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Consuelo Casiglioni

"It's dressing with patchworks of fragments."

Consuelo Castiglioni is the designer for the Italian womens fashion label Marni. She got her fashion start as a consultant after moving to Milan (from Switzerland) as an adult. She met her husband, Gianni Castiglioni, president of CIWI Furs, during this time. CIWI Furs which manufactures fur coats and leather goods for luxury fashion houses, hired her as a consultant. She took some time off to have children and upon her return was encouraged to start a line. Marni debuted in 1991 and has had an ever-growing core group of supporters ever since. Initially starting with what she knew, Consula Casiglioni utilized fur and leather from the very beginning, but took a more innovative approach to their use -- offering unlined pelts that were shaved, tailored and dyed. As she added other fabrics and broadened her style, her label was labeled 'hippie-deluxe' by the fashion media.

During the late 1990's, Marni's bohemian style stood in stark contrast to the pared down minimalist trend which had dominated the 1990s and been best expressed in the clothes of two other leading Italian fashion houses Giorgio Armani and Miuccia Prada.

Marni is a line that is constantly evolving and is still able to retain it core supporters while gaining new ones all the time.

Designer Facts:
Consuelo believes that keeping an open mind towards different stimulations is key in her designing.

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