Bella British Columbia
Italian fashion artisans swap Milan for Bowen Island
Rebecca and Davide Bizzarri’s charming little bespoke cashmere workshop is both idyllically located and utterly incongruous.
The two 30-something Milanese fashion artisans have set up shop on Bowen Island.
There, in a 1,600-square-foot workshop filled with high-end electronic knitting machines as well as vintage hand-operated looms, they custom knit $900 Chanel-esque cashmere jackets, tailor elegant cashmere coats, and make soft, delicate sweaters.
Two years ago, they transported an entire knitting workshop from Milan to Bowen in two 40-foot containers.
“The original desire to come to Canada was for a lifestyle change and an adventure,” Rebecca Bizzarri said.
“It was a huge risk. I was proposing to my husband and mother-in-law to move a business that had been established in Italy since 1959. She doesn’t (speak) English and my husband had only lived in Milan.”
But the economic climate in Italy was declining, and the Bizzarris felt there was opportunity for change.
They originally considered Whistler because its tourism, international vibe and cool alpine climate seemed ideal for cashmere.
But not only were rents high — quadruple what they eventually found on Bowen — the busiest stores appeared to be big international brands. Independents seemed few and far between.
They stumbled on Bowen on the last day of one of their research trips, Bizzarri said. “It’s really near to (Vancouver), but it’s removed and it’s quaint.”
Bowen, a hippy haven in the 1970s, is now attracting the “luxury hipster,” young families and retirees, Bizzarri said.
The island’s gentle, artsy population serendipitously includes a “very strong” fibre arts community and thus a good base to find staff.
The Bizzarris’ company, Artigiani Milanesi, sells to many private clients and makes both branded and private label product for a boutique in New York and a few in Vancouver. They have held private home cashmere parties in West Vancouver, Kitsilano, and even one in Calgary.
“You can offer one-on-one service, take their measurements, serve Prosecco and tea,” Bizzarri said.
“The last one we did, on average each person who attended ordered two pieces.”
Artigiani Milanesi’s cashmere scarves run about $75 to $250, jackets $800 to $900, and blankets range from $250 to $1,300.
Each hand-groomed cashmere goat produces 200 grams of yarn, or enough for one lightweight sweater, twice a year.
The weak Canadian dollar is challenging, but “we are stubbornly insisting on importing our yarn from Italy, and we buy in U.S. dollars,” Bizzarri said.
While Canadian labour costs are high, in Italy, required government contributions roughly double an employer’s wage cost. “Here we pay a higher wage, but don’t have to pay so much in contributions,” Bizzarri said.
All in all, although the cost of living is lower in Italy, “our rent is quite reasonable because we’re on Bowen, we pay a higher wage but don’t have to pay so much in contributions, and yarn is costing us 10 to 20 per cent more. It seems to work.”
One shock were Canada-U.S. border restrictions.
“We were told there’s free trade, and stupidly didn’t look into it in depth. It’s a lot of paperwork to bring just a sample across.”
While still in Milan, the Bizzarris would travel to British village equestrian events and set up a tent to sell their goods. They are hoping to do something similar at Calgary and Toronto equestrian events and Canadian sailing regattas.
Their first inclination was to produce chunky warm sweaters for the Canadian market, but discovered British Columbians want a lightweight, looser fit than what is popular in Italy.
They initially opened the store in May, 2014, expecting a quiet start, but made a profit in their first year largely from Bowen visitors “stumbling across the store” all summer.
“In Milan, you wouldn’t sell anything in the summer.”
In their year on Bowen, they made enough to pay themselves, repay their moving costs, and reinvest in the business.
They came to Canada on a provincial economic immigration program, the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program, and are now applying for permanent residency.
Davide’s mother, Rosa Feroldi, one of five orphaned sisters in the Second World War, was placed in a convent school where the children knitted their own clothes.
Feroldi later started her first cashmere fashion business in Milan in the early 1950s.
Two premium European cashmere fashion brands, Brunello Cucinelli and Moncler, are scheduled to open in Vancouver in late 2015 or early 2016, but Bizzarri isn’t too worried. Brunello Cucinelli’s sweaters “are $3,000.”
They currently make on average six sweaters a day with three part-time employees in their workshop. They are looking to hire more.
At some point, Bizzarri, an interior designer, would like to introduce fabric design and create cashmere homeware.
Also a yoga instructor, she has joined forces with two other instructors to open Bowen Island Yoga, which now offers two or three classes every day.
As for living that idyllic West Coast lifestyle?
They have acquired two dogs, a golden retriever and a bearded collie, and are enjoying summer bonfires on the beach, standup paddle boarding, hiking and skiing on their one day off per week.
“It was a huge risk. I was proposing to my husband and motherin-law to move a business that had been established in Italy since1959.
REBECCA BIZZARRI
ARTIGIANI MILANESI