A Real-Life Italian Eloise Now Has a Chic E-commerce Platform

When it comes to high-quality furniture and artisanal goods, Italy has an embarrassment of riches. And while the hunt to find the perfect hand-painted ceramic tiles, the best linens, or the charmingly rustic baskets you’re dreaming of can be thrilling, it’s also a time-consuming endeavor. Not to mention the fact that withCOVID-19-related travel restrictions, you might not be able to take a sourcing trip to Italy for a while.

EnterIssimo, the new lifestyle and e-commerce site created by Marie-Louise Sciò, scion of Italy’s prominent Sciò family. Having grown up at the chic Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole in Tuscany, Sciò knows a thing or two about Italian style. “I think Italian style is kind of innate,” she tells AD PRO, explaining that when one grows up surrounded by beauty, one tends to naturally develop a sense of taste.

Sciò further honed her design skills at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in architecture before returning to Italy. The grown-up Italian Eloise of sorts is now the CEO and creative director ofPellicano Hotels, which also includesLa Posta Vecchia(John Paul Getty’s former estate on the sea near Rome) andMezzatorre Hotel & Thermal Spa岛上的坐骨(这是一个赢家AD’s inaugural hotel awards).

The pool at Mezzatorre.

Photo: Giada Mariani

Issimo was two years in the making and finally launched this spring, following the lifting of Italy’s nationwide lockdown. “It was really love for Italy,” Sciò says of her entrepreneurial motivation. She also wanted to create a single destination for “the sensorial experiences you have at the hotel, [and] to bring that kind of style and philosophy online.” Finally, Sciò adds that it was important to build “a platform that spoke uniquely to Italy, because there’s not many places where you can go to find hotel souvenirs, artisanal products, and also culture.”

An example of the Issimo and Lisa Corti collaboration.

Photo: Giada Mariani

Named for the superlative suffix “-issimo,” which Italians often attach to the end of adjectives for emphasis, the site’s e-commerce section features categories such as “bellissimo” for home design, “buonissimo” for food and beverage, and “chicissimo” for fashion. Throughout, Sciò curates covetable items with an emphasis on Italian artisans and collaborates with designers such as Milanese textile creatorsDedar和Lisa Corti, German ceramics manufacturerVilleroy & Boch, and Catalan artistIgnasi Monreal.There are silky-soft bed linens, porcelain dishes stamped with bougainvillea, wallpaper made from a painting of the Gulf of Naples, and, yes, hand-painted ceramic tiles.

Asked how she selects the items featured on Issimo, Sciò responds, “It’s based purely on the uniqueness and the beauty of the product.” She plans to add more items, growing Issimo’s offerings slowly but surely. And for those looking for a more hands-on approach, or perhaps someone to be their eyes and ears on the ground when they can’t be in Italy, Sciò runs aconsulting businesson the side. Services include creative direction, interior design, visual identity, concept and strategy development, brand development, and strategic marketing. The world, it seems, is her well-designed oyster.

More from Lisa Corti.

Photo: Giada Mariani