. As the Founder of SILENCIOSA, why . SILENCIOSA?

First of all, I don't feel comfortable with the term Founder; I prefer Initiator. I started SILENCIOSA, it was more of a personal thing to which I have had the fortune and privilege to have been joined by people of immense talent. Each one of us has something that defines and traces our lives. That something in my life is the bicycle. And the reason for . SILENCIOSA

. Riding a bicycle is one of our earliest learnings, a moment we all remember, who taught you how to ride a bicycle?

I would like to have a cute story like, for example: father and son or grandfather with grandson, but to be honest I don't remember who, even though I am very clear about what.

I think I knew about myself with a bicycle, when my parents allowed me to ride away with the promise to go for a ride and come back. That's my first memory of me.  I took the distance, and I had a choice. I walked away from the known, and I knew freedom. I found myself alone with me, and discovered silence. And so, I fell in love with it.


. So it was a crush that keeps making you fall in love more and more every day?

Yes, I am still absolutely in love with it. We all have our personal history to deal with, and it was my refuge and my freedom. It developed introspection, growth and reflection. I traveled the world with it, with the friendship of my best friend and some saddlebags of luggage.

A desert in Iceland and the eternal fine rain of Scotland. An endless mountain range in Chile and the perennial ice of Argentina. The zenithal sun of the Atlas Mountains, or the nomadic people of Mongolia. Traveling by bicycle brings you closer to the world and to your true dimension, it humanizes you, shrinks you and you grow. Freedom. Adventure. Reflection. But only those who return travel travel. Me, I came back.

I returned to my life, to my urban life, and when I returned I started to move around the city by bicycle when few still moved around the city by bicycle.

A lot of freedom, some adventure and a pinch of reflection. I was inaudible, I was imperceptible, I was magic, I moved in silence.


. How is your bicycle?

I'm like those people who live surrounded by cats and love them all equally. I live surrounded by bicycles. All with their own story. I love stories, a brand is a story, a product is a story that always tells the story of its creator.

For my 40th birthday I gave myself a beautiful story.

Dario Pegoretti was a bicycle frame builder for great riders, he designed and built frames used by professional cyclists Miguel Indurain, Marco Pantani, among others..... Pegoretti made custom frames to order “fatti con le mani”. Very few stores in the world could take the measurements for a Pegoretti. I traveled to NewYork with my partner to celebrate my anniversary together and, “coincidentally” in NYcity Veló, they took my measurements and voilà I fulfilled my 40th birthday wish.

Dario, upon receiving your measurements and with his approval, you were “on the list”. These custom paintings were made to order in his workshop and he only started production when he had 20 orders. This could mean a waiting time of several months, in my case: 16. For more uniqueness you could order the painting with the “ciavate” color option. Dario would paint the painting the way he wanted, the way he felt like that day, depending on his mood, there would never be a painting the same, you never knew what you were getting. I ordered my Pegoretti, and logically with “ciavate” paint.

Antonio Giacomo Stradivari took his stringed instruments to the level of works of art. Pegoretti did the same with his bicycle frames. Ben Harper or Robin Williams own a Pegoretti. Dario Pegoretti died in 2018. (RIP Maestro).

 

 

. And then you took the first “pedal” and created a brand of clothing for urban cycling and active life?

That's the origin, but it carries an important nuance. I did something as a tribute, something to pay homage to him. Something to explain what cycling represents to me, and the best way I found was to fill a gap that is still unresolved. We were born from the bicycle and we move by bicycle, although we don't make bicycles. There are already too many people who do it too well. We simply want to dress for it. 

We design and manufacture functional and timeless clothing to move consciously and healthily in our cities. Clothes that are good for the whole day, and for whatever the day brings. Accompany the kids to school, attend a meeting, a lunch or a housewarming, without thinking about how to dress. That's why we believe that, if you move by bike, our clothes are for you, and if you don't, they're for you too.On and off the bike, ALL DAY LONG.


Is . SILENCIOSA a point, period or counterpoint for you?

. SILENCIOSA is a conceptual point. My professional life has been dedicated to conceptualizing and building brands, always for third parties. Now I am my client, the worst you can do... ;).

