Fashion, connection to the Veneto region, and love for the history and culture of the country are the main values of Vicario Cinque, which has been producing women's clothing for almost ten years. Also committed to the theme of sustainability, the company collaborates with small/medium local manufacturing workshops and professional artisans. The new Home Collection made up of ceramic objects, candles and scent diffusers with the brand's iconic fragrance and a brand new pair of sunglasses has recently been launched.

Our interview with Stefano Lora, the CEO of Vicario Cinque

How was Vicario Cinque founded?

Vicario Cinque was created from CEO Stefano Lora's thirty years' experience in the distribution of sportswear in the Veneto region. Since 2014 it has been giving shape to a comfy-chic line that meets the market demand for a brand that can dress a dynamic woman with a fresh, contemporary look and comfortable design, able to face the day with a simple change of accessories/footwear. At the beginning composed of just a few garments (especially dresses), Vicario Cinque now boasts a total look of 150 garments per collection, FW and SS, the strengths of which are design, fabrics/yarns and manufacturing ethics.

From fashion to the home world, how does this idea originate and develop?

Stefano Lora, who has always been a connoisseur of beauty in all its forms, and the artistic and architectural tradition of the Veneto region, founded Vicario Cinque in Villa del Vicario No. 5, a historic villa in Brendola surrounded by the famous Berici Hills and other stately villas of the time. However, in 2020, when the expansion of the Stefano Lora Showroom, the company representing clothing brands, and Vicario Cinque required a change of venue, work began on the renovation of Villa Piovene-Lora, an ancient 17th-century residence, steeped in symbolism and meaning.

In all its timeless splendour, the villa inspired the brand's artistic direction, leading to the creation of a Home Collection initially consisting of ten or so ceramic items, made in a workshop located in Nove (Bassano), that depict all the symbolism linked to the villa: from the Judgment of Paris statues on the roof, to the noble symbol of the peacock, to the inscription on the main door “iustitia et honorem”, the motto of the noble Piovene family. The Home line was then joined by other furnishing accessories such as a candle and diffuser with the iconic Vicario Cinque fragrance, all to express ever more strongly Stefano Lora's desire to create a lifestyle brand with Italian flair but at an international level.

Finally, from fashion to the home, from cooking to leisure, Stefano Lora launched the first sunglasses with a silkscreen print of Villa Piovene on the front in 2022. An all-round contemporary lifestyle that tells a story of design, quality, respect for the craftsmanship of the territory and the Veneto tradition of artisans who, with their skilful hands, know how to create small works of art with the objective of making every woman's home a welcoming and harmonious place to live in.

How important is land and sustainability to you?

For Stefano Lora, sustainability is divided into three types: social, in that it respects the people who work to create the Vicario Cinque world; productive, in that the brand sees the help of small local workshops to make its collections and thus a return to its origins and know-how. Last but not least, territorial in that the renovation of Villa Piovene in 2020 marked an important turning point in the social life of the town of Brendola since light and splendour were restored to an ancient jewel that had fallen into decay in the late 1990s.

Where are your products made and are they designed by designers?

They are entirely made in Italy, between Veneto and Tuscany. Behind Vicario Cinque is the work of a style and product team made up of industry professionals who have backgrounds in other well-known fashion brands, while creative direction is handled by owner Stefano Lora.

What new products will you present at the next edition of Milano Home? 

A new line of ceramics, Toile de Jouy, which for the first time also sees the same graphics incorporated in some of the garments of the SS24 collection, thus creating the union between art and fashion that is at the heart of Vicario Cinque's philosophy.