Italy's Very Own Libra Style

When I was a teenager and well into my college years, I was a T shirt and jeans kind of gal. My favorite t shirts were my band t shirts or some kind of crazy print that may or may not have said something raunchy. One of my favorites said: "Support Local Music" and below that in smaller font it said: "sleep with a musician". Since then I have grown out of my edgy shirt phase, but I still wear my band tees from time to time. Recently, a shop was brought to my attention that makes me want to get back into my old groove. This shop is called Libra Style. I got a chance to chat with the owners of this Etsy shop and learn a thing a two about them and their unique style. Enjoy!

We are a couple: my name is Leslie and my boyfriend’s name is Daniele, but everyone call him Nillo. We are from Renazzo a little city in the countryside near Bologna, Italy. Nillo is 31, he is a web designer, he loves comics and listens to every kind of music, he gobbles up music! I have studied foreign languages, I am 30 years old and half French, I used to work in Sales and Marketing Dept, but at the moment I am a desperate housegirlfriend!!! XD I really love fashion, which maybe is a common thing to say for a girl but I don’t follow trends, I like to be myself and I have a very watchful eye! I am in a contemporary dance company and I dance since I was 4!! We have our own house that we share with Willie & Wonka two beautiful cats and Sparky, the sweet and muddler dog! Oh yes, we really love Tim Burton!

We decided to open an Etsy shop because we needed and we still need to show people what we do, share our ideas trying to be original! Our small business has grown at the very end of the day. Night after night, back home from work, we created our collection of designs!

Our home is the only place where we can give birth to our works, we need to be together to argue and to find the right solution. We have a perfect feeling since more than 10 years and we can really work together. Home sweet home!

The world inspires us in every details! We follow trends, we love fashion and design! What helps the most? Probably going out, clubbing, meet new people and having a lot of friends!

1. How did you come up with the name Libra Style?

Nillo has always worked as a freelance and the name of his little business has always been “librastyle”. “Libra” because of his birth sign, “style” because everything was made with his personal sense of taste. 



2. How long have you been making shirts and how did you get started?

Nillo started by printing on tshirts some drawings he made just for himself and for me! Then the printer suggested him to prepare some graphic designs to be printed on some remaing t-shirts they had in the warehouse. Right then he asked me to help him to create and find original ideas! That was summer 2011, since then we never stopped and we decided to open an Etsy shop!



3.What five words best describe your style and the items in your shop?

Unusual, good quality, made with passion, spontaneous, affordable



4. I noticed a lot of female entertainment in your items that include burlesque, pin up girls, and even a porn star. What is it about these images that inspire you enough to use them in your work?

I am a dancer and I am really attracted by the burlesque scene. Sparkling and beautiful clothing, feathers, irony and sensuality are all mixed in one figure. We both love the trace of vintage that this world bring back to mind. The idea of theatres, shows, cabarets and good music really fascinate us. If we could choose one genre that reflect our ideas and life that would be rock’n’roll. That’s why rockabilly, psychobilly and 50’s/60’s style really influence our works! Concerning the porn star, we used this image because we are ironc people, courius and everything can inspire us. As everybody knows she is one of the most famous girl in the world at the moment, we don’t have prejudices and the success she is living it is something that we decided to “talk” (design) about. We are really attentive to every inpulse from the world! 



5. Here, in the United States, the burlesque scene has been growing drastically. Have you noticed a growth in the popularity of burlesque in Italy? If so, why do you think that is?

The burlesque phenomenon is growing everywhere, even in Italy! Here, it is something that few people knew about. Most of the time people saw it in films or on TV, it generally belongs to the past. Recently, someone has taken it back and everyone enjoys this “new” thing! That great for all those, like me and Nillo, who love it! 



6. Are you working on anything new that you would like to share with my readers?
There are tons of ideas in our heads, we don’t have enough time to create them all. At the moment we are looking for different tshirt style for women, we think that women are more demanding, you can find hundreds of online shops that offer hundred of different tshirts. We would like to be competitive and up to the market.


7. Are there any other horror icons that you would like to put on a shirt? If yes, who? and why?

Soon we will prepare some graphics about Lagoon Monster, Dracula by Bela Lugosi and some 70’s aliens. Why? Because, they simply rock!

8. Since you are a part of the Horror Couture Team, I was wondering who is your favorite villain from any horror film and why?

Alien or IT, probably because we were really young at that time and they remain two of the most evil villains and scariest films ever.

9. Now, because you can't have evil without good, who is your favorite hero or heroine from a horror movie and why?

Absolutely Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead and Army of Darckness.


If you would like to know more about Libra Style you can check out Their Etsy Shop, Follow them on Twitter, Like them on Facebook, and check them out on Tumblr!