Dapple EQ's Italian Adventure
Lara & Carla go to Italy.
Animo. Equiline. Stivaleria Secchiari. Anna Scarpati. Lorenzini.
All brilliant brands, synonymous with style, cutting edge technology and quality. Our experience in Italy was a bit of a whirlwind/whistle stop tour - but none the less was i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.e in every sense of the word.
But I'll start from the start. After a fairly easy flight from Adelaide to Dubai, Lara and I very nearly missed our flight to Rome due to a *small* amount of Prosecco consumed with a rather delicious pizza (I know, go figure - in Dubai airport!), left us rather hastily bolting to the opposite end of the terminal with poor Amelie in the airport pram having the time (ride) of her life. Thankfully we made it as the last through the gates (let's face it, it's probably not that surprising of us really!) and onwards to Rome!
From Rome, we went north to an incredible town called Bassano del Grappa (yep, it's the home of Grappa!). So so beautiful, crowned with spectacular mountains looming in the background of the picturesque town, with the most beautiful river that runs straight down the middle. It really was the most serene way to start our Italian adventure! The next day we ventured out to Animo (after Carla becoming lost/found by of course none other than the owner of Animo's son, Marco... small embarrassment!) in Cassola. From the moment we pulled into the gates, we realised that this was something special and would be remembered.
A small tour of the incredible facility (including a full working restaurant - soon to open to general public, which created a truly delicious lunch of mushroom risotto and eggplant parmigiana washed down with a great local red wine) we ended up in the show room for our SS17 collection buy. We are so excited to bring this range to Australia, and some garments will be arriving in December ready for the summer season ahead! This is probably one of the most *cutting edge* collection from Animo we have received yet, but we're not giving anything away...!
After Animo we had a great weekend spent in Venice, eating pastries and getting lost in the streets. We then made our way towards Trebaseleghe, home of Equiline.
Upon arrival at Equiline, we were met with a different focus than we anticipated - their extreme passion to develop their leatherwear & saddlery to be second to none. Consequently, after an extensive tour around the facility we had decided to take on Equiline Saddlery including the newly developed dressage monoflap, the 'Cross' eventing monoflap and the highly revered Nick Skelton jumping saddle.
Further to that - we have also begun to import the Lorenzini jumping boots (tendon and fetlock) to accompany our current collection of Lorenzini stirrups! These great boots feature a panel of titanium down the tendon to provide extreme protection against knocks and bumps. Elastic closure tabs on front boots, with two fetlock versions offered - young horse (velcro, and shorter on the fetlock) and the style pictured below (elastic closure tabs).
The final leg of our Italian adventure led us to the indescribably hospitable and passionate Stivaleria Secchiari in Macerata.
Secchiari needs no real introduction, their modest family workshop hosts a small team of family members who all work incredibly hard to provide completely handcrafted, 100% Italian, leather boots. The quality and craftsmanship of these boots is second to none, and we are so proud to be able to offer them to you as the sole distributor in Australia. These boots hold very few boundaries - if there is something you desire or have always wanted to achieve in a boot, then get in touch. Secchiari can make it a reality!
The final 'icing on the cake' part of our adventure was again the acquisition of another superior label, Anna Scarpati - who along with her team can make any of your stabling, rugging, saddle accessories and travel luggage dreams come true with customised options through the entire range. We have been lucky enough to snaffle part of their SPOGA collection in a few colour ways, and will have it on show in-store and online shortly.
Hope you all have enjoyed our small adventure,
Lara & Carla x