He grew up in his mother’s tailoring workshop, loving her gestures; to build a foundation for his passion, he left Calabria and moved to Rome. Trained at the Academy and raised in the theater—“a super-creative gym” where you have to invent something new every day to satisfy the artists, stay within budget, and recycle as much as possible.

With this background, Giuseppe Mileto arrived at Valentino’s haute couture atelier, where craftsmanship is a way of life. He stayed there for 14 years, and when it was time for a change, he followed his heart and chose Reggio Emilia. At Piazza della Vittoria 1, he opened “Milò Sartoria Contemporanea”: Milò, after the name of his imaginary friend as a child; sartoria, like in the old days; contemporanea, because the style is modern.

Giuseppe uses the technique of moulage, which in the 19th century and early 20th century in France and Italy was synonymous with haute couture. There is no flat-pattern development for his garments: they are created as sculptures on the mannequin, a unique piece modeled on the client’s body. Measurements are taken with a tape measure and a lot of patience; from there, a fascinating system of padding transforms a skeleton into a body, and the garment is cut directly on it, using white fabrics of different weights depending on the material that will eventually be used. From those fabrics, the final garment is cut, with all seams sewn by hand.

No more than a hundred pieces are made each year, and not only for those who can physically visit the atelier; Giuseppe can also take measurements remotely, guiding the client through the various stages. Milò has an ethical soul: he uses only natural fabrics, and the fabrics used for the prototype are reused for padding, just like the scraps, which also become small appliqués that personalize the creations.