Layer-0 Similar Brands

M.A+ is the label created by Italian designer Maurizio Amadei in 2006. Amadei’s interest in design started at a young age. Born in Rome Amadei moved to London and began designing his own pieces. After closure and becoming a legend as the designer of the label Carpe Diem, he began working on a project, which led to the creation of his own brand M.A+. Beginning with bags and slowly introducing clothing, shoes, and accessories for both men and women step by step. Usage of innovative folding techniques, original cuts, and selecting unique fabrics is what the label is well-known for, as well as the designer’s fascination with experimenting with structure. Many designs of shirts and leather bags are constructed from a single piece of material result in unique and innovative cuts. Another typical element is the frequent use of handcrafted 925 silver cross insignias and silver buttons.

Maurizio Altieri, after earning degrees in economics and law, chose to follow his true passion: clothing. He began his career in fashion under Richard Stark at Chrome Hearts, where he learned the essentials of manufacturing and leather treatment. In 1996, Altieri left Chrome Hearts to establish Carpe Diem. His design philosophy centered on creating timeless, utilitarian, hand-made garments from the finest materials, with a focus on transforming these pieces through distinctive treatments and washes. Experimentation and rebellion became his core values, and similar to Carol Christian Poell, Maurizio Altieri’s attitude became strongly believing his work spoke for itself, not needing any kind of advertising or editorials.

Simone Cecchetto is the man behind the brand that was originially called “Augusta” and nowadays is best known under the name “A DICIANNOVEVENTITRE” or “A1923”. Simone Cecchetto is an original member of Carpe Diem, the studio created by Maurizio Altieri devoted to old-world craftsmanship and experimental treatments with leather, achieving its reputation as a pioneering force in Avant Garde fashion

Label Under Construction is the label of designer Luca Laurini from Perugia, Italy that was founded in 2003 after seperating paths with Carpe Diem and Maurizio Altieri. His work requires the utmost understanding and knowledge of his medium. Though one need not possess such knowledge to admire his handiwork, a deeper understanding of the concepts behind the articles, provides for a deeper appreciation. There is an inherent and asymmetric harmony established in the dichotomy of opposition found in his body of work. He creates flawlessly knit fabrics with constituted deterioration, that when found in its natural state, would unravel in senescence. Yet he manages to suspend that very breakdown and preserves it in time. The patterns he designs in 2 dimensions are architectural. The formulaic logic of fabricating knits fuels his passion for creating and seeking to discover new equations. From its inception, his approach to design is a science. And the creative, disjointing, and dismantling in all three dimensions, drive him in his efforts to breathe life into his pieces. Thus rendering his approach to design, an art.

By the age of 30, before being a fashion designer, Taichi Murakami worked at the fashion store Lift Daikanyama. An extraordinary boutique selling artisanal brands like Carol Christian Poell and M.A+. At some point, Murakami decided to study Fashion in Tokyo and after four years, received a scholarship to study pattern making in Milan. From his time working at Lift, Taichi Murakami had fallen in love with M.A+, especially with Maurizio Amadei‘s patterns. Once in Milan, he wrote Maurizio Amadei and was thereupon hired as a patternmaker at M.A+ in 2009. At this position, Taichi Murakami was free to experiment with materials and patterns. He even was encouraged to create prototypes with different materials which made him learn to be flexible in his design thinking and that there is no process that must be followed repeatedly, an idea that contrasted with Japan’s strict work mentality.

As for many others, the human collective culture remains an endless inspiration for Jan-Jan Van Essche to create new garments, each new design a genuine attempt to open up new perspectives and to push conflicting dialogues forward.

Boris Bidjan Saberi is a German-Persian Avant-Garde Streetwear designer, based in Barcelona. Born in Munich on September 11, 1978 to a German mother and a Persian father. “These biographical factors play a fundamental role in Boris’s formation: they combine dual systems such as West/Middle East traditions and form/formless garments with the designer’s passion for numerology”. Both parents worked in the fashion industry, maintaining a fashion label as a family business. As a result, Saberi was introduced to the world of fashion at a very early stage of his life which shaped his career path: studying fashion design in Barcelona, graduating in 2006. While Boris Bidjan Saberi had started his first leather accessory line while still in university, his eponymous label Boris Bidjan Saberi was launched after his graduation in 2007.

M-1989 (Mannucci 1978) blends the family name Mannucci with the defining year when artisan Mario Mannucci began his journey in the artisanal jewelry sector. Today, this legacy continues through his son Marco, who carries forward the family tradition in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, channeling his inherited passion and experience into the creative side of design.