At home and work in Rome with tastemakers Daria Reina and Andrea Ferolla of Chez Dede
Walking along the Via di Monserrato in Rome with Daria Reina and Andrea Ferolla can take a while. Everyone stops them to say hello - from the owner of the storied restaurant Pierluigi to the model being photographed for a magazine under a stone archway. The couple opened Chez Dede here in 2015. Known for a distinctive mix of pieces - from Andrea's fashion illustrations and printed silk foulards to vintage furniture and curated clothing collections - it has seen every Rome-based fashion director and countless celebrities come through its doors, including Tilda Swinton and Lily Collins.
The concept store has become a destination, along the way transforming this street near the River Tiber, which now features ateliers, design galleries and chic boutiques, from clothing, textiles and homeware at Soledad Twombly and custom leather handbags and silk scarves at Maison Halaby, to jewellery at Delfina Delettrez. Daria and Andrea have recently created the Superattico Monserrato, an exquisite two-bedroom apartment for friends and long-term aficionados of the brand to rent above the shop, which overlooks the terracotta rooftops of the city and is imprinted with Chez Dede's coveted interiors style.
The pair met in 1996, when Daria - a Franco- Italian photographer and graphic designer - freelanced at the advertising agency in Rome where Andrea was creative director. Both in relationships with other people, they were friends for eight years: I always found him super brilliant, but it wasn't until we became unhappy with our partners that we saw each other in a different way and would go to exhibitions together. How amazing to stand in front of a masterpiece and understand what the other likes, what moves them,' says Daria 'We realised we were in love.'
They began to work together, specialising in luxury brand campaigns, mostly for Bulgari and top agencies. From the start, they had a firm vision. A luxury hotel group wanted 10 of Andrea's illustrations for a brochure,' recalls Daria. 'It was so unattractive, I said, "If you want us, you must rethink the entire project." The result is a beautiful coffee-table book - often stolen by hotel guests - with Andrea's illustrations and Daria's design. 'If people take things, you did a good job. Luxury brands have the power to educate fools about beauty. They have a great responsibility.'
This sense of responsibility led to Chez Dede (the French nickname for both Daria and Andrea). 'Italy in 2005 was in a fashion crisis,' Daria says. 'The world was turning to Asia for cheaper manufacturing and we felt we had to do something.' Over lunch on holiday on St Barths, they came up with the idea for the perfect bag - big enough for travelling and beach days, but chic enough for evenings: 'Very cool.'
Daria drafted in her sister-in-law, whose family made skiwear in Trentino: 'The first bags were too technical, too loud, but it was a start.' It took three years to perfect the design - 'In Italy, if you're not Cucinelli or Gucci, nobody trusts you' - but, in 2010, they took their bags to the Pitti Immagine Uomo trade fair in Florence. The response was huge. Our bags were picked up by Takashimaya in Tokyo and Le Bon Marché,' says Daria. The 'St Barth' bag is now 15 years old; others added to the collection include collaborations with the world's chicest hotels, such as Le Sirenuse in Positano. At Rome couture week in 2013, the couple's showcase - including silk scarves, pouches and jewellery - was so well received that Daria's brother Marco, in charge of production since 2012, persuaded them to pull their pieces from department stores and find their own space.
'An event at Fabio Salini's wonderful jewellery store on Via di Monserrato inspired us,' says Daria. ‘We found an empty space, double the size of what we had in mind, on the ground floor of 16th-century Palazzo Capponi Antonelli.’ The owners gave them a good price on the proviso they would bring something special to the street. 'I could do what I'd always dreamed of and make a place not just for scarves but also decoration.' She went to Inside Out in Milan, known for supplying vintage furniture for film sets, and persuaded them they needed a showcase in Rome.
Soon, the couple decided they wanted to develop a space 'to host people in our vision'. Serendipitously, the top floor of the same building became available: a sweeping stone staircase or rickety iron-cage lift takes visitors up four floors from the beautiful cobbled courtyard garden to Daria and Andrea's maison des artistes, which they have furnished only with things that are personal to them.
Most striking are the 17th-century wood columns Daria found in Parma, which frame a full-length French tapestry; another two columns stand casually in the study-studio. All the lighting is by Venini - from the sitting room's crystal chandelier (the ceiling had to be redone to support its 300kg) to a fleamarket droplet chandelier in one of the bedrooms. But it is the books, old copies of Verve magazine with covers by Picasso and Braque, trinkets and curios that suffuse the Superattico with character and warmth.
Visiting friends stay there and they use it to host salons and private dinners with a celebrated chef cooking: Several friends and Chez Dede customers have asked the couple to help to design their homes after seeing the shop. Daria will sometimes source interesting furniture, like the Gio Ponti bar she found for Hôtel Le Yaca in St Tropez: 'I'm always looking. Every time we take a trip, a truck follows.'
After Covid, they had the opportunity to open a second shop in The Carlyle hotel in NYC. 'But I realised that Chez Dede is our creation, together with our team and, if we're not there, it's just a store,' Daria says. 'My mother told me that to build something great is difficult, but to keep it great is almost impossible.' They insist they do not want to sell their brand for billions. Finding and sharing beauty will always be their ultimate focus, she says, 'That might sound old-fashioned, but to be démodé is the chicest thing'.
Chez Dede: chezdede.com
Alixe Lay1/14Pierluigi on nearby Piazza De' Ricci is a favourite lunch spot;
Alixe Lay2/14Andrea created the restaurant's logo and artwork.
Alixe Lay3/14The small private terrace that can be accessed from the Chez Dede studio space in the penthouse.
Alixe Lay4/14Daria makes affogato, a popular Italian dessert, by pouring hot espresso over fresh vanilla gelato in chilled goblets.
Alixe Lay5/14Eclectic finds in the Superattico Monserrato.
Alixe Lay6/14The couple on the staircase leading to this top-floor apartment.
Alixe Lay7/14One of the penthouse's two bedrooms.
Alixe Lay8/14This sitting area is filled with personal treasures.
Alixe Lay9/14Andrea at work in his studio, which is accessed through a secret door in Chez Dede.
Alixe Lay10/14The couple in the shop with their covetable bags on the shelves behind them.
Alixe Lay11/14Daria admires another of Andrea's scarves.
Alixe Lay12/14Books, ceramics and candles by Cire Trudon and Astier de Villatte are among the items sold in Chez Dede;
Alixe Lay13/14Alongside Daria's photographs and Andrea's prints.
Alixe Lay14/14
