Rome has so many fascinating things to discover.
The via condotti is near the famous Spanish Steps.
It is one of the top shopping streets in the Eternal City.
And thats where I am headed to meet up with another top european lifestyle and culture
celebrity.
Everyone welcome to this very special edition of Euromaxx coming to you from the Italian
capital Rome.
We have a very special guest on our show today, the Italian fashion designer Lavinia Biagotti.
Let's go inside and say hi.
And here she is our very special guest and co-host today Lavinia Biagotti.
Thank you so much for having us in your beautiful home here in the middle of Rome.
Thank you so much for coming today.
I was looking so much forward to this special day.
And we're looking forward to it.
You helped us put the show together today so we're going to be looking at some of the
reports that are important to you.
Right.
But the first question I'm sure many of our viewers would like to know what are you wearing
today?
Well I'm wearing something from our Fall Winter 18/19 collection and it is a print and has
some English roses and my mom's signature.
So it keeps her always on my heart.
And do you have any favorite fashion accessories?
Well I'm crazy about fashion and I believe that fashion has to be an ally.... either
outfits clothes or you know accessories that have to make you feel better.
Right now I'm crazy for belts.
This is my belt moment.
It makes me feel more feminine.
Now you just mentioned your mother.
You know you've grown up in the cradle of fashion.
Your mother was the famous fashion designer Laura Biagotti.
and she was also a pioneer in the female fashion world.
So for you as her daughter was there really any other career option for you?
Well first of all I was so blessed to be my mother and my father's daughter.
They were amazing parents and I never felt they were VIPs.
They were so special to me and they were always caring for the little things which I think
is so important in life.
And they left me free to decide to do whatever I wanted in my life but then I chose fashion.
So what is a day in the life of Lavinia Biagotti like?
Well I live in the countryside.
That's why we have our headquarters so I wake up in the green in the morning pretty early.
I take a walk with my dogs and my cats.
I believe that you know having a relationship with nature keeps you calm and keeps you creative
and balances your energy.
And then I start you know going crazy with my two phones, starting e-mails and phone
calls and I drive my golf cart to the office and I am in here about 10 hours.
A long day for me and I'm in the fashion business, sports business, art business and I work with
amazing people so to be fair I do enjoy most of the time I spend in the office.
And then I go back home I take a walk and have dinner with food from the countryside.
And I love to watch movies.
They're very inspiring for me and read books I do.
I don't sleep much.
I do spend a lot of my spare time in the night.
I know Lavinia took over the business from her mother after her mother passed away in
May of 2017 and since then she's been working to keep the label and the collections moving
forward.
We want to take a closer look now at our host today.
The designs are elegant and casual, glamourous and romantically feminine.
Whites and ruffles play a major part in any Biagiotti fashion show - including the first
collection by Lavinia Biagiotti in 2017.
Accessories and elaborate applications on fabrics are real eyecatchers.
The show was a tribute to Laura Biagiotti, who died in May, 2017.
Her daughter Lavinia wore her mother's dressmaking shears on a ribbon and the word 'Mom' on her
heart.
Laura and Lavinia Biagiotti had worked side by side for over 20 years.
Laura introduced her only daughter to the runway at the age of four, and Lavinia learned
the business.
In the 1970s, Laura Biagiotti became known as the Queen of Cashmere with her wool and
cashmere designs, mostly in white.
Top models like Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, and Cindy Crawford did catwalk shows for Biagiotti
in the 1980s and '90s.
Biagiotti was never out to re-invent fashion ..
Fine fabics in desgns not limited to women with a model's figure.
Her classic pieces never go out of style.
To this day, silk and cashmere are Laura Biagiotti staples - as seen here at one of her last
shows.
The company headquarters is the family owned Castello di Marco Simone, about twenty kilometers
from Rome, and surrounded by the comapany's own golf course.
As a child, Lavinia Biagiotti played golf here with her mother and father Gianni.
He died when Lavinia was just seventeen.
She grew up in the castello and lives and works here to this day.
Golfing is her great passion.
In 2022, the course is to stage the famous Ryder Cup competition.
The Laura Biagiotti flagship store is in downtown Rome, near the Spanish Steps.
The new boutique with two and a half floors of selling space opened in late 2017.
The silk garments with motifs of Rome are bestsellers - along with lots of cashmere.
Accessories like handbags and...
....jewelry are also popular.
But the greatest share of revenue comes from the famous Biagiotti perfumes.
Laura Biagotti created 'Roma' in 1988.
