Today we at Wait! Fashion met Beatrice Selini and Camilla Lorenzi, cousins from Bergamo, founders and creative directors of Tu Lizé. A brand born in 2021 that has approached new up-cycling techniques, proposing a new vision of pop-inspired knitwear.
Hi Beatrice and hi Camilla, first of all thank you for accepting our invitation and for your availability. Tell us a little about how and when Tu Lizé was born
Camilla: it can be said that we are “daughters of art”, therefore the world of fashion has always been very close to us as our mothers are sisters and have been working in the family company that deals with the production of accessories for 40 years on behalf of third parties. Furthermore, we have always had a propensity and passion for fashion. In fact, Tu Lizé was born in 2021 almost as a game, with the desire to make jackets for ourselves. The first garment created was the camouflage jacket with crochet wool sleeves and, after various appreciations, we decided to make clothes also for “amateur” commercial use, enjoying some success. Hence the idea of creating a brand. In our case, therefore, the product was born first and then Tu Lizé.
What kind of background did you have? How would you describe yourself?
Camilla: I studied law but, as anticipated, fashion has always been one of my passions, in fact I have always tried to combine this world with my studies by attending related courses such as “Fashion law”.
I think I am a very determined, proactive and courageous person.
Beatrice: fashion has always been one of my interests for me too and I studied economics at Bocconi with a background in art, culture and communication, carrying a study on fashion marketing as a thesis. Subsequently, during the master’s degree at Iulm, all my elective courses were in “Fashion Communication” then carrying out some internships in showrooms.
I define myself as an emotional, calm, creative and enterprising person.
Camilla: our way of being, the common passion for fashion, the desire to want to create something of our own and certainly the historical moment we experienced in Bergamo during the pandemic gave the necessary push to create something new, which was stimulating and innovative.
Where does your brand name come from?
Beatrice: Tu Lizé doesn’t have a real meaning but it comes from the inspiration of the first crochet we made for the SS21 as the embroidery design had the shape of a flower. Studying the names of the flowers we really liked how the name “tulipè” sounded and playing with the letters, the name of our brand was born.
What kind of person are you talking to?
Camilla: Tu Lizé garments are aimed at a woman aged 40 and over looking for original garments. Surely this is also dictated by a price factor as, being handmade clothes, it is medium-high. Despite this, it is a transversal brand with a product appreciated by young girls up to the adult woman.
Beatrice: those who wear Tu Lizé wear it for taste and not for need. In fact, our customers are attracted to the shop by the garment and its very strong aesthetics.
What is the main aesthetic that guides your creations?
Beatrice: all the garments are always very colorful with the main feature of the crochet which is worked in different ways: from the knitwear to the trousers, but the strongest garments are the jackets, as well as the first ones made. In fact, the iconic garment is the camouflage jacket with crochet sleeves.
The aesthetic that guides our creations comes from the attempt to unite two completely different worlds: the military world combined with the world of crochet, therefore more romantic, also using pinstriped fabrics with a masculine flavor.
In short, our style is based on strong contrasts.
Three adjectives and strengths that distinguish Tu Lizé
Beatrice:
- uniqueness: as our garments are one of a kind and each dress is different from the other due to the craftsmanship;
- colorful: combination of contrasts and strong colours
- innovation: since it is a new product that no one has ever offered on the market and the innovation also lies in the contrasting combination of the military world and crochet, a totally romantic universe
These three adjectives fully encompass our strengths!
Where and where does your inspiration come from?
Beatrice: behind every collection there is strong research. Each garment is made in our image and likeness, so the inspiration is very personal and if we would wear it first.
Our collections are very reminiscent of the naturalistic environment, in fact we often find shades of brown, green, and gray for the winter, while for the warmer seasons the colors light up and the flowers bloom.
In the fashion world there is a lot of talk about eco-sustainability and environmental impact. Do you follow a sustainable production process for the creation of the garments and do you carry out other activities that can be considered green?
Camilla: the production is in Italy so the goal is to make the supply chain as short as possible. To date we cannot consider ourselves a 100% green brand as it is very complex, but in our small way we always try to make the most sustainable choice.
However, we believe that Tu Lizé is an eco-friendly brand as we give a second life to old unused military uniforms, that is, we collect and select from the various military armies all that is in overproduction.
What do you think is the way to be sustainable and have a luxury approach at the same time?
Beatrice: Tu Lizé is a slow fashion brand as it reuses military jackets by combining them with crochet and hand embroidery, very precious worlds.
The creation of each single garment requires a whole day and we believe that luxury lies precisely in the detailed care of production. Every minimal “defect” is part of the craftsmanship and dexterity of the construction of the garment.
So on the green side we have the recovery of camouflage jackets and on the luxury side we have crochet and craftsmanship.
Share an anecdote of your journey that you remember with pleasure!
Camilla: the growth path has been rapid and unexpected as we didn’t set out with the intention of creating such a large business, therefore, surely having reached such a high level in a short time has given us many satisfactions, but the moment we are going more fairs was when one of the major players in the American fashion system, specifically Bergdorf Goodman, became interested in our brand and offered us the opportunity to organize an event in New York in November 2021.
Beatrice: another very great satisfaction was that of having received appreciation directly from people. For example, it happened several times that, while walking around the city of New York and also around the store wearing our iconic camouflage jacket, people stopped us to ask where the garments came from and appreciate it by buying it immediately before our eyes on Farfetch.
There are definitely times when you actually realize that what you’re doing you’re doing it right!
Furthermore, the fact of being present in some shops very close to us, where we were the first to buy from an early age, enter and see our garments, is a great gratification!
Was there an obstacle that you didn’t expect in this journey?
Camilla: Tu Lizé, being a slow fashion brand with a strong sense of craftsmanship and production, was affected when a big leap was made in terms of quantity. So the increase in numbers, not being an industrial level production, was not easy to manage, but at the moment we are in a phase in which we can coordinate everything quite easily.
What are your future projects?
Beatrice: our desire is to expand more and more towards foreign and new markets, to make the brand more lifestyle and increasingly recognizable.
One last question: what advice would you give to a young designer who wants to take your path?
Beatrice: don’t be afraid, relying on the right people and take one step at a time without being in too much of a hurry.
Camilla: another piece of advice I feel like giving is to rely on a competent showroom and marketing team who know how to help and grow the brand in the most correct and coherent way possible!
Thank you so much Camilla and Beatrice for this long chat!
We hope that this will also become a message for all those who would like to work in the fashion world but have not attended the classic Fashion Design course. This also teaches that, with passion, will and strong determination, great results can be achieved!
Website: www.tulize.it
Instagram: tulize
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