Etro's Animated Fashion Film Brings The Workshop To Life

After 56 years in the business, the Italian brand Etro, famous for their rich their prolific textiles archive, recently launched a made-to-order service. A short film captures the magic of custom tailoring as the Etro workshop comes to life.

For his menswear debut as the brand's creative director in 2023, designer Marco de Vincenzo had hundreds of rolls of archive Etro fabrics hauled over from their Milan HQ to an industrial aircraft hangar-style building. After-all, custom fabrics and prints are in the family-founded label's blood; in 1968, Gerolamo ‘Gimmo’ Etro launched Etro as a textile company, later conceiving their paisley print 1981. It's surprising then, that only recently did the brand launch a made-to-order service, with Etro Unique available at their new men's tailoring store on the Via Monte Napoleone in Milan's popular luxury retail district.

Nodding to classic, dreamlike cartoons, the Etro workshop comes to life in the stop-motion animation film, set within the Etro headquarters on Via Spartaco. A measuring tape dances to life whilst a sewing machine runs free - but with the intention. Scissors cut through rolls of archive fabrics which form the lining of a double breasted pinstripe suit, finished with branded buttons. Inspired by the endless possibilities of the Etro Unique service and the brand's whimsical aesthetic, the short film by Virgilio Villoresi sees Magical Tailoring in action.