Silent People
Italian label, Silent People make a beautiful and creative collection of mostly bags from a diverse range of vintage and recycled materials, putting an entirely new twist on heritage. Their unique ‘remade’ collection has a wonderful artisanal avant-garde aesthetic, through their inventive use of a myriad of unused and discarded materials, reinterpreted through a broad-based range of eclectic, patched and pieced styles.
Based in Bologna, Italy, Franco Armilla and Filippo Biancoli produce each bag one at a time, by hand, each one reeking of bequeathed and inherited tradition, myth and history from the luxury iconic brands they upcycle, including trenchcoats by Burberry, shiny Italian Moncler jackets, and the iconic British twin set and pearls favorite; Barbour waxed cotton jackets. Working with history laden materials such as Italian army Red Cross field tents from the second world war, the duo cross coordinate their materials, matching 1970’s leather biker jackets, with horse bridal handles, and 1940’s Austrian military spats as fastenings, or 1930’s German police jackets with military belt handles, all lined with Italian army, hemp mattress covers.
Armilla has honed his passion and pleasure by working with, and discovering new materials, and forgotten techniques. He works like Micheal Angelo, believing each material has hidden inside of it, its own character, and his job is to release and express it, in the perfect way. While Biancoli revels in the vintage tradition of the materials and unique objects they work with, enjoying the game of matching the past with the present, and inspiring others along the way, including stylists, photographers and individual customers. Each bag bears its own individual name such as Motika, Demetra, and Alcatraz, some with one of a kind materials such as a 1960’s Italian army gas mask case, a 1960’s wool ski sweater paired with a US Air Force leather jacket and 1940’s Swiss military belt handles, or a 1960’s Italian army inflatable mattress paired with 1970’s Italian army mule bridals and 1970’s German police leather jackets. The permutations are as endless as their imaginations, making this an adventurous and artistic, artisanal line of bags produced in the Italian heritage of luxury hand made products.
Website: www.silentpeople.it