10 Questions With Veronica de Piante

The designer talks us through her multicultural heritage and how it informs her collections.

Minimalist fans take note: Veronica de Piante is the new name to know. Known for sleek tailoring as well as luxurious fabrics and playful details in the form of a tassel or sparkle, de Piante’s eponymous label has been quietly amassing a following since its launch in 2022. But the creative mind behind the brand isn’t just a designer, the multi-hyphenate also describes herself as a philanthropist as well as the mother to three children.

With an upbringing that’s a patchwork of cultures, de Piante was born Milan to an Argentine mother and Italian father. At age two, the family moved to Bahrain and her time in the Middle East sparked her passion for craft, as well as an understanding of social injustices, creating an affinity for philanthropy. Fluent in four languages, with a passion for art and photography, de Piante embarked on a career in media sales with AFA Press, where her role involved research and analysis across global markets. It was only when she moved to New York in 2017, that she decided to start her own label. Her collections are woven together from her experiences between cultures, forming a tapestry of designs with the intention of being passed on with time.

We sat down with Veronica to discuss her upbringing, her passion for philanthropy and charity and her brand.

What inspired you to launch your own label?

There’s not one specific reason. The basic answer is to say I absolutely love tailoring, I was influenced by my parents in that respect. I never really found my niche but I’ve always had that drive to be creative. Maybe it’s also a form of expression, because of my diverse background and my complicated upbringing – the brand is a very good way for it all to come together and understand myself more.

2. How would you describe the Veronica de Piante woman?

It’s the woman who wants to grab a well-tailored piece and feel confident about herself. We have customers that are young and stay-at-home moms and others that have big careers. Some know what they want while some don’t know how to put things together and need advice. The woman who inspires me is someone who’s not afraid to break the rules. And that’s been my evolution with the brand: I started off safer in many ways, catering to the more serious woman, now, I’m adding a lot of playfulness to the collections. I want it to be reflective of life.

3. You have such a multicultural background with international parents and you moved around so much. How does that specifically inform your work?

The Middle East influences my work a lot, it’s also where I lived for quite a bit of my childhood. One big part of my collection is my collaboration with women who live in a refugee camp in Jordan and do this very particular, traditional embroidery. Both my Argentinian mother and my Italian father were very into tailoring. My dad especially loved rich fabrics, corduroys, and wool. In Milan I just see this extreme elegance in the men and women, their tailoring is superb.

I went to an English school in Bahrain, and all the mums were very proper. They would turn up looking immaculate to pick up their kids. My mother would turn up in an open air jeep, straight from the beach. I was mortified! And today I think: How cool was she?

4. What are the pieces from your collection that you cannot travel without?

I’m obsessed with my Charlotte trench. It’s made out of leather that gets softer with age. It’s been rained on, snowed on, trampled on, stuck in the security machines, you name it. And it just looks better with time. It’s seasonless, classic, and cool.

5. What are your next trips on your bucket list?

We are actually going to Bahrain where I grew up and where I’ve never taken my kids to. All the kids are going to be with me, so I’m super happy.

6. How did your interest in philanthropy come about and how do you choose the non-profit organizations to support?

This came about at a very young age for me in Bahrain, because there’s a huge socio-economic divide. My mother would always make sure that we were socially aware and we helped in some way — not only in Bahrain, but in Argentina as well. That’s something that I’ve taken with me.

We partner with Dana Farber, the cancer institute in Boston, where my sister used to work for a long time. So that’s also very personal. And then Artists for Humanity is an organization where young economically disenfranchised children get taught a vocation and an art practice. They often come from difficult home lives, so they get taught a vocation in the arts and they get paid for it to make them more independent. It’s personal to me as well because my sister was also involved in this organization.

7. How do you navigate the excess of the fashion industry while advocating for these causes, such as women learning their own craft to be indispensable to their communities?

I struggle with this question myself often: how to navigate the juxtaposition of fashion’s excess with wanting to create something that is meaningful and impactful. While producing my collections, I support small businesses like struggling family run mills and factories. This is in addition to the partnership with SEP and Madres & Artesanas on embroideries and crochet.

Also, my approach to my brand is not wasteful and I don’t feel pressure to over-create into the trend cycle. I make pieces that are meant to be passed down through generations and stand the test of time. My oldest daughter always wants to wear my things from the brand. I love that she wants to wear it at 21 years old, and that 49-year-old women come into our store to buy the same thing. I want my customer to come away with a few key items that will last forever, and bring them joy during times that can be quite dark right now.

8. What are the three things you’d bring with you to Desert Island?

My three kids!!!

9. What is your go-to thank you gift?

First of all, what I like to do after attending an event is writing a handwritten thank you note. And as a gift, it could be anything from flowers from the field or a find from an antique market, like a beautiful glass bowl or a little silver box with etching on it.

10. What is one movie documentary or a TV show you think everyone should watch and why?

The Breakfast Club! I think that it represents real life. I mean, yes, it’s teenagers in a detention room, there’s a druggie, the princess, the troubled one, the jock, but honestly that’s real life. It’s a lesson. It’s not only high school.