Swanning around the Conrad hotel in Nashville, draped in head-to-toe silk straight from Lake Como, it’s clear that Ludovica Del Prete and Federica Fiorentini aren’t from the Music City–even if Fiorentini has paired her outfit with a pair of cowboy boots in a nod to the day’s festivities. The stylish best friends from Rome are walking billboards for their brand, Silence Please, which has taken over Italy’s most luxurious hotels through partnerships with the Mandarin Oriental Milan, Sina Florence, Six Senses Rome, and the W Rome.
Here in Nashville, they’re expanding their American footprint with a pop-up at the Conrad as they host a chic afternoon tea party for local and national media and a few fabulously dressed influencers. Technically, it’s a pajama brand, but the ladies are living proof that these matching sets deserve to be seen outside the house, styled to take you anywhere from city streets to the beach. Del Prete says the idea for the company came to her in a dream about her ex. Now, she’s living her dream in real life. They talked to Appetito about their experience as entrepreneurs in two countries and flying in the face of fast fashion.
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited.
Q&A with Ludovica Del Prete:
Who loves Italian silk more, Italians or Americans?
Americans.
Really? Why is that?
We love the U.S., and people here love Italian products. We started to build the company in Italy, but the tax is so high. In America, it’s better because if you have a dream, you can push right through. In Italy, it’s not like that. It's very hard to build something because it's conservative. The church is very present.
Even in business?
Yes, because, for example, people follow the church, so they may be wearing only black or white and nothing colorful. We love to work in America-everything is big! But we want to maintain the high quality. So, the price is to be around $630, not less.
How did you two come together?
We know each other from high school. We are best friends. Now we are like sisters because we work together every day. It's like a dream come true.
And when did you start the company?
We started four years ago when I had a dream of the name. I woke up and said, I have to call my company “Silence, please!”
What were you doing at the time?
I was an art dealer. I love art. In my family, everybody works in art. But I wanted to do something on my own. And so, I dreamed I was wearing pajamas with my ex-boyfriend, and I told him, “Silence, please! Silence, please!” And I woke up and I thought, Oh, my God. I have to do something with pajamas. So I called Federica and told her about the dream and how I thought maybe we could do something with pajamas. She worked in the fashion industry, and she wanted to build a company, but she wanted to make clothes, like a dress. I told her that maybe it's too basic. Everybody opens a company with a dress.
Is there more room to stand out in pajamas?
Yes. So, we wanted to do something special. We started in Italy with Rome and Milano, the fashion city, selling one pair for Christmastime with a velvet trim. And the collection sold out. We sold so much we realized we could not grow in Italy as much as we could in the U.S. So, we started to work here with luxury hotels.
How does it work?
We do a lot of pop-ups selling the pajamas in hotels in the U.S. and Italy, and we have a website. We don’t sell the pajamas in a shop, which would make them more expensive. We are very selective. We choose only luxury hotels that are very elegant.
Is that another advantage of aligning yourself with these luxury hotel brands?
Yes, we are obsessed with hotel life. We have been since we were little. So this is a dream come true now.
What's next?
Good question. I want to have more partnerships in America. We have two businesses, really, because we also design uniforms for the hotel staff. So, for example, the Conrad can ask us to design the uniforms for the bar service. We collaborate with hotels in different ways.
Do you get people asking if they can buy the staff uniforms?
Yes. I want to grow in this way.
Q&A with Federica Fiorentini:
You have the fashion background, right?
Yes, but we do everything together, from production to logistics and partnerships. It's very important to have a good connection. I feel like ours is a dream team. It’s us, plus our illustrator, who is a genius. We decide what we want to design, like a new dress we’re doing. We want to integrate a few pieces [for daytime] so the brand is not only pajamas, but all-around loungewear.
So, now you get the dress you always wanted!
Now I get my dress. But I want to keep it very unique and exclusive, and I would never compromise on quality, because I think it's the most important thing. I really believe in those values. It’s important to understand what’s your niche and what's your target. Fast fashion is ruining the world, not only in terms of sustainability. Some consumers have forgotten that you can buy something that lasts forever. You can style and wear it on different occasions instead of buying a T-shirt and then throwing it away because after one wash, you want to have a new one.
These are built to last.
Yes, of course you need to take care of this product, because it's very precious and delicate since it's silk. So you hand wash and treat it well, and then you can style it in different ways. You can wear the set to bed and the next day you can wear the pants with another T-shirt, or you can go to the supermarket or the beach as a cover-up. We don't need too much. It's a collection piece. The pieces are very unique because we do small productions. And once we finish our stock, we create new things.
So, if you miss your chance you can't get it again?
Yes, exactly. We could reprint what we already did, but we like to change, and we like to keep the exclusivity and uniqueness.
Do you have customers who have multiple different sets?
Yes, and this is what keeps me going because if a customer is coming back, it means that they really like what we’re doing.
