With the tacit approval of Kate Moss, Lucinda Chambers, Natalia Vodianova, Vanessa Paradis and other fashionable femmes, the Italian lingerie brand Rosamosario, with its signature rosette motif, answers the oft-asked question: what lies beneath?
Petticoats, culottes, bustiers, night robes, corsets, virginal white laces, bold shades of blood-red ribbons, coquettish contours covered in diaphanous damasks that just barely hold the girls in. Rosamosario isn't just haute, it's hot.
'I want to bring to the world the historical heritage of Italian craftsmanship, where hands move to develop the most unthinkable and desirable luxury,' says founder Carlotta Danti.
Rosamosario is made in central Milan, where the doors to its boutique and workshop are open daily to customers, 'So they can breathe the air of hand-making, like in the old times,' Danti says. 'Silks and cottons come from Italy, bought rough and hand washed. The lace that is key to our product range is imported from Calais in France, from the main couture houses.'
Danti says she likes sensual women, and created Rosamosario for them. Years after Madonna famously brought underwear out, Rosamosario has honed the conical bra concept to a sophisticated sheen. When asked how it came about that her six-year-old brand has enraptured women around the world, she replies: 'Being at the right place, Saks Fifth Avenue in New York where we kicked off back in 2005. Having the right product: elegant lingerie and 'lightwear', with just the right girls.'
And what girls they are. Their official website can satiate any idoliser of models, with pixel after pixel of near-nude supermodels shot by photographers such as Bruce Weber, Juergen Teller, Paolo Roversi and Mario Testino.
'I remember the day of the shoot with Bruce Weber. He shot just before the sun rose, and then again when the sun went down,' says Danti. 'His best works are influenced by his great sensibility for natural light. He has this incredible connection with nature, so he shows nudity in a gentle, natural way. I think his pictures can be considered a page of history, and the portraits he made with Kate [Moss] and other supermodels, are an important page of my life.'