 Italian style, the Sicilian way
One of Sicily's most successful artists and businesswomen, Marella Ferrera is a designer whose outfits have been worn at the most glamorous and stylish of occasions, from Cannes Film festival and the Oscar ceremonies, to the full grandeur of royal weddings. In her most recent work her ability to reflect the beauty of the land she loves through her clothes has been taken to fantastic extremes.
She is inspired by the elements - water, earth and fire - and it is fire in particular, and its impact on the earth to create lava rock, 'pietra lavica', that is influencing her work at the moment. Marella considers lava 'il gioiello autenticamente siciliano', the real Sicilian gemstone. But she does not limit her use of the lava to jewellery, nor does she simply adorn her beautiful dresses with lavic buttons. Instead she creates the most delicate of dresses and shirts embroidered from hundreds of tiny pieces of shattered lavic stone. The effect is a rich mosaic, and the result is amazingly light.
Her beautiful pieces are ordered from all over the world, in particular by brides and 'le mie principesse arabe', her Arab princesses. And museums too, like the Boncompagni Ludovisi in Rome, are keen to collect her work.
The stones are painted by hand, with designs based on local patterns from mosaics or according to traditional Sicilian embroidery. And as well as the artisans who decorate the stones, local stonecutters and craftsmen like Franco Bentivegna add their own expert touches. Marella also decorates her clothes with terracotta pieces. Being less fragile, terracotta is easier to work with, however creating beautiful designs is no simple task. With the terracotta she produces tiny flowers, evocative of her island's bountiful gardens, which are sewn piece by piece onto the bodices of bridal gowns. Links
Caltagirone
The city of ceramics that inspires Marella's work. Marella Ferrera
Check out her designs and upcoming collections.
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