Our quest for excellence and exclusivity has led us to the heart of Lugano, to a special, precious place: Atelier Fabiola. Dedicated to craftsmanship and high fashion, this couturier has been creating, developing and producing unique custom garments since 1988. Over time, the dressmaker’s studio has incorporated a ready-to-wear boutique, offering some of the most luxurious collections from the world’s most prestigious brands. “Really, there are two businesses which operate side by side, harmoniously and symbiotically”, explained Ms Fabiola as she welcomed us to her high-fashion dressmaking workshop, “because each one brings value to the other. A customer will often buy a made-to-measure garment and then want to wear it with a designer piece, and vice versa. The combination of atelier and boutique allows us to fully satisfy our customers’ desires”.
As we listen to Ms Fabiola, who is showing us around her business, gracefully and passionately telling us about its history, we can’t help but be enchanted by our surroundings. The workshop is in a space carved out from an old cinema, completely restored and brought back to its former glory. Crossing the threshold, one enters a world of class and elegance: mosaics and precious marble adorn the main room and, at the very back of it, a stairway leads to the upper floor where seamstresses are busy sewing garments with the utmost professionalism and dedication. “At times the customer will come to us with a photograph, drawing, fabric or simply an idea”, Ms Fabiola expounded, “and from that moment on we begin to plan and create. Constructing a made-to-measure garment can take days, and the final result must evoke emotion – for the person who wears it but also for the person who created it”.

We head back down the stairs to the ground floor and we’re immediately bathed in the emotions that customers feel when they enter the large rooms where the clothing is tried on. We settle in to the dressing suite and suddenly we feel isolated from the outside, in a world within a world, a completely intimate space. “Customers arrive after having scheduled an appointment and thus, when they’re here, they’re the only ones in the atelier. All of our staff, made up of 15 people, is entirely at their disposal. When we’re in this room, we take our time, we have a coffee, we talk, we connect and we try to understand the customer’s desires and expectations. Dressmaking is an art which requires manual skill, incredible precision and, perhaps more than anything else, the ability to understand the person in front of you so you can create the perfect garment for them. It’s our job to understand what that person wants, what they’re looking for and what they need. It’s our job to make our customers happy”.
Our meeting comes to an end and when we leave the atelier, the sensation that lingers speaks loud and clear. This is the perfect place for those who want to dress well, who are looking for a special, precious garment that is unique and of the highest quality, and who need to have their desires completely satisfied. It’s a magical place where one enters with a wish and leaves with a made-to-measure dream come true, with a garment designed and created just for you. After all, in essence, the perfect garment is one which traces the lines of the body and fits the wearer elegantly, naturally and with plenty of personality.

by Maurizio Bertucci