Four years into his eponymous label, this Melbourne-based designer has enjoyed cult status, and has just been picked up by a major department store. There are not many who would guess that this humble story began in his mother’s living room. There, mother and son put together a collection, her at the machine, Carli on the drawing board, which piqued the interest of esteemed design-slash-fashion publications internationally.

“We put together a collection,” recalls Carli, “and it sort of just took off from there.”

Took off is indeed an apt way to describe even the origin of the brand.

“At the time, I was working as a host for an airline,” he laughs, “when I met this German gentlemen that had a particular tie on that I found interesting. I commented on it and, oddly enough, he gave it to me.” Carli assures Savvy Style that he did not deliberately seek to deprive the gentleman of his tie, saying the two had an in-depth discussion about, well, ties. “He had a few in his bag,” reassures Carli.

“I thought that was telling me something,” says Carli of his chance encounter. “So I destroyed the tie, I worked out how it was constructed, and that’s how we did our sixteen pieces. And then, four years later, we’re in David Jones!”

When asked if he is surprised by the success of his label, Carli laughs that it’s not easy to break through to the men who don’t believe in ties.

“When I think about it, I did want it,” he says. “I did want to be here, but you’ve got to be careful what you wish for I suppose. I’m a very motivated person, quite determined.”  The label is proof that from little things, big things can most certainly grow.

“It’s an intricate story,” says Carli. “I wanted to put together a brand for myself, but I thought to go and do the whole big thing was a little bit expensive, so I started with an accessory.”

Carli’s own story is equally as eclectic. After a brief stint working for a luxury brand in retail, he studied fashion design for a short while before moving on to fend for himself.

“I didn’t want to study four years of polka dots,” he says. Still unsure of what he wanted to do, he tackled his designs head on, watching them get bigger, more elaborate, all encompassing. How he refined his sights, and his design, was also a journey in itself.

“Funnily enough, my lecturer at the time used to always ask me to stop thinking too big with my work. At the time, I couldn’t believe how he’s suppressing a creative flair. So then I thought ‘nup, I’m out of here’.”

Sans fashion college, he travelled the world as a flight attendant based in the UK before returning to Australia. “That’s when I thought, ‘Right, let’s get back into this.’”

Fashion is in Carli’s blood. His mother, a seamstress, helped him launch his label. Like all good Italian boys, he laughs that he is indebted to his mother.

“She’s had more than thirty years on the machine,” says Carli, “It’s through her blood. As you can imagine, she was taught by three or four generations. She’s really experienced. Watching her from a very young age, I knew I could do it too, and realised that fashion can be kind of fun.”

Despite this pedigree, Carli’s expertise does not lie on his work on the machine.

“I was probably more artistic in the sense of design, rather than being good on the machine. I tend to steer clear away from the sewing machine. I have my inspiration on paper first, and then I go from there.”

When asked if he describes himself as a mummy’s boy, he laughs. “Oh, look. Who isn’t? I’ll tell you honestly, from all my mates, I don’t know one of them who isn’t a mummy’s boy! I must admit that when Mum and I do get together, especially when we worked on the first collection, there were some arguments, but I think that’s just the Italian coming out in us.”

“I think we inspire each other, that we bounce off each other,” says Carli. “Growing up, I remember that whenever Mum would make a dress, that I would be the design behind the dress. If anything got to technical, then she’d make the changes.”

Today, Carli’s mum is no longer involved in the label today “in terms of her hands.” His sisters help him out with the business side of things in the long-held tradition of cheap family labour.

Carli describes his own style as “anti-conformist”. The irony of describing himself, a man whose bread and butter is so closely aligned with formalwear, as such is not lost of him. In his defence, Carli point blank denies that ties should be restricted to a mere accessory for suits.

“That’s the thing,” he says, “that’s what I try to make so different about my ties. I’m doing a lot of things that you wouldn’t normally see on a tie.”  His peacock-inspired tie of a few years back sold, literally, like hot cakes. “What I’m trying to say to the man is that you don’t have to wear the tie just to work, you don’t have to wear the tie to a wedding – you can wear it out to a club; you can wear it loose, you can wear it knotted, you can wear it as a scarf, you can wear it as a belt. It’s an accessory that us men have a little more licence to. It finishes us off.”

Trend spotting, Carli assures Savvy Style that thin ties are the way of the future. “It’s setting a trend in itself. It doesn’t look as formal. You can wear it with a piece of jeans.” Yes, Savvy-ites, you have officially been give permission: you can wear your jeans with a tie.

His current season is one not to missed, and reflects his penchant for the necessity of ties.  Manufactured in Italy, some pieces in the range are squared off, some pointy, all are rail-thin.

Carli is firm in his belief that ties can be past of a man’s everyday ensemble, no matter his trade.

“It’s not always about formalwear or casual wear,” says Carli, saying that the middle-of-the-road punters out there whose tie liaisons have been restricted to weddings, funerals, and the occasional job interview, no longer need be afraid. 

“Don’t be so scared about the tie. I have these conversations with a lot of men where they feel it’s just about these particular events that they should be wearing a tie to – but I’m giving them a little bit more liberty; I’m saying that it’s ok, it’s ok to wear a tie for anything.”

“We’re a little bit conservative,” says Carli of what is wrong with the style industry at the moment.  “We’re a little bit scared of fashion, of being the victim. We need to have more labels that tell us it’s ok to enjoy dressing up.” As a designer, and as a man, his advice is simple:

“Ease up, and enjoy dressing up. We need to step up the game. Have fun shopping. Yes, fun. Don’t just sit outside the shop.”


See Carlo on the web here