All bodies are different and all bodies are beautiful. It was from this fundamental idea that Chiara Marconi and Federica Tiranti set out in 2018 when they decided to bring Chitè Milano to life — the innovative bespoke artisan lingerie brand, customisable through an online platform. And there's more: all bodies must be carried with pride, and women's empowerment begins precisely with self-love. This is where the motto Tits up! was born — an entirely feminine way of saying "be proud of yourself, move through the world with your head high and chest out, and convey ease and self-confidence through your posture."

"It all starts from the awareness that women's bodies are different, and it is inconceivable that they should adapt to predefined sizes. That's why we thought of creating a lingerie brand that, by contrast, could express the thousand facets of femininity, adapt to every woman's body and make her feel good," explains Chiara Marconi, CEO, as she walks us through the many dimensions of this project.

Chitè is in fact the first brand to have digitalised the tailoring service through MyChitè, a 3D online customisation platform that offers women the possibility of creating bespoke lingerie according to their own taste and needs. Chitè combines craftsmanship and innovation, a traditional handmade product with a completely revolutionised customer experience, with particular attention to sustainability.

For this reason, it has become part of the LifeGate Way ecosystem, the LifeGate subsidiary that supports and networks naturally sustainable startups.

The pillars of the Chitè philosophy

The startup is founded on some very distinctive ideals: first and foremost, made in Italy and artisan craftsmanship, which, as well as being a guarantee of quality, express a daily commitment to carrying forward the tradition of corsetry — the art of making lingerie that is being lost due to the current configuration of the market, globalised and delocalised. Chitè works with independent artisan workshops in the Langhe district so as to maintain vertical control over the production chain and a scalable model that gives value to the work of every seamstress. In this way, Chitè is able to produce bespoke items at an accessible price that positions the brand in a niche of affordable luxury. The founders targeted the enormous gap in the market between fast fashion lingerie and luxury lingerie — exclusive and extremely expensive — and conquered it, disrupting it with their direct-to-consumer business model. The result is a bespoke made in Italy craft product, defined as slow couture, delivered to your door within two weeks at a price that guarantees sustainability from several points of view.

Slow couture and sustainability

We have already mentioned sustainability from the social and human perspective, linked to artisan production carried out in Italy according to textile traditions passed down through generations. The garments, made with care and produced to order or in small-run capsule collections, will last a long time and will avoid ending up among the immense quantity of textile waste that characterises the fashion sector. On the subject of fabrics, in addition to using certified and sustainable materials (such as 100 per cent organic cotton), with a low environmental impact and respectful of the skin of those who wear them, Chitè has chosen not to use traditional silk in order to remain true to its own short supply chain philosophy.

"In Italy, silk is a yarn that no longer exists; silkworms survive only for educational purposes, and using silk meant importing it from China," says Chiara Marconi. "That's why we chose to turn to a historic silk mill in the Como district, Boselli, which for the very same reason as us converted to polyester satin and has recently also begun producing recycled fabric. In this way we are able to offer a product with the same quality and the same hand as silk, but Italian, certified and sustainable."

Chitè, a benefit corporation aiming to become a B Corp, also produces small upcycled collections made from surplus fabrics left over from previous seasons in order to further reduce its environmental footprint, and delivers purchased garments in completely plastic-free packaging.

Loving yourself and your body

The third pillar of Chitè is conscious beauty — that is, beauty linked to a message of body positivity, acceptance of one's own body and love for it. "We want to contribute to the self-esteem of all the women in our community," say the founders. "For us, inspiring women was from the very outset one of the reasons that drove us to create Chitè, a brand that then took shape through the world of lingerie."

It takes just 35 seconds every day for every woman to connect with herself when in the morning she looks at her reflection in the mirror and puts on her lingerie, the founders explain. "We believe in the immense value of this tiny moment of time, so that each woman can feel loved by herself, in order to be able to love the world. Chitè invites women to experience this habit — as simple as it is precious — in order to draw attention to the mental wellbeing that flows from it."

Independence, inclusivity and authenticity are the values that Chitè is committed to conveying through its campaigns in an educational and sensitive way. A brand made by women and for women, a 100 per cent female company in its many facets: the team is made up of women under 30, and the majority of the company's shares and board representation are also female; the corsetières are independent artisans, the empowerment messages are aimed at the community of women who choose Chitè; associations that work with women receive the startup's support and solidarity, and the communication campaigns promote gender equality. All of this is the expression of a 360-degree attention to the world of women, which nevertheless does not exclude men.

On the occasion of Valentine's Day in 2020, when the lockdown had seen a spike in domestic violence and Covid had monopolised media attention, Chitè launched an awareness campaign against gender-based violence, in favour of inclusivity and respect. At the start of this year, meanwhile, it celebrated equality between men and women with the first genderless boxer designed for both him and her. In addition, Chitè offers support to initiatives and associations focused on women's wellbeing, such as breast cancer research and various tailoring and economic justice projects for women in Italy and Great Britain.

The present and future of the Chitè world

Chitè women are typically between 28 and 45 years old and can be characterised in three different ways. The woman at the beginning of her career with a strong awareness of what makes her feel good, who buys lingerie to please herself and not necessarily for a partner. A more mature woman, with a greater sensitivity and understanding of her own body, who notices the changes it has undergone after pregnancy, more attentive to quality products and who identifies with the motto "buy less, buy well". The third, increasingly in tune with the times, is a young woman who chooses Chitè for its strong sustainability ethos.

The community of Lovers, as Chitè likes to call its customers — alluding to the idea of someone who knows how to love herself — is spread across ten countries around the world: in Italy, Europe, but also Canada, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, a market in which the startup plans to expand further next year.

In 2022 the brand aims to open offline direct-to-consumer channels through pop-ups and flagship stores, to broaden its range with the launch of swimwear and beachwear, and to further strengthen its sustainability credentials by moving to 100 per cent of the collection made with recycled fabrics in order to obtain B-corp certification as soon as possible.