T L - 1 8 0 INTERVIEW
"We didn't think about business at all. We just wanted to make something that will last — a bag you hand down to your daughter. No fast fashion."
"A coup de foudre — in the non-romantic sense."
Antonine Peduzzi and Luisa Orsini met 16 years ago at Luisa's 18th birthday party, held in Rome's Villa Medici. "We just got along," says Luisa. As students in Rome, they enrolled on the same course — Luisa specialising in fashion, Tine in interiors. Post-graduation, Luisa got a job in the Valentino atelier working on Valentino Garavani's final collections, while Tine worked with her father, a renowned set designer. In the evenings, they experimented.
It was a faded home-made sign on the Orsini family fridge that read, "Broken! Don't touch!" that convinced Tine that Luisa was truly her soulmate. "We had an almost identical sign in our family kitchen saying, 'Don't touch the gas! It's broken!'" she laughs. "I thought, 'Ah, I'm home.'"
"I'd pick her up from Valentino, at Piazza di Spagna, and then we would go home to create — anything. Photography, painting, drawing…" recalls Tine. Having completed a year of evening classes at Parsons Paris studying textile design, drawing and photography, they launched TL-180 — combining the expert craftsmanship of a Made-in-Italy label with the nonchalance of a French fling-it-on aesthetic.
It was following an exhibition by German artist Anselm Kiefer that the initial spark was kindled. Struck by his approach to fabrics, they felt inspired to experiment with colour on canvas — and eventually folded and hand-sewed their very first pochette.
How did you start TL-180?
We both had just finished our studies — architecture and fashion — and used to burn time together by painting, drawing… Then we decided to take one of our paintings and turn it into a clutch. It was our first bag. So we moved from Roma to Paris and created our first collection.
Greatest inspirations and influences?
- Everything around us. It could be an old woman and the way she moves, a wall, a movie, photography.
- Our first inspiration is German artist Anselm Kiefer — because of his approach to fabrics and experimenting with colour on canvas.
"We have two very present characters and personalities — very strong — but then we just understand each other."
Fashion icons in your opinion?
Someone with a personality strong enough to make you want to be something like her / him / it.
Who are the girls you have in mind when you design?
It depends — our work is really instinctive. We don't have a specific girl. It really depends, but could be an Anna Karina.
The challenge of starting your own collection?
It has to be a perfect compromise between new, strong, and useful.
Favorite websites, blogs, publications?
Favorite boutiques?
Anything else you'd like to share?
We are working on a new jewellery project — very soon. — Tine & Luisa
TL-180 offers everyday elegance without ever compromising on artisanal savoir-faire. The brand strives to create the perfect shape for every woman — marrying femininity with a desire for playfulness; refinement with mischief; and the finest quality with the spirit of glamour. Their collections, like them, are impossible to categorise: independent, dynamic, curious, and authors of their own style.
