For those who love the sea, meeting a great sailing ship on your route is an emotion that always leaves its mark. If the sailing ship is the Amerigo Vespucci, recognized by all as the most beautiful ship in the world and admired at all the major international boat shows, and the route is the same as your professional life, the emotion becomes so great that it makes your heart beat faster.
The Amerigo Vespucci was spotted on my route during the Genoa International Boat Show, when it was one of the world’s top boat shows.
As I moved among the guests who brushed past my sea-inspired creations, I was approached by the emissary of a renowned fashion brand who expressed great interest in everything he had seen in the stand, from table accessories to textiles.
“Your collections would be a great success aboard the Vespucci,” he told me, causing a light to shine in my eyes: I felt an intense feeling of joy and began to dream.
I could see myself aboard the Vespucci ship, breathing in its history, enraptured in my imagination. Then he went on to say that, sure enough, aboard that ship we could only sell with its support, because to approach a sea myth like that needed permits and knowledge that we could not have on our own.
My commercial was already starting to make arrangements for the partnership, but as they were talking, I was realizing that dreams are never the result of a partnership. Dreams come from the hearts of those who are open to build them, cultivating them without thinking about diplomatic and corporate opportunities. So, leaving my business office and the representatives of the famous fashion brand speechless, I replied, “Thank you, but I am not interested,” and this response remained firm, despite weeks of insistence.
From that day on, however, my mind had already set sail on a new adventure, imagining everything that would enhance the beauty of a ship that was now constantly in my thoughts.
For about a year I would enter my home laboratory wondering if the ship Vespucci had called, and the answer, which was always “no,” certainly could not stop me from dreaming.
And while this question became a game that entertained my assistants, and me as well, the sails of my creativity were inflated by the breath of an unstoppable inner force.
I was making prototypes of sweatshirts, vests, overalls, duffel bags, travel bags, and more, designing countless numbers of nautical flags on ribbons, simulating embroidery and enameling, all simply BLUE and gold in deep respect for the nautical.
I was basically creating expensive collections without even having not a commission, but at least a request, even on word of mouth.
No one in the company agreed to what they considered a waste of time, but one morning to my usual question: ” Did the Vespucci ship call?”. The answer came: YES!!!! Yes!!!!
I arrived in Livorno in no time, the winds of enthusiasm were blowing in my favor, and when I boarded the ship, my eyes seemed not to be enough to take in all the beauty that awaited me.
Accompanied by the crew, I spent an unforgettable day: walking around and touching everything I was allowed feeling it was mine, filled with joy at the feeling that everything I was experiencing I had already anticipated in the crazy months of my work without commission.
A job that the managers of the Amerigo Vespucci’s on-board boutique immediately felt was theirs, appreciating the richness of the proposals and buying almost all of them, except for a few garments deemed unsuitable for on-board sale.
But when things come from love, they can’t stay locked in drawers for long: when I returned from this wonderful experience, many of the items that I had designed during my long creative transportation, and that had not been chosen for the Vespucci’s boutique, proved to be perfect for what Parah, the well-known swimwear and beach fashion line, was looking for.
And for this success, too, I have to thank that wonderful creature that had conveyed to me all its charge of beauty and charm: thank you, Amerigo Vespucci.