The flacon's design is a homage to her home town.
'Roma' remains one of the biggest-selling perfumes in the world to this day.
Milan's Piccolo Teatro has hosted Biagotti fashion shows for 20 years.
Lavinia Biagiotti continues in this tradition, and will keep using this special venue to
present her creations.
And now Lavinia has invited me to take a quick look around the new shop that bears her late
mothers name.
We're now in the flag ship store for Laura Biagotti just a few meters away from the house
of Biagotti.
How's it been for you, Lavinia to fill in your mother's footsteps?
Well it was amazing to be my parents' daughter because I learned so much from them since
I was a child and I traveled all around the world I went to China, Japan, America, Russia
before the age of 10.
So I really tried to learn as fast as I could because I knew at some point in my life I
had to take over the company.
It was amazing to work with her.
We exchanged our roles . We were like you know two soccer players that can play in different
areas in the playground.
So she passed away all of a sudden.
Unexpectedly.
She was doing great until five minutes before.
(So it happened very quickly and I figured out I had to take my responsibilities.
I was afraid of some things but I felt brave on the other hand.
And most of all I felt love.
My mother loved to work so much, she loved me and so that's what I basically do everyday.
I share passion.
So you were pushed into the driver's seat pretty suddenly.
Aside from your mother who would you say are your role models?
Well I have so many.
I am inspired by women, by women in power but most of all by women who can balance family
and work I think that's the greatest power that women can achieve.
It is not just sitting on boards or you know becoming famous politicians but handling you
know your personal life and your success.
I think that's the biggest achievement in life.
Your mother and your grandmother were real pioneers in the fashion industry, your mother
back in the 70s, your grandmother before that.
That was back then.
How is it now for women in the fashion industry particularly here in Italy today?
If you look at the fashion industry there are not so many women in leading roles which
sounds quite unusual because you would say that you know fashion is a female's world.
But still we have to compete as in every other field.
I was lucky enough to be inspired by leading women like my grandmother and my mother.
But this is not as easy for a young generation.
You know I've always tried to be true to myself.
I'm not looking at people if they're male or female.
I believe in energy I believe in being able of you know carrying on your job.
Speaking of energy you're also sponsoring one of the biggest golf tournaments in the
world.
The Ryder Cup.
How did that come about.
Well we're actually hosting the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone which is another adventure
of my life.
It's a beautiful 36 hole golf course that my parents built in the nineties and at some
point four years ago I decided to manage it because I figured out golf could share so
many values, and you know adding more green to our country was very important.
You know giving a legacy to children that's my biggest commitment.
So Italy was bidding for the Ryder Cup against Germany, Austria and Spain and we (happened
to be the candidate selected because we had so criteria matching what the Ryder Cup Europe
was looking for.
And then we) won after 18 months of you know bidding and now we're delivering the Ryder
Cup in 2022 I'm very excited.
It's huge for my country and it's huge for my business.
Definitely something to look forward to.
All right we want to take a look at the city you call home and the city that your family
has remained so loyal to, Rome.
Let's have a closer look.
A walk through Rome is like a visit to a vast open-air museum of three thousand years of
history.
Millions of tourists come to the eternal city every year.
To marvel at famous landmarks like the Pantheon, with the world's largest unreinforced concrete
dome -
and Michelangelo's Piazza del Campidoglio.
Local resident Christian Serrano thoroughly enjoys showing tourists his city.
"Here in Rome, we not only have statues from antiquity but also quite a lot from the Middle
Ages, and from the Renaissance.
Rome is a kind of historical lasagne, because they always built on top of and next to the
old Rome.
Everywhere you look, you see different eras."
Preserving it all is a never-ending task - and financing it an endless challenge.
The Cordonata underwent restoration some 30 years ago - funded by Laura Biagiotti, a pioneer
of fashion industry sponsorship.
The Colosseum, too, is as bright and shiny as in its days of gladiator glory.
Its restoration was funded with 25 million euros from Italian leather goods label Diego
della Valle.
Restorers are hard at work in the narrow streets of the Old Town.
The Piovano family business does woodcutting, mosaics and gold plating.
The father and two daughters have clients from all over the world and also carry out
renovation work for the city of Rome.
"We carry enormous responsibility when working on historical art works.
We have to bring out the beauty of these objects and preserve them without counterfeiting them.
A good restoration lends additional value to an object."
In the heart of the Old Town yet off the beaten tourist track lies the Piazza Farnese and
its Palazzo - said to be one of Rome's most beautiful Renaissance buildings.
