A story that blends Italian art and craftsmanship. The one of Loretta Caponi, the legend of Italian embroidery born in 1924 in Fiesole.
Loretta was only 9 years old when, with great passion, she proved her love for that craft. But it was also a matter of need: first of four siblings she would help support her family by attending after-school a laboratory where she learned the fundamentals of the craft.
Just turned fourteen, she delivered her first commissioned work.
By the early Fifties her creations found their way to Rome, met with great appreciation by the most sophisticated pundits.
Forward looking, she would rent twice a year an apartment in the Capital, collecting orders from large customers by calling on a network she had developed and nurtured over the years.
By then Loretta had already met the love of her life, Dino Caponi, the painter who introduced her in the realm of the creatives and the literates, such as Luzi and Ungaretti, Montale, Quasimodo and Carrà , Bilenchi and Pratolini, Guttuso and most importantly Rosai: Dino’s teacher, who was almost a member of the family.
The artists’ wives soon became Loretta’s friends and great admirers of her designs.
The evenings at Dino’s atelier in Via degli Artisti would come alive with intellectual get togethers: while working and conversing Loretta would put aside her tailoring and enjoy the coterie of brilliant hands and minds by participating to many debates.
Often she would prepare a midnight spaghetti to be cheerfully shared with those great names that over the years would bestow on her inspiration and a profound culture.