. SILENCIOSA is a love story and my attempt to convey a feeling.
. SILENCIOSA is curiosity, and an attitude that we all possess .
. SILENCIOSA is a tribute and a necessity.

. SILENCIOSA is inspirational because the bicycle is its reason and behind it there is a feeling and lifestyle too beneficial not to be explained. Self-movement around the city by bike generates indisputable environmental benefits that we have to promote, but most important are all those associated with mental and cardiovascular health. 

Sometimes I even think that . SILENCIOSA is a project with a soul of movement.

 

 

. What was it like to start . SILENCIOSA?

Like any project, and like any beginning, it is not easy. And here we continue. Fighting and dreaming that it is possible. I am very critical of success stories, those that surround us and dazzle us, simply because they hide much of the reality. Entrepreneurship is a very costly process, not only economically but also emotionally. We live surrounded by thousands of products, we have access to all of them immediately, and their price is the determining factor that makes us lose perspective on their value.


. What is the main value of . SILENCIOSA?

I like to think that we have a value proposition, because it is a project of involvement. From the concept and the image, to the clothing and its manufacture. We design and produce clothes thinking about their function, their contribution, because if you don't contribute you don't matter. There are thousands of blazers in the world, many better, for sure, but none like ours, because it brings value. SILENCIOSA is based on the intangible value of the why, when today we move by the how much and when.

To start SILENCIOSA is to fight against the canons of an industry that marks the volume as success, where the unit acquisition price dictates the economic viability of any project and this goes through unnecessary overproduction, constant sales, seasons and stocks. SILENCIOSA is not this. That is why our productions are very small with minimalist designs and a timeless chromatic range. Sustainability understood beyond the material.


 

. Who is behind . SILENCIOSA?

Silenciosa is a group of professionals driven by passion, care and detail, conscious people with sensitivity. Enthusiasm is very contagious, by uniting sensitivities you multiply the value and generate key synergies for a project like this to go ahead in a sustainable and conscious way. 

 

. The concept of the brand is to have clothes that serve you for your whole day, All day long. What is yours like?

I get up quite early, make an espresso and go out on a road bike through the surroundings of Barcelona where we have a marvel called Tibidabo in the park of Collserola. I go back home, take a shower and accompany the kids to school, by bike. I have breakfast with another espresso, and I go to work by bike. If I have meetings, I go by bike and usually in the meetings, they offer me another espresso that I don't say no to (+3). If I have a meal, I ride my bike, don't do desserts and have another espresso (+4). Otherwise, I cycle back to SILENCIOSA. In the afternoon I go to pick up the kids by bike. We get home, and I park the bike until the next day, where I don't know what I'll do, but I'll be cycling and well dressed for sure, ALL DAY LONG.




. In your All day Long, what is a must-have item?

Every garment has a reason. Their functionalities are determined by the technical characteristics and features you need for an active life, on the bike or in your daily life. Mobility, lightness, breathability, waterproof, wind stopper... That's why we use the best fabric options in each garment. Premium Japanese fabrics with bi-elastic Cordura®, 100% Merino for extraordinary comfort and thermo-regulation, organic cotton, etc. We always work the aesthetics-functionality-quality triangle in balance.

I never wore a suit. I had a black one for everything. Our blazer suit has changed my life. For its aesthetics, but above all for its functionality and comfort. In our collection I love the Long Coat, a garment thought in every detail, distinguished, versatile and functional with an impeccable aesthetic.


. Finally, what do you see as the future of mobility? Where will it go from here?

Someday cities will be healthy again. Someday all children will ride their bikes to school, and they will be happier. Someday we will go shopping by bike, to work by bike, to the theater by bike or to dinner by bike, and we will breathe healthier air. 

Someday when we remember the old mobility we will realize that we live in a greener, healthier, less stressed and noisier city.

Someday we will realize that we live in a . SILENCIOSA city.  



. In closing, where do you find silence?

 
Leaving early, very early to cycling while the city has not yet woken up. Getting lost on a secondary road or a mountain pass where hardly anyone passes by and only your rhythmic breathing accompanies you. Swimming in the sea early in the morning, when the day breaks, is also a magical moment of silence. A closed night under the immense starry sky in the Mongolian steppe.
 
 
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