From Florence with Love

Spy News Magazine: It is a great pleasure to talk to you about your brand ANTIPINA, tell me please how did it all started?

Irina Antipina: I was a teacher. I was teaching Psychology of Communication at the University in Moscow but I felt a need to express myself and my feelings through style, to give shape to my ideas. I always appreciated craftsmanship and quality.

And I also always saw the deep connection between style, lifestyle and beauty around me. Italy, somehow, seemed to embrace all of it. I wanted my designs to be authentic and carry the history and tradition of the Country where they would have been manufactured. So I decided to enroll at

Scuola del Cuoio, a fascinating universe! It’s a school in the heart of Florence, founded in 1950 to train to the art of making bags. And to this day, training there is one of the brightest and happiest periods in my life. Thanks to that kind of knowledge and broad experience, I could then start investigating technologies, methods and secrets that are now I manufacture quality bags for the modern and demanding woman. THIS IS ANTIPINA BAGS!

Spy News Magazine: ANTIPINA is described as embodiments of poetic curves and rustic antiquity, what inspires your own creations?

Irina Antipina: Florence and Tuscany are the finest example of the balance between mankind and nature: the finest and still unparalleled architecture of the Renaissance framed by sweet hills covered with olive trees and vineyards…

I wanted to render that harmony, somehow, in my creations: through drawing, photography, traveling, cooking, wine tasting… I experience all of it and let it influence my stylistic ideas.

Spy News Magazine: Your bags designs send signals down my spine, it is flawless and inspiring. How do you want your customers to see when they wear your bag?

Irina Antipina: I envision an interesting woman, elegant, charming, seductive and intelligent, combining self-confidence with a hint of impertinence. This is how I would describe the character of ANTIPINA bags. I like when a bag, even when just completed, gives a feeling of maturity, like a vintage wine!

The interaction with my customers gives me evidence that this image is perceivable and appreciated, confirming how even a small detail in someone’s life, like a bag, can make a joyful difference.

Spy News Magazine:  A lot of people say and think that the is Italian fashion industry starving of creativity, facts shows that the industry has never lacked creativity, the fact is that a lot of Italian brands are not telling stories where there is attention which is the internet and social media within, how is ANTIPINA using the internet and social media in telling your story?

Irina Antipina: Instagram is the window I open onto my world. Through pictures, I try to show the world as I see it. My original view of the world…

Facebook has become less interesting to me as most contents in there get repeatedly shared without a sparkle of personality. It’s like gossiping…

My website is my never-ending story. I am a perfectionist and I am never really satisfied with the way it showcases the message I’m eager to send. Perhaps it is just the limit of this mono-directional communication, as opposed to a rich conversation.

Spy News Magazine: Where can we buy ANTIPINA bags, can we shop online?

Irina Antipina: You can buy my bags on-line on www.antipina.it

Spy News Magazine: What plans do you have for the future?

Irina Antipina: My inspiration will keep developing around the center of my attention, which is the image of a modern woman who wants to enjoy life at its fullest, like me!

Interviewed by  Anderson Azugbene