Senior Lela Rose Designer Launches Her First Capsule Collection With Her Own Brand, Giovanna

Some entrepreneurs like to enter the market like gangbusters. Others take a more pragmatic approach, like Leonora Arslani, founder of Giovanna, a brand known for its trend-setting raffia mules and Wabi-Sabi inspired jewelry, eponymously based on her incredibly stylish aunt’s personal aesthetic.

“I officially launched Giovanna in 2019,” Arslani tells me. “But made a VERY small batch of raffia mules before that and mainly sold them to friends.” 

The whole concept of the brand was to recreate her Italian aunt’s closet if she were alive today. “The brand was reimagined by my memory of my aunt and sifting through old family photographs of her, my mother, and my grandmother. Giovanna was well traveled and adorned herself and her home with pieces she found from around the world.”

Part of Arslani’s cautious approach to launching her own brand (whether she intended to or not) is that she still works full time for Lela Rose as the Director of Design and Product Development, a position she has held for the last twelve years.  

“It started off as an itch,” she tells me in response to me asking her why she decided to create her own brand. “I asked myself why did I become a designer? (Something she admittedly hated saying the first six years of her career in fear that people would automatically think she was snobby when in reality that couldn’t be further from the truth). And do I want to work for someone else my whole life? Even though I love working for Lela.”

Arslani has been upfront with her boss from the beginning about what she envisioned creating.

“I never wanted to feel like I was doing anything behind her back,” shares Arslani. She told Lela that she planned on making raffia shoes in Morocco—something she was inspired to do after spending her honeymoon there. “I bought a pair of artisan shoes there and everyone in New York City kept complimenting them. It got my wheels turning. When I told Lela about them, she asked for an image and said, ‘Order me a pair in size 39 in pink.’” While the shoes got Arslani thinking about how she could create her own interpretation she never wanted her brand to be about Morocco. “I tied this inspiration into recreating my aunt’s closet. This is how I make it personal.”

When I ask her how she manages doing both (although like many other entrepreneurs, we know the drill) Arslani explains, “I work alot hours after work and on the weekends! At first I was stressed about it. But I had to allow myself to be okay with just doing what I can for Giovanna and not beat myself up for what I couldn’t. Nothing is as easy as it looks—that’s something that I have learned the hard way! Work/life balance at Lela Rose is quite normal, so I can make it work. But starting a brand is expensive, which is why I have to do both.”

Arslani’s first foray into ready-to-wear drops today and it epitomizes her effortless style and was inspired by the lockdowns of quarantine. 

“At the start of quarantine, I felt a complete disconnect from fashion. It was not a time for frivolity at all,” shares Arslani. “But as my mind settled down, and I allowed myself to love fashion again, I started thinking about how to dress when you have nowhere to go. I quickly realized that all of my clothes were strictly for going out and none of my stay at home clothes were good looking at all and I am a believer of looking good to feel good. This got me thinking of the ‘house dress.’ In every memory I have of my grandmother at home, she is wearing a house dress, oran apron.” 

The six-piece, small batch capsule is handmade and includes a range of house dresses and playsuits with matching cotton face masks that are complimentary with each clothing purchase. For each Giovanna face mask sold, the brand will continue to donate funds to cover the cost of N95 masks for REITI Rapid Resilience program that supplies PPE to healthcare workers on the front line fighting the pandemic. While the capsule was designed with comfort in mind Arslani tells me, “The pieces are comfortable enough to wear at home but chic enough to go out in as well.”

With her slow and steady approach to the market already established with her shoes and jewelry, I asked Arslani if her capsule is her dipping her foot into the ready-to-wear space? 

“Once you start, you can’t stop”, she responds. “But I am in no rush to make a huge collection just yet. I’d like to keep things small and special and let the ideas have some longevity instead of turning them over in a few months.” 

Looking towards the future beyond this capsule and future ready-to-wear pieces Arslani tells me, “I plan to expand the footwear selection to include leather styles as well. But that will happen when it feels right.”