How to Do Valentine’s Day Like an Italian Lingerie Designer

Carlotta Danti’s lingerie collection, Rosamosario, is an exceptional balance of chic and sensual. Here, the Italian designer shares the women who inspire her creations and her must-haves for an ultra luxe Valentine’s Day.

How did you get your start as a designer? At age 18, the Queen of Punk Vivienne Westwood introduced me to the innovative technique of tailoring women bodies. I learned to tighten waists and embrace curves by using bustiers. There were pointed bras over clothes, she embraced asymmetric volumes to a standard figure, reinventing English corsetry and stressing avant-garde and unknown techniques. What an experience. That was the best schooling I’ve received in my life.

Why do you love designing lingerie? Everybody can wear an expensive bag, but it is less common to dress in expensive lingerie.

Is there a place or a person that inspires your creations? Rome the eternal city, Venice with its enchanting canals, Italy with all it’s sensuality – and style. From Romeo and Juliet to Botticelli, from Sophia Loren to Claudia Cardinale, isn’t Italy all about seduction? Capri and the Amalfi Coast are all sights drenched in lovely colors and dreamlike memories. Italy and its history is the one and only true inspiration for Rosamosario. I also love the opulent beauty of Ursula Andress, the dancing curves of Sophia Loren and the wild and dark personality of greatest Italian actress Anna Magnani. I want to create a product that celebrates beautiful women. There is a certain gracefulness to these actresses and the lingerie.

What materials do you most love to work with? My favorite fabrics interpret decadent romance and opulent beauty. I love lace that I hand paint or that I boil to give a vintage look organzas are the best for volumes and I love their nude effect. A woman’s body dressed in meters of transparent organza silks that recall old Hollywood. Lace, organzas, and bias cut chiffons are the most enriched and pure materials I use.

How much time goes into each of your elaborate pieces? The smallest Rosamosario piece takes a minimum of four hours at the minimum, but a classic morning coat takes about 15 hours to sew. Embroidering lace is the longest step, but there is also the hand pinning, the zig.zag sewing and cleaning process.

What piece of lingerie would make the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day? A long sheer robe with lace trim that sensually decorates a nude body

What would you like to receive for Valentine’s Day? A red lace bodysuit and a Ferrari, and drive around Manhattan in it.