Words are the most powerful drug I know; they have always fascinated me and, for some reason, despite being more inconvenient and time-consuming, I have to write on the sheets of paper before making my stories digital for all of you.
But I promised you these words, so even though it's three hours past midnight, I'm here. Because every promise is a debt. Because I want, finally, to spill the beans. Because if you are on this page too, you deserve to know something more about the change that VD Italy and I are experiencing together, holding hands.
"Sucked": here is the first adjective that comes to my mind, thinking about myself in this moment. The past few months, July and August, have been crazy. No, no madness, night dives and bonfires on the beach, none of my trips "as far as you can".
None of this. While from time to time, but without wasting too much time, I envied your selfies on the beach, I was at work. I'm not complaining, it was my choice and in total honesty, I would sacrifice white beaches, blue waters and many shades of tan another 1000 times if necessary. But don't tell me that you can't realize your ideas, because you can't be lazy if you want to dream big.
You have to sacrifice yourself a bit at the beginning, but it's almost always worth it. Certain opportunities must be seized when there is a knock on the door, not regret later, when it is late and you are very tanned, true, but you feel that you have lost something. I said to myself "If you jump on a plane in December, you can find summer somewhere else in the world".
But let's take a step back, perhaps even more than one. I want to tell you everything.
Sunday in April. Shy sun, but I remember that it warmed my perennially cold hands well. I was in Notting Hill, as always, Portobello Road to be precise. Brunch with old friends and new ones - in London it always goes like this, you become friends with little: in the end you can hardly remember the names, but the rare moments of sharing, in which you do not work, you remember them well.
Without getting lost in small talk, that "Farm Girl" place was not the best - nice reviews, a fantastic vase of pink peonies at the entrance but a little disappointing, too healthy and dietetic for my taste - but I had suggested it myself so ... , short stroll because there was very little to digest for me that I prefer eggs benedict and smoked salmon, compared to the salad with small bits of no-one-understand-what-without-flavor-or-dressing that I had just eaten. I end up casually (but not too casually) in that strange lady's shop who dared to sell me 10 different plush bunnies in 2 months.
Dlin. An Instagram Direct. She will be a customer, I told myself. No, she wasn't a customer. But how? - I thought. I was surprised and a little confused. A sender different from the others. Very different. Wow - I said to myself - they work on Sundays like me.
So I met L. but I was very, very suspicious. I was afraid they were the usual suspects who try to extort information from time to time, maybe some Pulcinella's secrets, since now all they need is that they know the password of my email (they have already tried to steal it, but without success) and my blood type. Luckily I didn't play their game: I didn't trust them 100%, but deep down I was curious to understand better. I responded to that message so different from the others.
I understood right away that thousands of kilometers away, I was talking to a tenacious person like me, honest, prepared. Ambitious. Someone to set a course with. Someone who wanted more, who was not satisfied. So, I gave this chance a chance - forgive the pun. After the first handshake, in July, a beautiful but at the same time tortuous path began. Hard. Not for obvious difficulties, but because I had never yet asked myself: "Are you ready, Vale, for this?"
I didn't want to ask myself that question, because on the surface I was afraid, I did not feel "enough", I was afraid of disappointing expectations. Mine first. Then I was jealous of "my brand" and I couldn't bear that someone besides me could express themselves about it: it was "MY little creature to defend" and I wanted to keep those small flaws, that vision in some ways profane of those who love what they do , but he is not fully aware of it. Of those who do not know, to understand, the names of the products and all the terms and codes used in the jargon of the sector. Of those who have spent years studying financial statements and mathematical formulas, certainly not techniques of welding and finishing jewelry.
The first obstacle was this: review my mindset, open a window, from which more light could penetrate. ACCEPT THE CHANGE, in 3 words. SUPPORT THE CHANGE, in 3 words even more correct. A little voice inside me kept repeating "If it has gone well so far, keep it up and don't complicate your life". But another little voice screamed at the top of its voice. The truest voice, the one that screams louder than the fear of what you don't know, of the unpredictable. He told me: “Go!”.
I remember a very long night, it was the beginning of summer and I was particularly worried about a person I care about, I. (forgive my strange way of indicating the initials, give her the name you want, a name is just a name and I have to protect her) . I wasn't sleepy, so VD Italy saved me again and kept me company and in a white night the Bridal line was born, even whiter than that night, purer, so full of “positive currants”. And, as usual, not knowing how to keep the smallest secret, I presented it to you right away, out of your teeth, without the slightest suspense, and I will never forget the minute when, with trembling hands (and it shows) with enthusiasm , I recorded the first video. For the first time, I had a real collection, complete even if still a bit unripe.
