Oxblood, a brand that gives shape to the graphic imagery of tattoos

A few quotes can help restore to tattoos the meaning and value that the excessive popularity of recent years has, at least in part, taken away from them. Fashion, it would be better to say fashions and trends, can be a blessing, but also a curse. Let us start then with Nicolai Lilin, who in Siberian Education writes: 'A body without tattoos is a body that tells nothing'. Words that are not surprising, in the context of the book, because in Russian culture, tattoos have a notoriously important place. Moving to the other side of the world, there is a proverb of the Iban, one of the indigenous tribes of the Dayak people of Borneo, which says: 'A man without tattoos is invisible to the gods'. Not so surprising, in turn: we are used to images of tribal tattoos from other continents, more like body suits than marks on the skin. Instead, returning to our latitudes, the words of writer Margaret Mazzantini are surprising: 'Tattoos are new signs chosen by you. You put something between your skin and destiny. A sip of courage'.

Long preamble to say that the tattoo is - beyond trends - a universe and a language to be known and respected and that it can be an integral part of a project for a new fashion brand. This is the case of Oxblood, born from the meeting between Giulia Luchi and Brian Woo, aka DrWoo, a tattoo artist from Los Angeles: in Via Bigli, a few steps away from Via Montenapoleone, in the heart of Milan's luxury quadrilateral, the brand's first shop has just opened, and a glance at the windows is enough to understand how different it is from all those around it. "We have a street entrance, but we only receive by appointment. Whoever rings without a reservation will not be ignored, let's be clear,' says a cheerful Giulia Luchi. 'However, we will only open to them if one of us, inside, is not busy with other customers at that moment and has some time to spare: the soul of Oxblood is the story of what you can see when you enter the shop, looking at the jewellery, inspired by Brian's tattoos and imagery, and touching the clothing, bags, and objects for the home. Oxblood wants to arouse and cross emotions, matching words to what you see'.

Giulia Luchi e Brian Woo

For via Bigli, we could speak of a shop made of shops, of concentric circles of creativity: in the first room there is mainly clothing and accessories, in the second jewellery, many of which can be customised and where the symbols dear to Doctor Woo recur, first and foremost skulls and spiders, which are then found on T-shirts, sweatshirts and even bags.

It is surprising, given the clichés in which we are unfortunately immersed, that a young woman like Giulia Luchi should 'fall in love' with spiders and skulls, given that she has had past experience in brands like Ermanno Scervino and Alberta Ferretti, which are unfamiliar with gothic or tribal symbols and arachnids.

The founder of Oxblood laughs, again, explaining that "spiders are small animals that make extremely complex and fascinating constructions on their own" and recalls another experience in fashion, that with Virgil Abloh in Off White. "With him it was all surprising, he taught me the pleasure of detail, of the quality of workmanship and materials, and at the same time made me understand how necessary it is to listen to one's own creative voice, without prejudice, not even towards oneself," explains Giulia Luchi. Brian's imagination, so magically translated in his tattoos, I dreamed of translating it into jewellery, perhaps even more important than the clothing part. Because, just like tattoos, they are permanent. Just as important was thinking from the outset about personalisation: how the marks on our skin, rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, tell others something about us and tell or remind ourselves of other things. Oxblood is my dream come true and I would like the same to happen with the little big dreams of many other people'.