Studio Umido
In the vibrant landscape of emerging Italian fashion, Studio Umido stands out as a brand with a dreamy, surreal, and absolutely unconventional allure. Founded by the incredibly talented Camilla, Studio Umido is a compelling example of how Italy, rich with creatives, is becoming relevant at a European level regarding unconventional talents who embody the boldness to transform personal visions into tangible works of art. With strong roots in surrealism and an approach that blends recycled materials with a dreamy aesthetic, the brand reflects not only Camilla's artistic sensibility but also her commitment to sustainability and innovation in design.
Camilla's journey, just like her brand, is anything but conventional. It is a true artistic journey, encompassing all aspects of creativity beyond mere fashion design.
I was born and raised in the province of Milan, studied Fashion Design at NABA, and approached fashion after studying Scenography at Liceo Preziosissimo Sangue in Monza—everything that has helped me create my aesthetic over the years, I learned it there—driven by the need to explore new spaces of expression that could open up to intimate and surreal dimensions. Although I chose a path that is far from theater and cinema, scenography is always within me.
I learned to see fashion not just as a garment to wear but as a thought to be transformed into visual imagery. I learned to design, to transform an idea, a reminiscence into a creative process, to recognize materials, textures, and their uses. I am a very materialistic person in the literal sense of the word—very attached to matter as a concrete object. I have learned to care especially about earthly and material goods, out of a pure sense of attachment and bond. I say 'learned' because over the years I have realized that trusting in small things helps to see the present better and live with less pressure for the future. The objects, the materials I 'collect,' define me as parts of myself to which I wanted to leave a memory—sometimes to preserve it, sometimes to abandon it. With this, I mean that within my home, I feel completely described by the multitude of pieces I have collected over time, but when I go out, I only take what has poetic value with me. However, I don't believe that what I possess defines my value—value for me is defined by the bonds you form, the memories you leave. Objects, instead, are part of a more intimate and deep description or definition of oneself. This is what I have carried with me since I was a child.
The connection with one's innermost self is fundamental—we decorate time by immersing ourselves into those crumbs that in some way make us feel full, and it is essential, in the historical context we live in, to never lose contact with beauty and life.
We all have images archived in our museum of memory, but not everyone translates them externally into works of art. This is what I want to do: not block the imagination and immediately transport it into a drawing, a sentence from which to start. There wasn't a precise moment in which I understood what my passion was, but I remember that as a child I couldn't process dreams—the concept of a dream was inconceivable to my mind, I couldn't grasp the fact that what I imagined at night wasn't real. For me, dreams were as important as matter in the design process. You immerse yourself in a world that represents a temporary reality very similar in images, contents, and thoughts to the 'real reality,' but it’s completely different in atmosphere and architecture, in the speed with which movements and thoughts follow one another, in the fluidity and absence of obstacles between one scene and another. In our dreams, images are a mix of not clear shapes and colors, it is a kind of painting with a completely blurred and undefined background with a colorful and bright foreground easily distinguishable. The animal prints that appear among the layers of fabric, such as frogs, cats, sheep, cows, and color shades they immerse in, are an attempt to transport this message and imprint it on the fabric. It is an important choice to create a brand, and I have not yet decided exactly—while carrying on this project, I am looking for a job in the fashion field. I think I still have a lot to learn and then to bring back into Studio Umido.
So, how was Studio Umido born? Where does it draw its origins?
It all started from my <collection> of materials—I found a box full of moldable plastic, a gift from my grandparents when I was a child, and I began to shape random forms. From that plastic, all the project research work began, and the need to transform thoughts, dreams, and illusions into something concrete. Surrealism is the movement in which I found myself at the beginning of the work, wanting to express through art one's subconscious without adhering to the restrictions imposed by rationality, logic, or human civilization. A process in which the unconscious (that part of us that appears during dreams) also appears when we are awake and gives us the possibility to freely combine thoughts and images without predefined goals and limits. This allowed me to have no limits in form and creation, first manipulating something small like a jewel and then creating a collection of clothes. The name itself, 'Studio Umido,' describes the sensation of the material I want to convey: something malleable, organic, and fluid that blends with fantastic images and harmonious materials—the expression of a surreal world. At the center of Studio Umido's research are the emotions produced by the unconscious in relation to matter, expressed in collections of jewelry, accessories, and indeed clothing. My perception of the surreal as an internal, humid, and organic place is transmitted through the working of the material, the layering of fabric, and the use of prints and colors that become the aesthetic languages representing a world, an emotion, a state of mind very personal to me. Additionally, at the center of the technical experimentation is the recovery and reuse of waste materials and fabrics—maybe unsold fabrics because of small imperfections or because produced in excess. I take them and work on them, sometimes eliminating the imperfect area, sometimes keeping it, also to narrate in some kind of way that small defect. It is a choice made to reduce consumption by taking what others wanted to discard. The same goes for the accessory, the jewelry part: after a lot of research, I found a resistant, waterproof, and lightweight material, perfect for creating jewelry meant to last. This research is very important to me—the more manual, sensory part of the research is what I prefer/seeing how fabrics behave in contact with another surface, the combination of fabric with fabric, material with material, and recognizing if one can work with the other is something that stimulates me both for Studio Umido and in my life in general. Continuing material research and not losing this essence of recycling is fundamental to me.
Not just clothes but, in fact, also jewelry: this is what distinguishes Studio Umido from other emerging brands. It is a constantly evolving brand, continually experimenting and always dedicated to research—in this way, a multitude of worlds are created, all in dialogue with each other but with a well-defined identity.
Very often, when talking with people who approach Studio Umido for the first time, I am asked about the materials I use, the production, and the creation process. Both the jewelry part and the clothing part are entirely handmade—this means that each piece is unique and can never be reproduced in series. A great inspiration for me in the world of prints is Guillermo Lore Garcia, a contemporary artist who creates huge canvases with depictions of animals and humans in connection. His art incarnates a magical realism: the inclusion of animals within the painting, the use of color—it is what, besides the poetry of the images, has inspired me the most for the realization of the collection. At this moment, I prefer to shape a more solid material (not fluid like fabric), which is why I prefer to create the jewelry part (creating mini capsules), with the manipulation of the material, using color shades differed with plastic and colored powders.
What are Studio Umido's plans for the future?
As I said before, every element of Studio Umido is entirely handmade, from the design part to the actual modeling, and since each piece is unique, it cannot be reproduced in series. This is exactly the period in which I am reflecting on which direction to take Studio Umido—my dream is to expand production (and inevitably I would have to transform this world into an industrial production). I am evaluating various directions, but I absolutely do not want to give up the uniqueness and recycling of the material, the immense research behind each garment and each jewel, and the aesthetic created over the years.
Therefore, Studio Umido confirms itself not only as a brand but as a true creative laboratory with an eclectic and unique vision—exploring the depths of the human unconscious while paying attention to sustainability and respect for matter. The project represents a commitment to a more conscious and authentic fashion, remaining faithful to its essence, where each piece carries a unique and significant story. A beacon of innovation, demonstrating that in Italy another kind of fashion is possible: it can be not only beautiful but also deeply meaningful and responsible.
