Simon Holloway and the future of Agnona textiles

The creative director of Agnona spins tales in cashmere and crepe de chine

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Shortly after he was announced Creative Director of Agnona in November 2015, Simon Holloway travelled to the Piedmont for what proved to be a revelatory induction. It was here, in Italy's alpine north, that Franceso Ilorini Mo established Agnona in 1953 as a specialised wool mill, providing textiles to expert dressmakers and internationally renowned couturiers alike. By the 1970s, the company began to expand into a fully-fledged luxury fashion brand, eventually producing its own ready-to-wear, accessories and homeware; today, Ilorini Mo's many successful creations are safeguarded in the company archives in Trevero, a haul that Holloway describes as both surprising and enlightening. "I knew the brand in the same terms as most people do. Very proper Italian: good taste, excellent quality", he says, remembering his Agnona masterclass. "The story was more creative and innovative than I had realised".

A highlight was unfurling the story of Francesco Ilorini Mo himself. "I like to think of him as a fabric geek. He was obsessed with quality", remembers Holloway. In his previous roles at brands including Calvin Klein, Hogan and Jimmy Choo, Holloway had worked with Agnona fabrics, but the archives shed light on the company's full creative breadth. "The building blocks were modern; Agnona was based on ideas of femininity, incredible quality, exploration of colour" he explains.

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