Medea, the independent accessories brand that Beyoncé and Rihanna fall in love with

Medea, the baby of these two twins, Camilla and Giulia Venturini, is a unique accessories brand based in Milan known for its leather version of the classic shopper bag, available in different models and colors. Since they launched the brand in 2019, their success has been unstoppable, in part thanks to the support of personalities such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kaia Gerber and singer-songwriter Dev Hynes.

However, although – to the surprise of the designers – their bag has already become a cult object, the brand goes much further and extends its tentacles into the world of art, fashion and music. They collaborate with artists like Nan Goldin and Judith Bernstein or designers like Kiko Kostadinov or Peter Do; the Italians, 32 years old, opt for cooperative work. “For us, collaborating comes first, if not, we just end up with an object,” says Camilla. "It gives us the feeling that when more people participate, a more complete product comes out," adds Giulia.

Medea, named after the 1969 film by the controversial Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini, has already achieved international fame as a cult brand and we see it in the wardrobes of international stars. "The truth is that everything has been very fast, but we have learned to adapt," says Giulia. “It's great to get feedback from young people around the world who understand what we do,” adds Camilla.

Kind, ingenious and with a candor that makes you fall in love, the two sisters give us eight reflections on what it is like to set up a family business, the importance of collaborating and their commitment to more sustainable practices.

1. The passion for fashion comes from home

Camilla: “In Italy, fashion culture is very important, as well as exciting. Our grandmother was a seamstress, so when we were little we would play in her workshop. We staged fashion shows with the scraps and forced our mother to make us public”.

Giulia: "Later on, we studied Fashion in Milan, there we began to be more interested in fashion communication."

2. A family business: the lights and shadows of working with your (twin) sister

Camilla: “It's an idea that was on our minds a lot, but Camilla was in New York and I was in Europe, so we lived apart for ten years. One day, we came up with the idea for the bag and from there everything went very quickly. We did it, we uploaded it to Instagram and Selfridges contacted us to place an order.

Giulia: “Since we trust each other a lot, everything goes faster, I know I can send her a message at any time of the day. Sometimes it's exhausting, because there are no limits, and there are a lot of emotions involved when we talk, but I can't imagine it any other way."

3. Collaboration is the star: the future of fashion is togetherness

Camilla: “I love seeing what other people do and bringing it into our world. Sometimes brands don't think beyond the product. When we present a campaign, we immediately begin to think about the sound, what great musicians we want to have by our side”.

Giulia: “We love collaborating in the field of photography, it is a very important part of our work, especially since we come from a visual background”.

4. Quality before quantity, always

Camilla: “For us, making high quality products is fundamental, we are Italian. Our bags are impeccably made. I love it when I see someone wearing one of our designs and they are happy with the quality of the product.”

Giulia: “We work with a factory where quality standards are very high. We investigate the materials and if there is something slightly defective, the factory does not use it. They have developed a series of procedures so that the bags are perfect, so the final result is always fantastic”.

5. Its new ecological bag and sustainability as the key to its business model

Giulia: “It is a shopper bag made of metal-free leather, it is dyed without going through a chemical process, which is harmful to the environment. We've worked with Los Angeles artist Chloé Maratta on the print; it was she who came up with the slogan: “This bag is compostable”.

Camilla: “We spend our lives researching materials and techniques that are more sustainable. We know where all the materials we use come from; we do not use plastics in the packaging and all our materials are from Italy”.

6. Broaden horizons, but without losing perspective

Giulia: “We want to design a leather hat, we think it would be a good extension of Medea. We are very careful and take all the time in the world to develop each product. It took us three years to make a sweatshirt.”

Camilla: "More than clothes, we are interested in accessories, like belts, maybe one day we will bring out shoes."

7. The biggest endorsements don't just come from celebrities, but they help

Giulia: “We were very surprised about Beyoncé, she uploaded many photos. It is amazing that you support us being as we are a small brand. The Rihanna thing also left us stunned. She is a style icon, so knowing that she liked our designs, especially when we were taking the first steps, she encouraged us a lot ”.

Camilla: “It's amazing to be tagged in photos of our bags from places like Fénix (Arizona). That makes me even more excited."

8. Advice for your past self

Camilla: "Don't lose the freshness of the first day, don't worry about what might happen on day 400."

Giulia: “The thing is to do great things and be faithful to your vision. Don't look around or compare yourself to other people."