All my life I was addicted to knitwear. It started with old sweaters I stole from my father´s closet, because they were made from either Shetland wool or Cashmere and they were also naturally oversized - exactly those qualities I like until today.

And they were vintage, long before I knew about what that even meant.

Today I mix my boyfriend-sized sweaters with cardigans and specials pieces from small factories and special lables.

Like Leorosa. Founded in 2019 by Paolina Leccese and Julian Taffel who met at Parsons School of Design in New York only six years earlier. Paolina, half German, half Italian, was born in Cologne, where her mother Monika Sprüth once started what later became one of the world´s finest Art Gallerys, (Sprüth Magers, co-owned by Philiomene Magers, with spaces in London, Berlin, and Los Angeles, to name just a few). Julian is Japanes-American and was born and raised in New York, where he still lives today.

As the brand´s name they created a portmanteau of both their middle names, Leo and Rosa.

In their own words their knitwear is "all about the belief that quality should never be compromised. All of our pieces are made with love in Italy using Italian wool and cashmere yarns. We favor bold colors and classic silhouettes when designing what we consider a 'modern essential item'. While our product is inspired by traditional essentials, we always want to add a contemporary lens to what we design and for our aesthetic to be ageless. Our goal is to make clothes that can be worn and passed down through generations."

To introduce Leorosa, they enlisted the photographer Oliver Hadlee Pearch and the stylist Emilie Kareh to create portraits of their friends and collaborators, such as the London-based art adviser Bettina Von Hase, the German painter Andreas Schulze and Eva Gödel, the founder of the Cologne-based modeling agency Tomorrow Is Another Day (along with three of the male models she represents). Even Leccese’s father, the Milan-based art and antiques dealer Pasquale Leccese, came to model the brand’s wares.

My favorite is the classic "Gio Gilet N°001", a knitted veste that is perfect for coming spring degrees and goes with everygthing.

I bought it in L for large - as my father would have.

Check LeoRoas at www.leorosa-world.com and via Instagram @lerosa_world

All Pictures Courtesy of Leorosa