Antonio Grimaldi hails from Salerno, a small Italian city best known as a southern entry point to the sophisticated Almafi Coast but the designer’s alta moda pieces paint quite the opposite image – of a worldly cosmopolitan, one whose footprints have transpired across the globe. 

First revealed in Dubai, his 2019 couture collection celebrates the billowy kaftan, typically worn by women during Ramadan. Another collection muses on the friendships Grimaldi forged during time spent in the Middle East, with women who the designer says have wildly inspired his work and craft. And without fail, in each collection, Grimaldi takes care to showcase sculptural lines, detailed embroidery, and silhouettes that meld the contemporary with more traditional motifs of high fashion. 

Having worked in haute couture since 1996, Grimaldi presented his first ‘Grimaldi Gardiana’ collections in both Paris and Rome. Slowly but surely, his designs sowed global influence. This was made especially clear in 2017, when Grimaldi was invited to be on the official calendar of Haute Couture Parisienne.

Below, we spoke to the designer about his Ramadan-inspired collection, how his pieces remain true to his Italian roots and where he sees the future of fashion.

Tell us about the process of designing couture. What is the most gratifying aspect of being a couturier?

Couture is technical. For me, the challenge is to breathe contemporary life into high fashion through the techniques of craftsmanship. It has no limits of any kind, neither budget nor technique. Couture flies high with creativity.

Is there a specific silhouette, fabric, pattern, or motif you often return to?

Asymmetrical cuts and sculptural lines in motion have become a stylistic hallmark of my Maison’s collections. I’m drawn to the aesthetic of order, sculptural volume, and impeccably well-defined cuts.

You went to the Istituto d’Arte to study advertising graphics. What made you switch gears and pursue couture fashion? Does the former inform your designs in any way?

Growing up, I had always known I wanted to be a designer and to work in fashion. The collaborations in the tailor shops in Rome, where I grew up, inspired my passion for fashion but studying advertising graphics afforded me the opportunity to expand my training in areas such as photography, graphic arts, printing, and image.

In 2019, you designed a Ramadan-inspired capsule collection for the House of MC with one central piece, kaftans, in mind. What drew you to pay homage to the Holy Month?

I love spirituality. I’m fascinated by the fact that while Holy Month is a period of hard sacrifices and renunciations, the evenings are magical. Everybody convenes in the evening for dinner and the women wear a different kaftan every night, transforming everything into a moment worth celebrating.

Where else do you find inspiration from?

Travel, contemporary art, mythology, and fairy tales.