Wow. I used to love her. A set of homogeneous bijoux, but each with its own peculiarities. With its own light, with its own character. So much still to do, improve and complete, it is clear, but that draft made me particularly proud. After hard and dark days, I whispered to myself "Brava".
For the first time, the jewels were born from my hands, without anyone expressing the desire to buy them. For the first time I was the one who predicted and interpreted desires, before they existed. I felt a great responsibility. It was the first real awareness of what was happening to my little naive brand. Perhaps the optional Management of Fashion Companies exam wasn't such a bad choice.
Scared, a little bit yes, I admit. But of that fear that helps you to do better, to commit yourself, to increase gear. Because the imperative is not to be satisfied and never postpone. I had studied in books the value of the network, the success stories of brands much bigger and stronger than mine, which unite (for some time or for a long time) their destinies, future growth plans. Wow, from theory to reality there is an abyss, the authors of the books do not tell you that in making decisions there is a certain amount of fear.
So, with a little courage and a lot of missing data (How will it go to sum it up? Will it be the right choice to make?) I began to imagine my jewels no longer just in a digital showcase - actually not even that fantastic, since there is still only V. behind vditaly.com (and it shows).
Very early - drum roll - next to the online shop, which will remain open for the most faithful and for those who wish to create their own personalized jewelery with me, you can find my bijoux in hundreds of stores throughout Italy. #Thrilling
One big step, probably longer than my leg, but possible, because I won't be alone. Because for the first time, finally, after so many verbs conjugated in the singular, I began to speak in the plural "Ok, let's do it". The opportunity to overcome the objective limits that the decision to manage everything alone had always entailed. And, with my excel file sketched and full of colors in front of me, I finally admitted that to think big, sometimes you have to grab that outstretched hand in front of you and not be enough at all costs.
An agenda that is suddenly too dense. A question a little out of place: - That is true, but now that you are back in Italy are you going to have interviews? - Yes, maybe I'll have to do some interviews, to hire someone to help me in this wonderful chaos. This was the first moment I realized that I had really created a company. Terror. Who to choose? With what criterion? Here, I imagined my first job description more professional, like everything else, but if you feel in your heart that you have enough energy and madness to get on board this dream, write me an email (valentina.davino@live.it).
Another box, very big this time, to enclose a year of life, a laboratory many tears - I admit - many difficulties, but also many romantic awakenings in my Notting Hill, many unforgettable experiences and a myriad of tired but happy smiles that I have imprinted in my memory. So I said goodbye to Rishi, my accountant, my super neighbor, co-workers and friends, giving around tables and candle holders, sure to leave them in the right hands.
It took very little to feel the lack of the bureaucratic rigor of London, but Italian pride is worth much more than many streamlined procedures. Well, now that I have filled you with chatter about how, when, why, where, and so on and so forth, let's get to the point.
Here are the news:
1. The basics of jewelry, as well as all the metal components that support and complete the cords, will be welded by the skilled hands (obviously not mine) of a craftsman named G. (just so as not to stop the saga of the initials)
2. All materials will be treated with hypoallergenic galvanic bath - I discovered that to get this effect so brilliant that I love, you use, among other products, pure gold powder. They will be brighter and more resistant, without additional costs.
3. There will be a real Fall / Winter collection; the colors will be: white, black, red, blue, green, gray, golden, powder pink, fuchsia.
4. Twist, you will find a new line named "Allure", which will collect much more creative weekly refreshes, less predictable combinations. After all, the absence of patterns and chains has led us here and, as Saramago wrote: "We must always go back to steps already given, to repeat them, and to trace new paths alongside them. The journey must always be restarted ”. A bit of lucid madness will not be lacking, I promise. You will still have the opportunity to request customizations: growing up will not mean ignoring your wishes, far from it. All of you, one by one, will always be my greatest and most precious source of inspiration - and I will never tire of expressing my immense gratitude.
5. Parallel to the soutache collection, you will find a line called "FIERCE", without cords. Essential, clean, very easy to wear, to take me with you every day and not just on the most special occasions.
6. By popular demand, rings are available - one size fits all - with a very small price, but the usual light! Maybe even a little more.
7. Grazie has an “action plan” investment banker style, I'm trying to improve my prioritization and the result will be Speedy Gonzales-proof turnaround times.
8. National shipping by courier, super fast and cheap (I know I will miss Royal Mail, but not that much actually).
9. Speaking of good intentions (which I have for a long time and to which I have never dedicated enough space and energy), by Christmas you will receive the bijoux in much more refined and personalized boxes, which will not only protect the products during shipment, but will complete your experience in the VD universe Italy, with a touch of elegance and refinement.
I would like to tell you much more, but I believe that much of what will happen I will discover with you!
I hope that each of you can go to sleep every night with that smile that appears in the evening on the face, sometimes tired, of those who fight for their dreams.