Tommaso AQUILANO E ROBERTO RIMONDI
Designers, Gianfranco Ferré Spa
Tommaso Aquilano comes from San Severo in Puglia and attended the Fashion and Costume Academy in Rome. Roberto Rimondi, a native of Bologna, studied at the Carlo Secoli Fashion Institute in Milan. After separate careers as free-lance designers they arrived, even if in different periods, at Max Mara and began working together in a consultant ship role. In 2005, the two designers won the “Who is On Next” competition – open exclusively to new talents – organized by the Italian Vogue in conjunction with AltaRoma. This marked a high point in the recognition of their amazing creative talents. The design duo sparked the attention of IT Holding and, starting with the Spring/Summer 2007 season, took on the Creative Direction of the luxury group’s Malo brand. In April of 2008, they became Creative Directors of the Gianfranco Ferré women’s line.