My name is Paola Stranges, I am at the Italian Cultural Institute to interview the President of a company, of a tailor's shop, which has brought Made in Italy to the top of the world. The President of E. Marinella, Dr. Maurizio Marinella.
Good evening Maurizio, would you like to tell us about the historic E. Mariella brand, about the past, present and future of this brand?
The brand was born in 1914, therefore 105 years of history. My grandfather is a genius, then my father Luigi, now I'm here and there is also a fourth generation, my son. So 105 years. My grandfather's dream was to invent a little corner of England in Naples. In those days the elegant man dressed in the English style and the elegant woman dressed in the French style. My grandfather went to England and started importing brands which then became very important. Let's talk about the raincoats by Aquascutum, the perfumes by Floris, the umbrellas by Bridge, the hats by Lock and many other brands. Alongside these big names, we we created two workshops, one for shirts and one for ties.
At that time Naples had, but perhaps continues to have, a great craftsmanship and tailoring tradition. Everything was made to measure. The fabrics had to be English but the manufacturing had to be strictly Neapolitan. There was therefore always this ping pong between Naples and London for men's fashion. Immediately after the opening, we began to have great success, also because the shop was and still is, in front of the municipal villa which was called Villa Royal. It was the meeting point of the Neapolitan noble families who came for a horse ride in the morning and then stopped to buy some objects. Matilde Serao, who wrote in the Mattino, compared our shop to a "country pharmacy".
The shop was a bit like the meeting point where the carabinieri marshal, the mayor, the pharmacist met, and the fortunes of the town were settled.
The First World War brought great difficulties. The Second World War brought it even more when the Italian government imposed sanctions for which it was no longer possible to import articles from England. The Italian government's motto was "Producing Italian consuming Italian".
My grandfather stayed four years with the shop completely empty. In the morning it went down at nine and closed at XNUMX, reopened at four and closed at eight in the evening with an empty shop, apologizing to customers. He said "the situation will change but for now I'm here, I can't get the articles from England".
Then we grew up, the two workshops were doing very well. We got to a certain point where we had around 70 people in the two workshops. Then with the tie we got to the neck of some important people who made us our testimonials. From the Kennedy family onwards all American presidents, but also all presidents of the Republic. In particular, I would like to mention the President Cossiga who started giving away a box of 6 of our ties every time he went to visit a head of state. The President Leone, and then Napolitano who was an important ambassador for us. But also Gorbachev, Putin, in short, we have become a bit of a reference point with our ties. This because the E. Marinella tie transmits and will continue to transmit “craftsmanship".
We continue to do things as my grandfather did, as my father did, trying to keep the same quality, the same attention to detail. This has given us great notoriety and a great and beautiful image in the world.
You have mentioned the wonderful city of Naples more than once. How important is Naples for the Marinella family?
Naples is important for Marinella and Marinella is important for Naples. I'll tell you an anecdote that makes me smile. About 13 years ago, a communication company, that of Klaus Gavi, made a series of interviews in six Italian cities and also in Naples. There were ten questions, one of these questions was "when we talk to you about Naples what is the first person that comes to mind?" So, he came in first place Maradona Why Maradona it was for us, the successes, we felt important, we won a championship with him.
In second place Toto, in third place Marinella, in fourth place San Gennaro, in fifth place Bassolino. For me, having arrived even before San Gennaro was a source of pride. Now they are asking me a little about the miracle but I have to organize myself about the miracle.
From your words it is clear that there is also a lot of passion for tradition. Marinella was born and remains in Naples, this means a strong bond with her roots.
The link with the territory is very important to us. When my grandfather died my father told me “Maurizio we try to show people that you can do important things starting from Naples but mainly staying in Naples. Naples is my life force. Passion is what drives me more and more to continue with this job always with the same emotion. We open at half past six in the morning every day of the year. We work six and a half in the morning until eight in the evening, so without a strong passion, without a strong stimulus, staying up for many hours a day would be really very demanding. I always do it with the desire to show a beautiful Naples, my family and to pass on to my son perhaps a nice business card.
What is E. Marinella's secret? How is the E. Marinella tie made?
E. Marinella's secret is a tissue, that we still make in England as per ancient tradition. Every two months I go to England and print, draw, thousands of fantasies. These silks are still printed by hand as they once did. Now with these new technologies, almost all the silks that are on the market are made digitally. We don't, we still print by hand, the colors are certainly warmer and have completely different color intensities.
The ties are made to measure. Each tie is born as a unique object. Longer, wider, narrower, lighter, heavier. We are able to offer customers six different weights, from the lightest to the heaviest, to the very heavy. We made ties, for example, for Magic Johnson basketball player. He was a giant, when he entered the shop he made the choice of the ties with his head in the middle of the chandelier because it was the highest place, he fit perfectly like a hairdresser's helmet, we used the fabric of three ties to make a tie for him.
In the end, each tie is a unique object. From each design we make only four ties. There great availability, the great desire to convey a beautiful thing, colore, a little bit of that Neapolitan genius which is a condiment that is always very popular in the world. I feel proud because perhaps, with this extraordinary silk object perhaps a little unique, always updated, always different, in a world where everything is going crazy, perhaps we, with this extraordinary piece of silk, we have put right and left together. , north and south. Everyone united under this emotion of wearing a tie.
We have always transmitted the tie not as a constraint. Even when I can, especially in summer, I take it off very willingly. My grandfather used to tell me “Maurizio, if you always wear the same gray suit and change a tie every day, the same gray suit will look like a different suit”. Man does not have many possibilities to wear things, a shirt, a tie, a watch, these are the things that make a man elegant. The tie must be worn with the pleasure of putting it on, but mainly we want our tie to be a sign of respect as well, when you go to the theater, when you go to a concert, when you go to a wedding. I must say that I suffer a lot to see, in some important Italian theaters, some people still with ripped jeans. These are situations that must be appreciated and respected.
How does it feel to be an ambassador of made in Italy in the world?
I am very proud because I am and remain a very simple person. I like it, I'm happy to have received an important witness from my grandfather before and from my father after. I am happy with what I have done but mainly, my passion, my emotion is, I repeat and underline it, convey a beautiful Naples, a Naples that works, that is committed, that produces quality.
A Naples that wakes up every day at 5 to welcome its customers. At 6 in the morning, we offer coffee and sfogliatelle. The sense of welcome which is also another principle that was previously characteristic of all of us Italians and that perhaps at this moment we are losing a little and we do not want to lose it. We open at 6 in the morning, it is the best time we live with our customers.
In conclusion, I wanted to kindly ask you a greeting for all the followers and friends of italiani.it
I greet everyone with great emotion Italians living in all parts of the world. We continue to convey a beautiful Italy. There is an "Italy brand" outside of Italy that is scary. We who are in Italy, perhaps we do not even realize it. I did it starting from the deep South, from Naples where everything was a bit difficult, indeed perhaps on the edge of reality. I have done it by going forward with an incredible strength always, so I urge you and I wish you to continue to transmit an extraordinary Italy too.