Here, the locals come to enjoy breakfast and read newspapers in the cafés.
City guide Christian Serrano likes to bring tourists here.
It's just a few steps from the famous Campo dei Fiori.
"Here, everything's quiet, but over there is so much commotion with all the pubs.
All the American students like to go there."
The baroque Piazza Navona is only this peaceful early in the morning.
The majestic Fountain of the Four Rivers is one of Rome's most photographed sights.
Of course, locals will also end up in some holiday snapshots.
Rome is a city full of surprises, says archeologist and tour guide Stefania de Majo.
"I discover something new in Rome almost every day.
It's unbelievable.
You never get enough of Rome.
I always tell tourists, one lifetime is not enough to see all there is to see in Rome."
Tourists and Romans alike enjoy an evening stroll on the Piazza Navona.
People come here to admire the fountains with their sculptures and water shows.
The restaurants and cafés here are open late into the night.
Rome is also busy during the day as thousands of visitors take in its rich history
So we're back in the Baigotti house.
As we just saw in that last report the Piazza Navona is a super popular tourist destination
but since you are a true Roman, what place would you recommend for tourists to experience
the real Rome?
Well I will never have enough of Rome.
I love my city so much so I'd like to be a tourist forever in my city and I still get
lost sometimes because you know the center of this city is like a maze, it is so amazing.
And every time I look up I see a detail that I've missed you know in my previous walk.
So one of my favorite spots is the Capitalian square where we restored La Scala Cordinata
designed by Michelangelo and there are a few secrets in that square.
Actually if you walk through the square behind the beautiful statue of Marcus Aurelius you
can see a wonderful terrace on the forum.
Sometimes you know walking through the forums is very crowded you can just go on the terrace
which is right behind the statue and you can get one of the most beautiful views of the
Forum and the Colosseum and then you can walk back to the musei capotalini which are not
seen and you can find some amazing pieces in there.
Now Venice is also a huge tourist magnet and also a city that your family is closely connected
with.
Why is that.
I love Venice so much.
I used to go there on vacation when I was a child ,with my grandparents, my parents
and it was like being in a theater all the time.
The gondolas and the water and the colors are so amazing and inspiring for me.
I think the water is a very creative element because it moves things and gives a different
perspective.
And I love the museums and I love the ancient part and I do love the contemporary art.
My house in Venice is close to the Guggenheim Museum and every time I go and visit it I
take some great inspiration back with me.
I want to turn our attention a little bit to fabrics.
You know Venice is well-known for the art of silk and velvet weaving which dates back
centuries but when you look up at today how hard or easy is it for you to find good seamstresses.
Well I would share a secret with you.
When I lost my mother in May 17 the first thing I did was hire three new seamstresses
because I believed I needed hands.
You know fashion is made of creativity, of numbers, made of marketing and managers but
most of all is made of hands.
Everyday work is made of stitching.
So I found three amazing women in Rome and I hired them immediately and that made me
feel stronger and gave me the chance to share beauty.
Now in terms of fabrics where do you normally go shopping for your fabrics for the clothes?
Well I do buy mainly Italian fabrics but as you know my mother was the first Italian designer
to do a fashion show in China in 1988.
It was very early back then.
You know now everybody goes to China even for a week.
But in 1988 it was pretty early and she was invited by the then minister of culture.
So we do still buy a lot of cashmere from China.
The New York Times named her the queen of cashmere because she had a new contemporary
approach and I love cashmere because it's great for a woman that is is travelling like
me.
I wear it in the daytime and in the evening.
Venice has supplied for centuries the clothing and fabrics for noblemen and churchmen.
We want to take a look at some of the factories that still remain today.
The tourists who flock to Venice normally come to see the most famous sights.
But there are quieter corners where you will find Venetians displaying centuries-old handicrafts.
Some of the small shops around the Calle de le Botteghe house genuine treasures.
damask and hand-printed fabrics...
...or unusual accessories made of costly handwoven scraps.
The Rubelli weavers keep an archive of historical fabrics.
They date back to the golden age of silk-weaving in 16th-century Venice.
The Luigi Bevilacqua weavers give some idea of what it must have looked like back then.
They work at three-hundred-year-old pedal-driven looms.
The exclusive velvets can only be achieved by hand - at the rate of about 30 centimeters
a day.
They are sent all over the world, gracing interiors from the White House to the Kremlin
in Moscow.
