It started with a sofa…

Or to be more precise, the lack of a sofa. I had spent years searching for ‘the one’: not too big but big enough to fully lie on in case of errant napping, with a solid wood frame, ideally upholstered in cat-proof fabric (a big ask, I’ll admit). However, the more I searched the more I noticed a pattern forming: poor quality items came with a high ticket value. 

Having owned a slow fashion business for the past 8 years this predicament didn’t sit well with me. My brand ethos was to create made-to-measure pieces to amplify longevity and help consumers avoid wastefully spending money on items that won’t last, as the old adage goes ‘buy cheap, buy twice’. Sustainability is a principle I hold dear and sadly the homeware industry, like the fashion industry, has become increasingly saturated with poorly made, faddily designed items that are made to be replaced.

As time passed I tried to cajole myself into just buying something, anything, but in the end I couldn’t swallow my pride and splurge on a piece that compromised on quality. In the meantime, I found a reasonably priced used sofa online and allowed the cat to destroy it, hoping the sight of the shredded leather armrests would foster a sense of urgency.

And then it happened, during one of my now nightly scouring sessions I stumbled across my dream sofa: a pre-loved mid-century influenced chaise with beech legs, goose feather and down stuffing and neutral linen upholstery by Tacchini. In incredible condition, it’s the most comfortable and well made sofa I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting on and yet, it was still far less expensive than what most contemporary first hand retailers would charge for a dupe version of the same piece.

The rest, as they say, is history. An obsession was born, I became hyperfocused on discovering items by specific designers and made it my mission to find the rare pieces, playing on a talent for uncovering hidden gems in the strangest of places. I found my energy organically began to shift more towards interiors than fashion and eventually I had to face the facts; I have an eye for exceptional pieces and I know how to uncover them so I should really share my finds rather than bogarting the goodies and slowly turning my home into a miniature museum that only myself and the cat gets to enjoy.

So welcome to Vintrovia, a treasure trove of beautifully crafted, aesthetically pleasing pieces by some of the world's most well renowned homeware designers. I hope you love the collection as much as I do!

Alessia x