La Vita Con Dio
Interview #4 - La Vita Con Dio
La Vita Con Dio was created by the founder and designer of the brand, Anabela, where she took her passion and love for fashion and design and turned it into a brand that she loves and enjoys.
For those who don’t know, La Vita Con Dio is Italian, translated to “life with God” which is the essence of the brand and what the values Anabela holds.
The name, La Vita Con Dio was initially, the first name she came up with but over time, it has grown on her. The name was either going to be in French, Italian or even Albanian but decided that the Italian translation looked better and sounded smoother. She always would have wanted something that had a few words embedded and to always relate back to God.
When starting, Anabela simply wanted to inspire others to start their own business as well as initiate her own. While doing this, she also aims to support and help other people in the creative community and also to start something that not only she loves, but to be able to create something that everyone can wear and love.
Starting the business during her year 12 studies may not to some, have been the wisest choice but it was something that Anabela was good at as well as passionate, it gave her something on the side to complete to not feel bored all the time. By starting this then, it enabled her to start something that she loved rather than continuously doing things she wasn’t fond of. She put all her effort and energy in starting and building up the band and the reputation, and with the name La Vita Con Dio relating directly back to God, she hopes to represent what a life with him could be like whether they follow him or not while also showcasing his love through the brand.
She was in the very beginning stages when starting, having not even registered a business name or anything like that, she was hoping for the responses of others and her mentality of I can do this which helped launch her first collection.
One thing that is quite unique and possibly different to all the other fashion brands out there, it that Anabela is not building the brand to make a profit, half of the profits made go back in the form of donations to her Church with the rest going back into the brand to continue to grow. Her prices of the garments may be higher than some, but when she launched her first collection of T-shirts, she was able to give back having it not be just for her, but a greater cause.
What tips would you give to someone starting their own business?
“I’d tell them to just do it, because we all overthink things all the time and I think that you’re your worst critic and honestly, I feel like if you have a passion for it and you love it, you can 100% do it, all it is is just time and energy.”
Most people that start small businesses are not really sure of processes and all the formalities, especially when it comes to selling their own products, this comes with research and most of all, experience. In Anabela’s case, in some shape and form, she just bit the bullet and just started. Only getting a few opinions from people she knew and doing a few google searches for suppliers and costs of things, that was the main extent of it. This didn’t really include the type of clothes people buy and if they would be interested in. But what’s amazing is that even though she didn’t really look deep into that, the garments are simple, minimalistic and are made for everyday wear so people will definitely want to buy them.
When the first collection of printed T-shirts was launched, her friends were initially her target market and by showing them her designs and ideas, if they weren’t too thrilled about it, it would be scrapped because, for Anabela, they represent her ideal seller. And sometimes, too much extensive research can freak a person out!
In saying that, the target market that the clothes are mainly aimed towards would be youth and others around the same age as Anabela that she can feel like she can relate to them more but in the future, there are definitely talks about coming out with a children’s wear but at the moment, she aims to make her brand more street style youth.
When people buy the garments and wear them, she would hope for them to feel confident in themselves and that, in the name of the business, they can have a life with God because even though it is a more modern-day streetwear label, there is also an aspect of giving back, not only to the creative community but also to God. This is all about sharing his love and it can be perceived as different to everything else out there because it comes from the heart and wanting to showcase more about God.
La Vita Con Dio is still establishing itself as a reputable and recognized brand so in the future, there are of course ambitious plans to help grow and expand. In the future, there would like to be a continuous flow of clothing coming out and hoping that for Anabela, this becomes something she does full time if it is what she is meant to be doing which is going great. In terms of clothing, Anabela is open to so many styles and aspects of the fashion industry so the sky is the limit when it comes to expanding the clothing line. At the moment, she is also wanting to take the design part further, more short term, and do something different other than the minimal style.
By studying fashion and design at RMIT, Anabela has been able to achieve a greater understanding of the manufacturing and designing process as well as the construction of the garments. Compared to last year with minimal knowledge, she has learned and gained so much over the years and can’t wait to see what the future holds for La Vita Con Dio.
How would you describe your business in one sentence?
Creative, different and a representation of how far courage can take you and it all reflecting back onto God
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