NN Couture is a new fashion label launched by Tunisian entrepreneurs Neyla and Chekib Nouira in collaboration with Italian designer Elio Ferraro. The label combines Tunisian textile traditions such as embroidery with Western-inspired contemporary silhouettes. Ferraro draws inspiration from Tunisian architectural details and traditional costumes. NN Couture had an early success launching in Rome with editors and clients immediately placing orders, showing there is interest in Ferraro's interpretation of Tunisian styles through a Western lens. The label aims to preserve Tunisian crafts like embroidery, which are passed down through generations. NN Couture will be launching a pop-up shop in Dubai to introduce the collection to Gulf customers.

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46 HarpersBazaarArabia.com June 2016 47 HarpersBazaarArabia.com June 2016
THE
CAPED
CRUSADER
Combining Tunisian design DNA with
Western style sensibility, one hip new
label is revolutionising East-meets-West
Words by ALEX AUBRY
When international fashion editor Sara Maino
attended a lavish gala dinner in Jeddah last
April, she chose to wear a streamlined black and
gold brocade kaftan by NN Couture. For many
of the guests attending the dinner that evening, held in the gardens of
Princess Adelah bint Abdullah bin Abdulaziz’s elegant beachside palace,
few would have been familiar with the discreet Tunisian/Italian label,
which has gained a steady following through word of mouth ahead of its
launch for next season.
“We wanted to create a sense of mystery and intrigue around the
collection,” confides Elio Ferraro, the Italian designer who was tapped to
conceive NN Couture by Neyla and Chekib Nouira, two Tunisian
entrepreneurswithdecadesofexperienceinthetextileandmanufacturing
industry. In Elio they found the perfect partner to create a contemporary
label with a mission to bridge cultures and expose the world to Tunisia’s
storied heritage of textiles and embroideries. To launch their debut
collection for autumn/winter 2016, they chose to stage an elegant
presentation last February during Rome’s Alta Moda.
Guests were invited to a cocktail reception at the Palazzo Ferrajoli,
an 18th-century palace that looks out onto the Piazza Colonna.
Its atmospheric gilded rooms served as the perfect backdrop for
a constellation of mannequins artfully arranged amongst glittering
antiques. Each sported Elio’s designs for NN Couture, which included
contemporary interpretations of traditional Tunisian costumes. Beneath
a large crystal chandelier was a group of modern cocoon evening coats
cut from luxe brocades in graphic stripes, zigzags and dot patterns. Most
came edged in fine gold and silver embroidery, while another mannequin
sported a sleek sleeveless evening vest, its deep velvet surface embellished
with three-dimensional hand embroideries in gold thread.
“Focusing on Tunisia’s heritage was a natural starting point for us,
as the country has an incredibly rich tradition of costumes that has yet
to be fully explored as a source of inspiration,” says the designer, who
was also inspired by Tunisia’s traditional architectural details such as the
nail-studded doors of Sidi Bou Said and the distinctive ceramic tiles of
Nabuel. “The most surprising aspect of launching this collection was the
positive response we received from European editors and clients,
who immediately placed orders,” adds Elio,
55, who believes that part of the brand’s
early success lies in its interpretation of
traditional Tunisian lines and motifs
through Western eyes.
Although based and produced in Italy,
Elio looked to Tunisian craftsmen
to execute NN Couture’s exquisite
embroideries. “Tunisia has produced
some of the best embroiderers in the
world,” says the designer, who divides his
time between Florence and Palermo. “There
is also a tradition of weaving textiles here that
goes back centuries, and we wanted to tap into
these age old crafts and revive them to appeal to
a contemporary audience,” adds the Italian designer,
noting that embroidery techniques have been passed down
from mother to daughter for generations.
“There are cities such as Nabuel, Moknine and Raf Raf
which specialise in very distinctive embroidery techniques,
and keeping these skills alive is part of what we are doing at
NN Couture,” says Elio, who is also inspired by the way chic
women in Tunis are reinterpreting traditional garments.
“As a designer it’s fascinating to see a woman pairing
a traditional embroidered vest or hooded cape with a sleek
pair of trousers and a turtleneck for a thoroughly modern
look,” observes Elio from his antique- and art-filled home
in the centre of Florence.
Born and raised in Sicily, a region that has enjoyed
centuries of cross-cultural encounters with North Africa,
Elio moved to Florence in the early 1980s to study
architecture. From the 1950s-1960s Florence was the
centre of Italian fashion, long before Milan assumed the
role in the ’70s. In 1951, a group of Italian designers
showed together for the first time in the Sala Bianca of
the Pitti Palace, in an effort to revive Italy’s textile
industry after WWII. It was a world Elio dreamed of
since childhood and hoped to be a part of someday.
“While I was in college, I realised I didn’t want
to pursue a career as an architect, so I entered
a competition to join Ferragamo’s design studio,”
recalls the designer who landed a position at one
of Florence’s leading fashion houses.