And fashion designers turn them into haute couture.
The women here are weaving red silk velvet to be used in the restoration of the Royal
Palace in Dresden.
"What's known as Soprarizzo velvet was invented here in Venice.
It's made up of several layers of fabric to create a relief-like effect and at the same
time with changing colors."
Another hidden treasure is the Palazzo Fortuny - now a museum in what was the private residence
of Spanish textile artist and art-nouveau painter Mariano Fortuny from 1892 . He also
developed new photography techniques and designed stage sets, having fifty inventions patented
including printing processes that remain a trade secret to this day.
Mariano Fortuny gained fame for his process for producing a sheer plissèe.
His wife Henriette used it in the early 20th century to create the iconic Delphos Gown.
"The production was done on cylindrical rollers that not only gave the fabric its vertical
plissèe pleats, but also its horizontal crimping.
That lends the dress even greater allure."
Only a few steps farther on is the "La Fenice" Opera, one of the world's finest opera houses.
It took several years of work to repair the damage caused by a major fire in 1996.The
gold-plated deoration in the rococoo theater hall is true to the original.
Even the exquisite curtain is a perfect copy of the original.
It was recreated by the Biagiotti fashion house and donated to the opera to the delight
of tourists and Venetians alike.
So as we heard in that last report your family made a fairly large donation to the city of
Venice.
Tell us more about that relationship.
Well as I told you before we always loved Venice so much it's such a beautiful city
and at the same time it's so fragile.
And I feel as an Italian that I have to protect it somehow.
So going back to the donation in 1996 my father passed away and unfortunately he was amazing
and young.
He was only 59.
And that's the same year when the Theater La Fenice was born.
It belongs to the world.
I mean everybody who has been to Venice has seen that wonderful place.
So my mother and I decided to donate the curtain because we believe that's a wonderful sign
of life.
When the curtain goes up, the show starts, you know the show begins.
The magic comes to you and the energy.
So we figured out that was a way to keep life carrying on.
Now you said you're a huge fan of the theater.
Any genre in particular?
Well I love Italian opera, I love music in general.
It's so inspiring for me and it's so emotional.
I do need emotions to be creative.
Speaking of being creative you know in the stage and since your family is so connected
to the theater do you also get inspiration from the costumes that you might even see
in Venice especially because they are known for their balls and their costumes.
Well I'm fascinated like a child you know every time I go to the theater and unfortunately
there's not much time to go but I love to watch it on YouTube sometimes as well when
I meet some wonderful play and I am fascinated like a child by the amazing work and you know
we spoke about seamstresses and there are so much so much details behind a theater costume
and it's very interesting for me to look at that.
Now if you weren't a fashion designer and busy 10 hour working days and if you were
to slip into a role on the theater what would it be?
Well first of all I could never be a singer.
I am so bad at singing.
But I do love to dance.
I take dance lessons.
That's sort of my secret.
And it helps me to feel balance with my body and my mind.
But I'm not definitely a classical dancer.
What kind of dance?
Latin dances.
...oh, not ballet.
No no I was to tall.
When I was a child I want to become a classical dancer at some point like every little girl
but I was never the right size in the right kind of rhythm.
OK.
Now back to reality aside from slipping into different roles, looking at your Biagotti
brand and the Roma perfume which just celebrated a milestone, 30 years, As you look at the
entire company and the brand as a whole.
Where would you like to see it heading in the next 30 years.
Well I'm really happy to share with you our 30th anniversay of our perfume Roma.
That's an amazing achievement as you said it's a milestone.
If you think the average life of a fragrance right now on the market is from 18 to 24 months.
So you know being loved by men and women all around the world for 30 years it's a great
great achievement.
Now what do I want to do with my company.
Well the company was founded by my grandmother in Rome where we are right now in 1965 so
I've got an amazing heritage behind my shoulders and I want to do what she did and what my
mom did, making women and men all around the world feel more confident, more conscious.
I hate the word fashion victim.
Why do you have to be a victim of fashion.
I think fashion has to be an ally.
So my everyday goal is to share beauty and to share braveness and courage.
Sounds like a very good goal.
Lavinia we thank you so much for having us here in the Biagotti house in Rome and for
hosting us.
And with that we have come to the end of the show.
As always you can keep up with us on social media Facebook and Instagram.
From me and the rest of the crew here and from Lavinia Biagotti thank you so much for
tuning in.
We'll see you again soon.
For more infomation >> House of Fashion Closing - Duration: 1:29. 
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