<< DEPARTMENTS >>



Style: Haute couture and wooden boats:
Gianni Campagnaπs passions

In Milan city centre, on the corner between Via Palestro and Corso Venezia there is an elegant shop belonging to a world-famous tailor: Gianni Campagna. As well as the garments housed inside the shop, there are also some wooden boats which were handcrafted in a dockyard at Lake Como.
The link between Como and fashion is a strong and widely acknowledged one, but the wooden boats are a surprise.
Nevertheless, Gianni Campagna – the Sicilian tailor who clothes Hollywood stars, politicians and business men, and who owns a house by the first jetty at Lario – has such a passion for these wooden boats that he wanted to include some examples of the ones built in the Riva di Laglio dockyard (in a small village on the western bank of the Lake) in his shops.
Campagna begins by saying, ≥I was born in Roccalumera, near Taormina, and during my childhood – spent at the seaside playing with boats – I helped the fishermen to scrape down and repaint them in strong, vibrant colours. It was with them that I learned how to live in harmony with the sea and always aboard wooden boats, which are, without doubt, the best kind. This is how I began to love these boats and now I have a collection of them, many of which were built in Laglio≤.
For Ernesto and Daniele Riva, åmaster shipwrightsπ and owners of the yard, Gianni Campagna is not simply an excellent customer. Apart from ordering and purchasing Lucie, Lance and Dingy, the tailor has brought new buyers and suggested important changes.
≥I noticed the first Riva boat some years ago while I was in staying at the Villa dπEste Hotel in Cernobbio≤, said Campagna. ≥I liked it and I wanted to meet the builder personally. I have commissioned various models. I was surprised that they were all the same dark mahogany colour, which, in my opinion needed to be changed and brightened up. So I proposed alternating it with a lighter wood to produce a dual colour effect with some brass inserts. Now I find the boats even more beautiful in this combination and, of course, they are more successful≤.
As a sports enthusiast, Campagna spends his days in Comasco betwixt water and land. ≥I get up very early and cycle for at least an hour: I like pedalling through the hush of the morning and gazing at the panorama when everyone is still asleep, and then coming back at the first light of dawn. I often go out in the boat with my children to enjoy the lake together≤. Finding him in Laglio discussing lines and models with the Rivas is also not rare. The Comasco yard has become a meeting point for a lively exchange of opinions between a few select protagonists: the tailor, the boat-builder, the rowboats and Lake Como.

Info sheet.
Gianni Campagna: character and passions.
He moved to Milan in π62 and was hired by the Domenico Caraceni Tailors in Piazza San Babila. <<After finishing work for the day, I would study menπs fashion at the Secoli school and womenπs fashion at Marangoni. Then I would go home and cut fabrics for tailoring. I didnπt have a suitable table and I measured and cut them on the floor. After a few hours sleep I would leave on my fourth-hand Vespa Gs to deliver everything to the tailors all over Milan before going to work at Caraceni. This is how I grew up, making big sacrifices, but only passion and dedication can bring results>>.
After having worked for various companies and designers, he took the big step towards being an entrepreneur. <<I was tired of making the people I worked for rich and in π90 I set up on my own. During these years I bought Palazzo Bernasconi in Corso Venezia, then Domenico Caraceniπs company (the one I had previously worked for) and I slowly made progress until I was able to buy a new showroom in Corso Venezia. Now, between the two companies in Tuscany and the premises in Fidenza, I employee several hundred. I am not short of commitments but I am always present for my clients, for measurement-taking, for textile evaluation and the purchase of suits>>. The clientele is decisively illustrious and includes names such as Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Diego Dalla Valle, Pierce Brosnan, Jack Nicholson and Sharon Stone. All well-known men and beautiful women. Women are another of Gianni Campagnaπs great passions together with sport and work: <<Bicycles, canoes and lots of beautiful women! It is clear, however, that my family comes first. My wife Chiara – a saint of a woman – my sons Angelo and Andrea – responsible for the financial and commercial side of the company – and Virginia – womenπs stylist and theatre director, are untouchable, my reason for living. But beautiful women are one of my great passions, I cannot deny it!>>.

www.campagna.it
Palazzo Campagna, via Palestro 24, Milan
Tel. +39 02 77 88 11

Riva Dockyard.
The history of the Riva di Laglio yard dates back to 1830 with the work of Giovanni Riva, the hand behind fishing and transportation boats such as the Navet, Batel and Ass. The production has always been rigorously handcrafted, and the ever increasing clientele convinced the heirs and successors to Giovanni Riva to enter the world of fixed-seat rowing and competition sailing. Daniel Riva is the fifth heir to the dynasty and is currently expanding activities at the dockyard via the introduction of new projects. The yard already participates in shows and hosts a variety of clubs and markets – including some international ones – for models that are greatly enjoyed by an ever growing and demanding clientele.

www.barcheriva.it
Address: Via Regina 48, 22010 Laglio, Como.