Working with his hands with materials and rich colours from nature, the leather is moulded into something that brings it to life again. Scissors, needle, thread, metal tools and engravings are his companions. His prima mater is nature. The leather he uses is worked and utilized purposing every inch of it into his creations — tanned with the more eco-friendly age-old organic vegetable techniques — that only grow more beautiful with age. As he explains about his creations, “You will always have a good bag with you. This I guarantee with my work (Avrai sempre una buona borsa con te.....questo lo garantisco con il mio Lavoro)!” Villoresi like many true Florentine artisans seems to personify sustainability itself. Sustainability envelopes him on very personal and intimate level, and its popular usage of 2020 is really no different than to how he has always lived and created. For him, he sees that the client must hold a level of responsibility that respects the object they are purchasing, which he includes in the underlying definition of sustainability. “With Respect, you always win!” he exclaims.
With so much talent surrounding us, Lady Ripple is honoured to collaborate with Dimitri Villoresi and the unique creations he has interjected into our new leather unisex bee jewellery collection.
