For years, Daria Reina and Andrea Ferolla earned their livings as creative directors who brought to life the visions of their clients, such as Bulgari. Chez Dede was born in 2011 when the Rome-based couple—she’s French-Italian, he’s Italian—decided to dream up a world of their own, a fictional place based on a nickname coined from a fusion of “Daria” and “Andrea.”
“It was just a silly idea,” says Reina. “It was evocative of something without having anything.”
What began with whimsical holiday gifts for clients—an apron, a mug, a box of chocolates from a made-up bistro in the South of France—grew into a cult collection of leather-trimmed totes with glamorous travel destinations in Andrea’s distinctive lettering embossed on canvas and toile de Jouy. There are also silk scarves, lampshades, jewelry, and artwork. All feature Ferolla’s illustrations, which combine charm and mischief in a way that seems to originate from another time.
In 2015, Chez Dede opened a store inside Palazzo Antonelli Capponi, at Via di Monserrato 35, in Rome. (The building was recently featured in Ripley, Netflix’s recent adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley.) Done in a warm, dark palette, the intimate space is designed to feel like both a gallery and a home, where Chez Dede’s collection of artisanal wares is displayed alongside vintage finds and pieces by Astier de Villate, John Derian, Anke Drechsel, Emporio Sirenuse, and more.
Everything in the Chez Dede universe is done with a highly personal touch. Ferolla’s studio, in which he sketches behind a curtain, is adjacent to the store. “We are interested in the human connections,” says Reina. “If we don’t like the designer and the human behind the brand, then we can’t work with them.”
On that note, Air Mail considers it a great compliment that Chez Dede is a collaborator on a second edition of exclusive silk scarves produced in Como, Italy, featuring the enchanting drollery of Ferolla’s illustrations. The collection, Enfants Terribles, imagines well-known artists, including Maria Callas, Josephine Baker, Christian Dior, and Jean Cocteau, as children. Each colorful vignette depicts its subject as a precocious youth preparing for greatness. Callas sings for her stuffed animals. Baker peacocks with her cat, a precursor to Chiquita, her pet cheetah. “They are fabulous,” Reina says. “They make you laugh.”
Jessica Iredale is the Editor of Air Supply
Chez Dede’s Enfants Terribles collection is available in the Air Supply store and at the Air Mail Newsstand at 546 Hudson Street in New York City
