With love from Como

Reflections on growing up in the textile industry

Greetings from Lake Como, Italy! This visit marked my tenth trip to Proposte, an annual textile exhibition for the luxury home furnishings industry, and one of the more glamorous rituals of my career. The world of high end textiles for interiors was a relatively small and relationship-based network of family-owned manufacturers and editors (or textile jobbers, as we are called). Proposte was a busy and much anticipated week, a time to connect with the best mills from all over the world, and develop new designs for future collections.

For these few days, the work day included glasses of Aperol spritz, gelato in the plaza, and a daily “commute” on a boat across Lake Como. Even when it was cold, raining and gray (as it is right now), even when my feet ached and my stomach churned from too many espressos, the experience was a joy and a privilege.

This year, I arrived on a morning so sunny and glorious, it felt like a hallucination in my bleary-eyed state. Sloping green mountains cradled the sparkling water, bobbing with yachts and swans. The hills were filled with houses and villas in gold, pink and ivory, and clouds like dollops of meringue floated in the clear sky. The Gothic facade of a 14th century cathedral rose above the plaza, crowned with an aqua-hued dome. Some cranes and construction in front of the lake were a reminder that the place was real, and not a movie set. 

Immediately, I began taking pictures, even though I could scroll through my phone and find almost the same photos from years past. As I moved through the familiar streets, I thought about how each trip marked different stages in my career and personal life. On my first visit in 2011, I’d walked the city alone in a state of awe, getting lost every day and regretting my decision to wear heels.

A year later, I traveled with a French colleague, and one evening, buzzed on Prosecco after a cocktail party, we went out with her friends and ended up at a designer’s atelier. We woke his pet bird in an ornate cage and it chirped anxiously as we rifled through piles of artwork and tapestries. With laughter as our common language, we rode around the lake in the inky darkness. I remember feeling worldly and cool and like the night would never end.

In 2015, I arrived in Como six months pregnant with my first child, with a belly big enough to share the news with the whole industry. Three years later, I started a new job designing for a heritage textile line. I traveled with a new team, and learned to shop for archival prints and more traditional designs.

In 2019, at my last Proposte before the pandemic, I discovered I was pregnant with my second child. I was about to go out for drinks and a party when intuition led me to walk down to the local pharmacy. I used Google to ask for a “test di gravidanza.” In my hotel room, with Lake Como glittering out the window, I watched two lines emerge on the stick, the universal sign that needed no translation.

This year, two weeks into a new job, I attended Proposte with a new team, in a new role. Despite my years of experience, I felt like a beginner in many ways, listening more than leading, trying to grasp as much as I could about the company, the brands, and the projects in work. In the days before the trip, I’d imagined socializing with my new colleagues, dazzling them with my wit, charm and flair for dancing. 

But instead, at the end of each day, overwhelmed and overstimulated, I took long walks around the lake, where I let my thoughts spin out like a top. As I took in the heady scent of the wisteria and watched the sunset glaze the sky pink, I thought about how lucky I was to be here, and how far I’d come.

Before the trip, my mother told me, “Just remember, you are never alone.” I believe she meant this in a spiritual sense, but as I moved through the fair, greeting familiar faces and sharing my news, I realized that she was right. The industry was full of friends and mentors - smart, talented people I’d grown up with and learned from over the years. Being in a new job was disorienting, but I had to trust in the foundation I had built, and the person I had become. 

As I prepare to return to New York City, I’m grateful to have attended another Proposte, and made new memories in Lake Como.