Over the past few seasons, we’ve been connecting with our global UW community by spotlighting the Good People and Good Places within the vicinity of our stores and stockists. As the series continues its journey, this time around we’re in Rome to spend some time getting to know the people living, working, and thriving in the neighbourhood surrounding one of our original Italian stockists, Paris Oracle.
To kick things off we had the pleasure of visiting Paris Oracle founder Stefano for a cappuccino (or four) and a good old natter about clothing, community and the good things in life. Enjoy.
Paris Oracle, on Via di Priscilla in Rome, is the brainchild of local legend Stefano Valentini and has been a UW. stockist since day dot. Set in the leafy north Roman neighbourhood of Trieste Salario, it’s an area that’s a stone's throw from the beating heart of the eternal city but far enough away from the year-round swarm of tourists for it to feel like ‘somewhere proper Italians live’.
Stefano wears, Short Watch Cap In Black Marl Kilcarra Wool, Cardigan In Cumin Montenero Fleece, Parachute Pant In Indigo Japanese Twill Denim.
Stefano has lived in the neighbourhood most of his life, and, with many of his friends and family still living and working there too, we had the unexpected pleasure of meeting his niece, his aunt, his mother, and a couple of his friends within the first few hours of arriving. It’s a close-knit community to say the least, so when we asked Stefano to invite some of his friends and customers to take part in the Good People, Good Places project, we knew they wouldn’t disappoint. Thanks to Stefano’s network of interesting local folk, he’s hooked us up with a local DJ, a gallerist, a mother and daughter florist duo, and a pair of globally renowned music producers, who all regularly visit Stefano at Paris and are also known to don a UW look from time to time.
Despite being a neighbourhood hub for local creatives, Stefano’s store has a loyal fan base that extends beyond Trieste Salario’s limits, with people travelling from far and wide for a slice of what remains to be a very personal and intimate shopping experience. “It’s my house; everything in here represents what I love and appreciate in life” he adds with a smile.
And it’s true; the store has a timeless, nostalgic ambience that feels as if you’ve suddenly found yourself in someone else’s living room, but (thankfully) someone with really, really good taste. The walls are covered with retro music and movie posters, trivia, art, collected objects (including, perhaps a touch bizarrely, what looked a bit like a taxidermy fox) and an entire corner dedicated to his record collection. “There’s order to everything but no order. It just works” he adds.
And we couldn’t agree more; the aesthetic of the shop occupies that coveted space between curated, random, and intentional. It’s wild enough to make you stop and look but not enough to detract from the main event. Which is the clothes, of course – an eclectic mix of independent brands from across the globe presented on rails and shelving throughout the space. Just let Stefano know your size, and he’ll hop on a ladder and grab you something from the open stockroom of bright orange storage units; there’s no back room here, what you see is what you get. Just how we like it.
Watch this space for the next instalment of Good People, Good Places, Roma.
