Exploring timeless fashion
Pistil
Interview with Martina Sostero, founder of @pistil_clothing
Let’s have a talk with the founder of Pistil, to explore the philosophy behind this sustainable fashion brand 🍃
Martina Sostero is the founder and soul of Pistil. The brand offers timeless women’s clothing proposals designed and produced at km 0 in Friuli-Venezia-Giulia in north-eastern Italy.
- When conceiving Pistil, Martina decided to avoid creating collections chasing the succession of seasons, she wanted clothes capable of adapting to the circumstances of a world in constant transformation.
- An important value of Pistil is craftsmanship: Martina’s ideas are concretized by a pattern maker who had a family business of garment and the production is carried out by a small garment company at the foot of the Friulian mountains.
- The fabrics are purchased from companies that resell leftovers of big Italian brands or factories. Martina did a thorough research for the packaging too: the boxes are from “My controversial box” (Fustellificio Vicentino) produced in FSC cardboard and after being used for shipping they can be turned over and become useful containers; the tags are in bamboo paper and the labels in certified organic cotton.
Martina Sostero
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What inspired you to found Pistil? What is your relationship with the fashion industry?
I always wanted to work in fashion, but only after years studying the subject and working in the field, I realized I wanted to create my own proposal.
A year ago, I decided concretely to start by opening a VAT number exactly on March 8, Women’s Day.
The creation comes from a personal need: I’ve spent years in the search of my personal style till I became aware of my body an my tastes. Before I was following, even awkwardly, the passing micro trends; now I know what I like and what I need daily.
Therefore, I design comfortable but refined clothing, which I define timeless because, in addition to lasting over the years it does not follow the trends of the moment (although I continue to actively follow the fashion shows and seasonal proposals that can naturally inspire me).
“I advise all women to have the courage to dream and work for those dreams without fear. It is right listening to people close to you, but it is our duty, in the end, to listen to our feelings.”
Martina Sostero – Pistil founder
Take us behind the scenes of your creative process: how do you choose the garments to make? What inspires you during the process?
I re-design clothes I already own and love.
Firstly I think about the fit, how the garment can fall on the different shapes of the body, moreover I take into account online sales, because we know that not all customers trust to buy something without trying it on first.
I therefore try to offer linear shapes, I use elastic bands at the waist to help dress comfortably and satisfy different fits.
I give an example: if a woman has little breasts but does not have a narrow waist, she can still buy a size S of the Vienna dress as the elastic waist allows freedom of adaptation to sizes.
Which garment are you most attached to? Why?
The garment I am most fond of is definitely the Annamaria shirt because it was designed and made by my grandmother many years ago when she was young and was handed down to me by my mother. Ever since it became part of my wardrobe I knew that if I ever created my own clothing line this item would be present in my collection and so it was, I also named the garment after my grandmother, dedicating it to her.
With this story I want to make it clear how long a dress can last, with Pistil I want to emphasize the importance of surrounding yourself with durable things.
Pistil garments are ‘no season’. What does it mean?
I wanted to call the collections “no season” because I don’t want to limit my offer to a few months a year, it is true that every 6 months I propose new items and variants, but this shouldn’t take away the possibility of selling a garment that was designed and proposed a few years ago.
What does “female empowerment” mean for you and for Pistil? What role does fashion play in this scenario?
Women are starting to take their own space in business and entrepreneurship; this is a positive example for future generations, I have decided to open a business in complete autonomy and 90% of the collaborations I undertake are run by young female entrepreneurs. My hope is that female entrepreneurship will become a constant practice, not something to be surprised about.
The world of fashion apparently talks to women, but who occupies the leading positions of these big companies? Men!
Leave a message to the fierce women of the TA-DAAN Community
I advise all women to have the courage to dream and work for those dreams without fear. It is right listening to people close to you, but it is our duty, in the end, to listen to our feelings. Don’t you ever do something you are not convinced about, master your choices, mistakes and victories.
I invite you also to visit me at Pistil.it
I would be happy to connect! 🙏❤️
TA-DAAN 
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