10 QUESTIONS WITH AMELIA CASABLANCA

1) Tell us the story about the designer Amelia Casablanca.

Amelia Casablanca was an exception from an early age. Her talent in what would later become the world of high fashion bridal and her innate resourcefulness made her reach goals unthinkable from an early age. Already at the age of nine, she began her business as an entrepreneur, the first dress she made was for her doll. She liked her creations so much that she sold them to her friends. With the money earned, Amelia paid for school and helped to support the family. After elementary school, she took part in a cutting and sewing course. At ten years of age she was already a talent, three lessons were enough for her to start cutting a dress. Her fame soon spread throughout the village, so much so, that everyone in Misserio, Italy wanted an Amelia Casablanca dress!

She made her first wedding dress at thirteen, at eighteen she became a cutting and sewing teacher, this allowed her to teach and issue certificates. She had become "a Maistra" the teacher! Thanks to her tireless work, the young Amelia had become the main source of livelihood for the family. She was making clothes, teaching and doing kits with the first sewing machines. In 1956 she became engaged to Carmelo who she married on December 27, 1958 and of course, she made the wedding dress herself.

After the marriage, there were some difficulties. Amelia worked a lot but her husband did not have a job, so he emigrated to Australia. Amelia, albeit at the peak of her success, reached him one year and a half after. Initially it was difficult, Amelia did not know the language and was so lonely because her husband had to work. The turning point was in 1960 with her arrival in Sydney, were she was directed to a tailor shopere she could begin to show her creative prowess. In Australia, however, Amelia felt homesick and returned to Sicily with Carmelo and Giovanni (her first son) and settled in Santa Teresa di Riva, a center that favored Amelia's activity.

The 1980s started the time of bridal events, and she started to create magical exhibitions of Amelia Casablanca at the Fair of Messina and Sicily. Thus was born the great Italian and international success of Amelia Casablanca.

The fashion shows at Sposa Italia, the covers in national and foreign magazines, the retailers in many countries around the world such as USA, Canada, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, China, just to name a few, solidified the great success by Amelia Casablanca. The brand established itself more and more, making the idea of ​​the Amelia Casablanca wedding dress unique.

2) Who is designing the brand now?

Her sons manage the company, Nino and Fabio Palella, and a team of experts that have worked with Amelia for more than 20 years, are in charge of the design.

3) When was the brand formed and where is it based?

As discussed above, the 1980s was the turning point to establish the brand as a leader in the bridal industry. She did not forget her Sicily…and opened an Atelier in Messina, in Giarre and consolidated in Santa Teresa di Riva.

4) Describe the overall look of the gowns?

For over fifty years, Amelia Casablanca has been creating high fashion wedding dresses.

The wedding dresses have the "movements" of poetic art, they are the result of an idea that originates from the typical evocations of fairy tales, they come out of an inner world where the dream is expressed with light and all its delicate or intense shades.

In the Collections, the purely handcrafted character of the wedding dress is enhanced.

The sartorial cuts, the play of transparencies, the sumptuousness of the lines, the magical embroideries, make each design signed by Amelia Casablanca a refined, unique, unrepeatable creation. Enchanting dresses in their essential elegance, with a few touches of frivolity, of whimsy in full respect of the brand's image.

The female body is wrapped in sensual bodices basted with silver threads that chase each other dotted with crystals and blend with the preciousness of French lace. Flowers are handmade in natural shades - and are placed on embroidery of very precious silk organza; thin threads of ribbon intertwine with a net and are dotted with luminescent crystals that bind to tiny bows.

It is like witnessing an explosion of emotions from another time ...

Captivating combinations of innovative materials and various shapes further "illuminate" this avant-garde collection created for that bride who appreciates a touch of undisputed romanticism.

5) What techniques does the house specialize in?

The Charm of Tradition, the vanguard of innovation Amelia Casablanca creates only “timeless” wedding dresses, with particular cuts, imbued with the richest Sicilian culture, re-proposed with new fabrics and precious embroideries. Tradition is artfully revisited, the clothes are rigorously constructed but eccentric in their design. Simply perfect is the combination of tradition and innovation, classicism and avant-garde.

In the Collections, the research of the cut, the study of new proportions, are enhanced by precious fabrics, often inlaid with Baroque and Renaissance laces. A trend that almost borders on art, where the taste of today and that of yesterday chase each other until they are integrated into a symbiosis of Mediterranean and cosmopolitan inspiration.

6) What inspired this upcoming season for the new collection?

This new collection combines the glamour and luxury of the classics with the contemporary bride. A sophisticated, rich Dream Collection, were the perfect balance between Dream and Reality rhymes and combines perfectly with craftsmanship, art and modern technologies but also with uniqueness and wisdom. One just has to look at the construction of the clothes, which look like very light living sculptures, the perfection of the lines, the intelligence with which the materials are used, underline the great skill and all the love that the maison Amelia Casablanca puts into creating for its brides!

7) Who is the Amelia Casablanca Bride?

The Bride of Amelia Casablanca is exhilarating, sensational, captivating like the Mediterranean, aware and proud like the strong land of Sicily. The idea of ​​the Amelia Casablanca wedding dress collections is to fulfill the bride's dream, which becomes a fantastic reality on her special day…placed right at the center of the scene.

Today she is a fairy, a queen, a divinity. Her entrance is an authentic apparition, which creates one to gasp, be amazed, and admired!

For this reason, most of the clothes are inspired by period costumes or the charm of enchanted woods. Amelia Casablanca's bride is a bride who is not afraid to dare and who does not want to go unnoticed. 

8) How many layers and or feet (cm) of fabric in a typical voluminous skirt?

Our dresses are of an exaggerated volume and very precious fabrics so it is almost impossible for us to quantify the layers and meters of fabric we use for the realization of one of our dresses, but normally the diameter is around 2 meters  and the trains more than 3 meters.

9) Have you had to change the way you work with the retailers and brides since the pandemic?

We have tried to maintain all relations with our brides by following them and advising them for the postponement of their marriage, we have reassured them about their wedding dress.

10) Name a few important tips for brides who are beginning to shop for their dress?

Amelia Casablanca herself, in her book, bequeaths advice to all brides. If Amelia were still alive, she would first of all urge the bride to feel beautiful and gain self-confidence. Then, she would advise her to be happy and enjoy in the moment. As for the dress, she would tell the bride to TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED…not to be intimidated by the process of choosing a gown. Amelia Casablanca and our retailers know this is an important purchase, they know perfectly well the stresses and uncertainties of future brides, therefore are there at her disposal, to help her with their competence and professionalism.