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Prete & Bruno

Prete & Bruno may not be household names just yet, but if the Italian designers' Fall Winter 2012 collection, which debuted during New York Fashion Week, is any indication, they will be in short order. The talented design duo behind Prete & Bruno, Salvatore Prete and Filippo Bruno came together a year ago to combine their visions.

Originally from Milan, Prete & Bruno tell Uinterview in our exclusive interview that their line stands out from others on the market because of how it combines couture elements with ready-to-wear pieces. Submitting their request to the CFDA to show at Fashion Week a mere three weeks before the start of the festivities, the designers clearly had the talent, style and ambition to win over the toughest of critics. Since then, they have started working on the Prete & Bruno Spring 2013 collection and are getting ready to take on the industry one dress at a time.

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Q You are both Italian and your line was started in Italy last year, but you decided to have your first show in New York instead of Milan. What was behind that decision? - Uinterview User: A We made the decision to have the show in New York for two reasons. The first is that our base for the business is in the United States. New York is the capital of fashion in the United States and it is maybe the most important place to achieve the most [exposure] worldwide. With our fashion line, our label, we made the collection very elegant, with French and Italian twists. So maybe, it was the right choice because, in New York, it is hard to find a collection like our collection. We had the chance to have the right visibility to show our view of fashion.
Q You decided, relatively late on to show in New York. Take us behind the scenes and tell us what it was like to put the show together at the last minute. - Uinterview User: A Yes, it's true. We asked the CFDA just three weeks before the start of the fashion week… that is a record! Actually, we were ready to do it. After we had a couple of meetings with our production manager and our distributor, they said to us that Milan is fine, but it is too small for the new market. By the new market, we mean the United States, China, the Middle East and Russia. New York is now the capital for fashion in all of the new market. So we reached [the decision of] New York in maybe one week.
Q Your fabrics arrived late. How did you handle that? - Uinterview User: A The world collection was made in Italy and the fabrics are actually 80% from an Italian manufacturer and about 20% from a French manufacturer. So it's 100% European. The heritage of the fabrics like silk, suede and cashmere are actually French and Italian, and we were able to find the traditional fabrics with the twist of a new look. [But] maybe the next collection will be manufactured in the United States. We are trying the find the right manufacturer to do it.

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