Inside A Vintage Design Oasis in Trastevere

Plus Ciao Bella podcast milestones

I’ve published my 109th episode on Ciao Bella podcast. It’s officially time to take a break. There, I said it. Before I hit pause, though, I’m leaving you with this seasons’s final episode: a great conversation about how a historic Roman fashion family sparked the creation of a vintage interior design boutique.

PLAY

A few months ago, I was researching 20th century artists in Trastevere. I knew that Cy Twombly, Mario Schifano and a bunch more worked out of a studio just off of via della Lungara  in the 60s, 70s and 80s. But I wanted to know what was going on there now. To my surprise,I discovered that the artists’ bottega is now Casa Triple F, Federica Formilli Fendi’s oasis of vintage interior furniture and design.

Federica Formilli Fendi is the second generation of the Fabulous Fendi family. Like her mother and aunts, Federica worked at Fendi and had a front row to Karl Lagerfeld. On the side, she loved visiting flea markets and collecting vintage pieces. Two years ago, she took over Schifano’s old space (a cool, modern converted carriage house in Trastevere) and staged it with all her design pieces. Now she is Rome’s hub for vintage furniture, of her own sourcing and consignment. I love the story and I highly recommend giving it a listen.

PAUSE

With Federica’s episode now live, it’s time for me to recharge, research and rethink the future direction of the podcast. When I first launched Ciao Bella in 2019, I did it as a reaction. I was at the fever pitch of annoyance from the typical freelance life - i.e. I’d grown weary of submitting story ideas to editors that just weren’t fitting the profile of what they wanted. I wanted to write about real people in 21st Italy that were lightyears past the cliches of pasta, pizza and people zipping around on Vespas. But my ideas were getting passed over for traditional tropes. And I was frustrated.

Early days of podcast production. Yes, that is my closet.

Lucky for me, Darius handed me a Zoom H6 recorder and the rest is, well, self-produced Ciao Bella history. I took to the mic to share conversations with Italy’s amazing creators of art, design, heritage, food, hospitality, tech, fast cars, electric motorcycles and more. This podcast has brought me to almost all of Italy’s 20 regions allowing me to sit down and let these creators tell their stories firsthand. Why? Because as Lockdown 2020 showed me, it is even more important to amplify the stories of these incredible creators. It is imperative that we recognize the centuries-rich creativity of Italy today, not just of the past.  

Why I am pushing pause? These past 109 episodes have been incredible. I found that I love interviewing and I really love putting together an episode - from recording to post production. But I can’t do it all on my own, and I can’t do it for free. In 2023, I met my production assistant Jenna, who has opened up my eyes to how Ciao Bella can be better. Now it’s time to focus on the next direction of Ciao Bella, both in terms of content and finding ways to make it financially self-sustaining.

Easy as a chat.

If you’re a Ciao Bella listener, I’d love to know what episodes you’ve loved and liked, and what you want to hear. I’ve created this form for you to share your thoughts and comments. If you’ve got great business acumen or want to support the production of this podcast, I’d be grateful to connect with you. Your input and involvement could help shape Ciao Bella's future.

REWIND

If you want to get immersed in contemporary Italy during your summer slow days or want to catch up on Ciao Bella, you can find every podcast interview here on my Ciao Bella podcast page. And to make it easy, scroll for my favorite episodes.