My Day sat down with Andrea Facchinato, half of the creative duo behind Milan-based Domo Adami, to learn about the inspiration behind their craft and to discover the true meaning of couture.

MD: How can a bride choose the gown that’s best for her, both for her shape and for her personality?

AF: Sometimes brides have a specific idea in mind; they come in and say “I want this dress,” and they go for it. But very few of them. Sometimes they don’t have any idea of what a wedding gown should look like, because it’s not something that you buy every day. So you need to try many gowns on, in different shapes, to find the one that really fits you perfectly, not the body so much, but your personality. That’s the main thing. For when you see a dress hanging on the hanger, you don’t really know how it looks. So sometimes we have to force a bride to put the dress on, because we know how a gown fits. And then when she finds it, she will feel it. It’s really incredible how exciting it is when a bride finds her gown, it’s amazing.

MD: How do the various lines within Domo Adami differ?

AF: In the Domo Adami main line, everything is couture, because the concept is the couture gown: made to specific measurements, made with a specific kind of handwork, totally made in Italy. We don’t have anything made outside of Italy. Domo Adami is the main collection, using very precious materials: silk organza or French lace, which is hand-stitched on the gown. Domo Adami also has special emphasis on materials, like hand-embroidered lace; it’s a work of art, with layers and layers of silk, it’s very light. The structure is very soft; we don’t have hoops or heavy petticoats. Everything is made with layers and layers of fabric: that’s the couture concept. Even if it’s made by machine, it takes forever. We feature semi-precious stones and freshwater pearls on the straps; it’s a very nice detail.
The Studio collection has more simple lines, more towards an evening gown. We use silk satin, silk charmeuse, English net, Venetian lace. Actually, this is a needlework, not a lace, because lace is made on the loom; Venetian lace is made with needles. Beautiful finishing with silk lining; all our gowns are guaranteed because of the Domo Adami lining inside.
Simply Chic is something we don’t have in the U.S., because it’s very different, and American brides don’t get it. Something black, something really easy to wear, something made with stretchy fabric. It’s very trendy and young, for a bride who doesn’t want to have a formal gown, but more like an easy dress to wear for fun. Sometimes it’s a second dress: for the ceremony, a big ball gown, but for a party with friends, just this very easy gown, the Simply Chic. It’s very successful in Italy for young brides in their twenties.

MD: So what does “couture” really mean?

AF: Domo Adami is sold only through salons, because it’s a couture product. It cannot be spread everywhere. You need someone who really understands couture, what couture means, because it’s not just an expensive gown. It is made in a specific way, so we have to find a bridal retailer who really understands couture and what couture means. We’ve been working at Hannelore’s [in Alexandria, VA] since the beginning. We started selling in the U.S. in 1996, and they were one of our very first stores, and we’re still doing business with them. And we are very close friends now. We also have New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, L.A., Denver—not too many, just the right places.

MD: What is the process you go through for designing a new line?

AF: My partner and I start with an idea. It comes from a detail we see somewhere traveling; we travel a lot. It can be a detail or just something we see on the street, maybe. Or sometimes we start from the fabric; when we find a very interesting fabric we work with the fabric manufacturer to create something different. The process can be either from an idea or from the fabric. Then we start working on the mannequin, and then we create the gown. Adami sketches something, and gives it to me. I’m into the technical process, working with the seamstresses. I explain what the feeling of the gown should be, and then we work as a team all together.

MD: So Adami is more the visionary, and then you make it happen?

AF: Exactly, we work in this way, we love to do that. He says, “I have an idea, what about this?” And I say, “What about this, or that”—and then the dress comes out. And we’ve been doing it for twenty years, and it’s exciting.

MD: What makes Domo Adami unique among designers?

AF: We have our own signature, which means our designs don’t match with the others. We are very light in construction. The matching of the fabrics, and the asymmetric construction, that’s our signature, because no Domo Adami gown is 100 percent symmetrical. A symmetrical gown is boring. It doesn’t show off the personality of the bride. So for every gown, you can look at it from different angles, and it’s different from every angle. It’s a gown you have to discover at 360 degrees. [A Domo Adami gown] has its own life, in a way, because it’s not static, it’s really flowing. Every gown has this sort of feel, it helps the bodice looks more harmonic, with all the different angles.

MD: How do you bring the bride’s personality to life?

AF: We create something that expresses the bride’s own personality, what the bride has inside, what she wants to feel that day. It’s something she’s felt for a long time, because the gown is something she’s had in mind for a long time. And on that day all their wishes come out; they really show their personality. So from a romantic gown to a sheath, different types of brides find their own personalities in our gowns; we help them express themselves.