for melanzane alla parmigiana with cocoa. His favourite dish, in recollection of his mother’s cooking. A lover of good food, Albino is also a fair cook.

for Nero (Black of course). A non-colour that never fails to make its appearance on Albino’s catwalk. In its elegance and sophistication, black is also an atmosphere.

for organisation. With his headquarters based in Milan, production is exclusively entrusted to Italian manufacturers. Distribution is handled by Studiozeta, while press office functions are mainly carried out by the Parisian office of Sylvie Grumbach.

for Paris. It was in the French capital that Albino studied at the École de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture, while absorbing its original atmosphere. He then made his first steps as a stylist working for Emanuel Ungaro, Guy Laroche (under the artistic direction of Alber Elbaz, now with Lanvin) and Lolita Lempicka.

for Quality. This is his obsession, especially when it comes to details. "Made in Italy", and all it represents, has endowed him with that particular attention to detail, something he believes to be of fundamental importance.
 for references of an inspirational type. Certainly Cristòbal Balenciaga and Hubert de Givenchy, as they appeared in the 50’s, masters of colour and sartorial good taste.

for Sketches. And his look like cartoons because Albino draws his models on little androgynous figures with bony knees: timid adolescents all set to become heroines of the night.

for Textiles. His particular fetish regards gazar, a stiff fabric that may be modelled like a sculpture. He loves stiff, full-handed fabrics that create volumes and surfaces. He starts from here, often going on to modify on the dummy the models he has formerly created on paper.
for Ungaro. His first maestro in Paris, from whom he has inherited the cult of strong, solid colours. If, for this mature couturier, the gaudy hues of purple, yellow and cyclamen are an absolute must, young Albino’s stronger tones are darker and more intellectual, from burgundy to anthracite, with the inevitable touch of fleshy pink.

for Valentino Garavani. His important neighbour when he lived in Rome. When still in his teens Albino used to slip drawings and sketches into his letter box until, one day, the great couturier got his secretary to answer, advising him to attend fashion courses in Paris. Which he did, as soon as he turned 20.