“I was 21 when I came to Ferragamo and it was
the best training I could have hoped for,” says
Elio, whose next stop was Japan, where he was
hired as a creative consultant at Takihyo, a textile
manufacturer with over 250 years of history.
“I lived in Tokyo for four years, and during that
time I learnt a great deal about textiles and
collaborating with designers. One of my most
memorable moments was working with Issey
Miyake, who is a legend in Japanese fashion,”
adds Elio, who eventually returned to Florence
to work at Emilio Pucci, after spending
a number of years traversing the world.
“Travelling has always been an important
part of my creative process and as soon
as I became financially independent
I wanted to discover and immerse
myself in different cultures,”
explains the designer, who counts
the Middle East and Asia as
favourite destinations. Over the
years the designer collected an impressive
selection of textiles, ornaments and crafts
that continue to inform his creative
process. Upon his return to Florence, he
opened his namesake gallery, displaying
an eclectic mix of luxury-vintage fashions,
furniture and art. It quickly became a
destination for fashion and interior
designers in search of inspiration. “When
I first opened my gallery, I wanted to bring
together everything I loved from my travels,
while serving as a kind of personal archive to
inspire my designs,” notes NN Couture’s
designer, who has since closed his gallery to focus
on his new fashion venture.
For those with an acute sense of fashion history, Elio’s
passion for Tunisian craftsmanship may also recall that of Elsa
Schiaparelli, the Italian designer who made her first trip to
Tunisia at the age of 13 with her father, a noted scholar of
Oriental studies who translated ancient texts from Arabic
and Persian. In her 1954 biography, Shocking Life, she
recalled her aunt Lillian, who lived in Egypt, sending
“beautiful materials... wonderful exotic things that brought
dreams to my severe surroundings. Perhaps she awakened
the love of Eastern things which I have retained throughout
life,” wrote the Italian designer, who in the late ’30s built
a house in Hammamet, Tunisia, where she spent her days
entertaining, collecting and studying local sewing,
embroidery and draping techniques that would
find their way into her couture collections.
“We like to say that NN Couture is made in
the world, because it was born out of a cross-
cultural collaboration,” says Elio, who will be
introducing his collection in the Gulf during an
exclusive Ramadan pop-up shop this month at
Dubai’s One&Only Royal Mirage Resort.
“The women I design for are sophisticated
global nomads in search of luxuriously crafted
clothes that are the perfect blend of tradition and
modernity. We wanted to reflect that sensibility in
our retail strategy as well, which will include a series
of pop-up boutiques in inspiring locations such as
Portofino and Ibiza,” notes the globe-trotting
designer, as he prepares to take his collection on a
world tour that will include stops in Tunis, Cairo,
Dubai and Bombay.
“From the start we wanted to present NN Couture
as a demi-couture line produced exclusively by order,”
explains Elio, who is often inspired by the style-savvy
Arab women he encounters during his travels. “Neyla
Nouira is probably one of the chicest Arab women
I’ve ever met in addition to others who serve as a
source of inspiration for me,” says the designer,
confiding that there is one style icon he looks
forward to dressing one day. “I’ve always been
fascinated by Farida Khelfa, and recently heard
that she liked my designs, which was the best
compliment I could have received for this first
collection. It would be a dream to collaborate with
her, so who knows… maybe one day.”
NN Couture will be holding a pop-up shop at the
One&Only Royal Mirage, Peregrine Ballroom, from
June 20 to July 4
“ T H E W O M E N I D E S I G N F O R
A R E S O P H I S T I C A T E D G L O B A L
N O M A D S I N S E A R C H O F
L U X U R I O U S L Y C R A F T E D
C L O T H E S T H A T A R E T H E
P E R F E C T B L E N D O F T R A D I T I O N
A N D M O D E R N I T Y ”
E l i o F e r r a r o ,
c r e a t i v e d i r e c t o r ,
N N C o u t u r e
NEWSThe
T HE
LAUNCH
CREATIVEDIRECTOR:SOFIAGUELLATY.PHOTOGRAPHY:FRANCESCOSCOTTI.HAIRANDMAKE-UP:MANUELLOSADA.MODEL:ANNAATMMG.PRICESAPPROXIMATE
Cape, Dhs9,345,
NN Couture.
Shoes, Dhs2,115,
Stuart Weitzman.
Jeans and tee,
stylist’s own
Top: Jacket, Dhs3,490; trousers, Dhs2,100, both NN
Couture. Boots, Dhs3,489, Sandro. Middle: Jacket,
Dhs5,295, NN Couture. Shoes, Dhs2,115, Stuart Weitzman.
Jeans and tee, stylist’s own. Bottom: Cape, Dhs3,115,
NN Couture. Shoes, Dhs2,500, Santoni
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