Published by Natural Style, August 2024

Once upon a time there was a loom

Cinema, music and nature inspire the colors of the table and bed collections created by Allegra Marchiorello. Thus, linen is tinged with new and sophisticated shades to bring the beauty of simplicity into contemporary homes.

by ILARIA DE BARTOLOMEIS

Once upon a time. Fairy tales have always begun with these words and in any language that "once upon a time" makes the mind travel to a suspended, poetic and slightly nostalgic time. The desire to rediscover the emotions of childhood, the simplicity and beauty of things from the past inspired Allegra Marchiorello in the creation of her linen collection for the table and the bedroom, which she called Once Milano.

How did the project come about?

Almost by chance. We had moved to the Treviso area, where I grew up, with the idea of ​​offering our four children the opportunity to live in an authentic environment and at a pace that was suitable for them. Once we embarked on this new family adventure, and having a lot of time to dedicate to the house and the children, I started making clothes for them and tablecloths for the table, like my mother did when we were children. Then one day a friend, seeing the little ones running around the house wearing their linen dresses, urged me to turn that passion into a project. Thus, Once Milano was born in 2012.

What inspired the name Once?

I played with this English word because it seemed to me that it symbolised the desire to recover the beautiful habits of the past, but not only that. At that time I had seen John Carney's 

film Once and, as a music lover, I appreciated the soundtrack.

Why the choice to offer exclusively linen collections?

Linen is one of the most fascinating textile materials: in its textured simplicity it has a very contemporary feel. Today, dyeing and finishing processes allow us to have sheets and tablecloths that are soft, practical and easy to take care of: they look beautiful even if they are not ironed to perfection. In its essence, linen suggests a relaxed and welcoming lifestyle;  the variations in the textile gives wonderful shades and unique imperfections in the texture and color. Furthermore, linen is breathable hypoallergenic. It is also more sustainable than other textiles, since the transformation of the raw material into yarn does not involve excessively impactful chemical processes.

What inspired you for the choice of colors used?

Mainly nature, which has surprising shades and always reveals beautiful combinations, but also the art of cinema has been a great inspiration. I watch a lot of films, my husband and I love cinema, and I am often struck by photography, by the atmospheres or by how the lights reveal the chromatic nuances: I see a lot that inspires the colors of my collections. Furthermore, the theme of the table is very present on the screen. Movies or series like The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore'eda have given me a lot of ideas with the evident depth of his research on colors.

Although simplicity remains the underlying theme of my idea of ​​home, I like to include refined and crafted details such as embroidery and lace. These are the result of significant research work on Italian regional traditions. By using traditional designs and dyeing them with unexpected colors, the classic immediately becomes contemporary.

And by choosing colors that do not follow fashion, we are able to offer tablecloths, napkins, tea towels, sheets and quilts that are always current, season after season. A small clothing line was also recently born... I wanted to complete my idea of ​​living everyday life in style and perhaps, even if these are clothes for adults, I wanted to recall the memory of my children when they ran around the house dressed in linen.