Chitè Milano, slow couture lingerie for women who love their bodies

All bodies are different and all bodies are beautiful.Chiara Marconi and Federica Tiranti started from this fundamental idea in 2018 when they decided to create Chitè Milano, the innovative brand of tailor-made handcrafted lingerie, customizable thanks to an online platform.Not only that:all bodies must be brought with

All bodies are different and all bodies are beautiful.They started from this fundamental idea Chiara Marconi And Federica Tiranti in 2018 when they decided to give life to Chitè Milan, the innovative brand of tailor-made handcrafted lingerie, customizable thanks to an online platform.Not only that:all bodies must be carried with pride and women's empowerment starts precisely from self-love.This is where the motto comes from Tits up! which is a very feminine way of saying "be proud of yourself, move forward in the world with your head held high and chest out, communicate ease and self-confidence through your posture".

“It all comes from the awareness that women's bodies are different and it is unthinkable that they adapt to predefined sizes.This is why we thought of creating a lingerie brand that, on the contrary, knows how to express the thousand facets of femininity, can adapt to everyone's body and make it feel good", explains Chiara Marconi, CEO, as she tells us about the thousand folds of this project.

In fact, Chitè is the first brand to have the tailoring service has been digitalised thanks to MyChite, one 3D personalization platform online which offers women the possibility of creating tailor-made underwear, according to their taste and needs.Chitè unites thecraftsmanship and innovation, a traditional handmade product with a completely revolutionized customer experience, with particular attention to sustainability.

For this reason, it became part of the LifeGatew Way ecosystem, the LifeGate subsidiary that supports and networks naturally sustainable startups.

The pillars of the Chitè philosophy

The startup is based on very characteristic ideals:first of all the made in Italy and craftsmanship which, in addition to being a guarantee of quality, express the daily commitment to carrying on the tradition of corsetry, the art of making lingerie that is being lost due to the current configuration of the globalized and delocalized market.Chitè works with independent artisan workshops in the district of Langhe so as to have vertical control over the production chain and a scalable model that gives value to the work of each seamstress.In this way Chitè manages to create tailor-made products at an accessible price which positions the brand in a niche affordable luxury.The founders aimed at the enormous void that exists on the market between fast fashion lingerie and luxury, exclusive and very expensive lingerie, and they conquered it, innovating it with their business model direct-to-consumer.The result is tailor-made made in Italy craftsmanship, defined as slow couture, which is sent home in two weeks at a price that guarantees sustainability from several points of view.

Slow couture and sustainability

We have already mentioned sustainability from a social and human point of view, linked to the craftsmanship carried out in Italy according to textile traditions passed down for generations.The garments, made with care and on request or in small-run capsule collections, will last a long time and will avoid ending up in the immense quantity of textile waste that characterizes the fashion sector.About fabrics, as well as using certified and sustainable materials (like 100 percent organic cotton), with low environmental impact and respectful of the wearer's skin, Chitè has chosen not to use traditional silk to remain faithful to its short supply chain philosophy.

“Silk in Italy is a yarn that no longer exists, silkworms exist only for educational purposes and using silk meant importing it from China,” says Chiara Marconi.“This is why we chose to turn to a historic silk factory in the Como district, Boselli, who for the same reason as us converted to polyester satin and recently started making too recycled product.In this way we are able to provide a product with the same quality and the same feel as silk but Italian, certified and sustainable.”

Chitè, a benefit company that aims to become a B-corp, also creates small ones upcycled collections made with waste fabrics from previous seasons so as to further reduce their environmental impact, and delivers the purchased items in completely plastic-free packaging.

Love yourself and your body

The third pillar of Chitè is the conscious beauty, that is, beauty linked to a message of body positivity, acceptance of your body and love for it.“We want to contribute to the self-esteem of all the women in our community,” say the founders.“For us, inspiring women was immediately one of the reasons that pushed us to create Chitè, a brand that later took shape through the world of underwear”.

Enough 35 seconds every day because every woman connects with herself when she looks at herself in the mirror in the morning and wears her underwear, explain the founders.“We believe in the immense value of this tiny time, so that everyone can feel loved by themselves, to be able to love the world.Chitè invites women to experiment with this simple yet precious habit to bring attention to the mental well-being that comes from it."

Independence, inclusiveness and authenticity are the values ​​that Chitè is committed to transmitting through its campaigns in an educational and sensitive way.A brand made by women and for women, a company 100 percent female in its many facets:the team is made up of girls under 30 and the majority of the company's shares and representation on the board of directors are also female;the corset makers are independent craftsmen, the messages of empowerment are aimed at the community of women who choose Chitè;the startup's support and solidarity goes to the associations that deal with women and the communication campaigns promote gender equality.All this is the manifestation of attention towoman universe at three hundred and sixty degrees, which however does not exclude men.

On the occasion of Valentine's Day in 2020, when the lockdown had recorded a peak of domestic violence and Covid had monopolized media attention, Chitè launched a awareness campaign against the gender violence, in favor of inclusiveness and respect.At the beginning of this year, however, he celebrated the equality between men and women with the former genderless boxers designed for both him and her.Furthermore, Chitè offers support to initiatives and associations aimed at female well-being such as research against breast cancer and various tailoring and economic justice projects for women in Italy and Great Britain.

Present and future of the Chitè world

Chitè women are typically between 28 and 45 years old and can be characterized in three different ways.The woman at the beginning of her career with a strong awareness of what makes her feel good, who buys lingerie to please herself and without necessarily a partner.A more adult woman, with greater sensitivity and understanding of her body whose changes she perceives after pregnancy, more attentive to quality products and which is reflected in the motto "buy less, buy well”, that is, buy less but buy well.The third, increasingly in line with the times, is a young woman who chooses Chitè for its strong sustainability character.

The Lovers community, as Chitè likes to call its customers, referring precisely to the idea of ​​those who know how to love themselves, is distributed in ten countries around the world:in Italy, Europe but also Canada, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, a market in which the startup plans to expand further next year.

In 2022 the brand aims to open channels offline direct-to-consumer through pop-ups and flagship stores, to expand its range with the launch of costumes and beachwear and further strengthen its sustainability by moving to 100 percent of the collection made with recycled fabrics to obtain certification as soon as possible B-corp.