In a little plot of land out in Le Marche, a seaside region of central Italy, Alessandro Butta uses plants to create vivid dyes to transform old garments into something new. In partnership with this amazing artisan, Morpho + Luna is launching a Vintage collection, which is available for sale here. 

100% of the total sales of the Vintage Collection are donated to support the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Our aim is to provide help as closely to the people as possible. Therefore we will be donating to an account for the Ministry of Social Policy created by the National Bank of Ukraine, providing food, shelter, clothing and medicine for refugees and citizens affected by the war.

To read more about the foundraising click here.

 

 

 

At Morpho + Luna we draw endless inspiration from butterflies and moths: magical creatures that shed their old lives to become something new and beautiful. Led by our founder, Cécile Gavazzi, we scour small markets from across England, France and Italy for antique garments of unusual craftsmanship which can date to the mid 1800s to early nineteenth century. Each piece is completely unique, some with imperfections that are a signature of their handmade quality.

After each piece is inspected and mended, we work with Alessandro to choose the best color for each piece. The yellows come from plant Reseda luteola known as ‘dyer’s weed’ and the purples, pinks and reds come from the root of Rubia tinctorum, or ‘dyer’s madder.’ These plants, grown at his farm Guado Marchigiano, have been used for millennia across Europe on wool and linen. For the deep blue colors, Alessandro imports natural indigo from India (like the ancient Romans before him) and mixes the three plants to create additional colors like green.

 

“There is something magical about wearing a hundred-year-old garment, and a connection between a lineage of women—of mothers and grandmothers—who have created beautiful nightdresses that have been passed down through time. A piece might have an imperfection, a pleat that is slightly off or a missing stich that is a signature of the creator: when I find it, I feel that connection to the past and the dress is made more special.

“Originally made as nightgowns, I love wearing them as a summer dress—the linen or cotton has been softened with time and made new again with brilliant colors: natural dyes that make something new. In Italian we still call our dry-cleaning ‘tintoria’, literally ‘where things are dyed’. This goes back to the practice of recoloring old garments to create something new and refreshed. I started collecting these pieces as a young woman searching the brocante markets around the Gulf du Morbihan in Brittany and am excited to share them with you.”

With love, 

- Cécile
Founder and Creative Director

 

 

Our beautiful vintage pieces are shown here with the corsets of young Milanese designer Alice Pons. The corsets are individually handcrafted using a 100% linen fabric featuring our exclusive hand-drawn Toile de Jouy landscape design, also available in our Oriental Bliss collection. We are proud to be working with Alice, who is bringing back to life an ‘old-fashioned’ accessory with sophisticated new designs for the modern woman. It is no wonder that her work has caught the eyes of high-profile stars such as Sophie Hermann and Jorja Smith. For more information on Alice Pons, please visit her website: https://alicepons.com