Hyper-feminine or casual, spring shopping is along the lake

A family shop that over time has become a family project, and which today has more than six boutiques, in Italy and Switzerland. "Our story begins in 1952 in Arona, on the shores of Lake Maggiore," says Gabriele Vietti. "After the war, my parents, Maria and Vittorio Vietti, opened a shoe and bag boutique, where I was practically born: my mother sold the last pair of shoes at six in the afternoon, the midwife arrived at nine and delivered me at home, as they used to do. I grew up in the shop'. At the time - in the sixties and seventies - at Vietti you could find handmade pieces in artisan workshops. "Vigevano, Parabiago, Tuscany: when I started working there were workshops where I went every week to get supplies, I remember well the smell of leather and glue from the workshops. Then the world of fashion, and also of accessories, changed radically: artisans began to close and disappear. And we also changed, we started to start the first collaborations with important brands'.

Lo store di Vietti a Domodossola

Over the years Gabriele Vietti, together with his wife Enrica Levorato, has opened three more stores in Arona, Gallarate and, in 2010, Domodossola. From there came the idea of expanding into Switzerland, with the opening in 2014 of a first boutique in the Alps, in Crans-Montana. Today, Vietti shops can also be found in Lucerne and Zermatt, where the second boutique opens this month. The choice of pieces focuses on luxury, the clientele is all international. With the arrival of the third generation - the sons Filippo and Andrea - the company has expanded online, with e-commerce, started to take an interest in emerging brands, especially from Japan, and experimented with new projects, for example with unprecedented pop-ups, such as the Arc'teryx workshop: directly in the Arona shop, backpacks and waistcoats were assembled from discarded fabrics of unsold garments of the Canadian technical and mountain clothing brand. An upcycling experiment.

Accessori e scarpe nello store di Arona

What is on offer in Vietti shops? "A mix of brands ranging from Celine (garments from 230 to 4,800 euro) to Loewe (from 250 to 5,500), from Chloé (from 225 to 2,790) to Prada (from 250 to 7,800), Miu Miu, Brunello Cucinelli (from 170 to 9,500), Burberry, Max Mara, up to more casual pieces from Japanese brands, such as jeans by orSlow (from 205 to 695 euro), Beams+ (from 110 to 490), Kapital, Auralee, Human Made. And again Acne Studios (from 140 to 820 euro), Lemaire, Jacquemus, Paraboot, Jil Sander, Maison Margiela, and Sacai'. The luxury connotation is mainly developed in the Swiss shops. "The new boutique in Zermatt is the largest in the group, with 500 square metres on two floors and eight shop windows. It will be the centre of special projects, as has already happened with the Maison Christian Dior pop-up in 2022, and recently with Gucci in Crans-Montana".

Gli interni della boutique di Crans-Montana.

A place of the heart, in your personal Vietti geography? 'Obviously the lake: my wife and I are both from Arona, Lake Maggiore is part of our history. Perhaps that is why we opened a boutique in Lucerne, which overlooks Lake Lucerne. Water is an emotional element for us, which has also become an inspiration in our professional life'.