Calabria
The region where I was born and then returned to start a business

Simply Flavia, a bit of me
I love fashion, I love nature and I love my country.
So I decided to create
something that encompass my passions.
I am Flavia Amato, I am a Calabrian clothing designer and pattern maker, and in May 2016 I opened Malia Lab, a brand of organic handmade fashion, in Guardavalle Marina in the province of Catanzaro. To briefly explain how my idea was born, I will give you an overview of my origins. I was born in Calabria, then for study reasons I decided to emigrate as soon as I came of age to Marche. Here I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts and at 24 I chose to follow my instinct and attend a professional pattern making course.

When a single sentence describes your life
"There are always two choices in life: accept the conditions in which we live in or take responsibility for changing them."
-DENIS WAITLEY
“All of us, in our own small way, can manage to change something. The important thing is to try without ever giving up. Rebuilding and not abandoning the SOUTH is our duty”
Nothing is easy, you just have to believe in it
"When I started I knew that there would be many difficulties, but I never gave up. If there is one thing I can advise those who want to pursue their dreams, it is to never give up. The important thing is to accept that the greatest failure is not defeat, but not having tried."
Fashion and environment
We cannot afford to exploit and produce in this way

The choice, the path after training
In the following year, I worked in third-party companies for big brands and completed my professional training. (if you can say so. The truth is that you never stop learning). Coming into contact with such an artificial and untruthful reality (the dirty production process, various expedients to minimize costs, simulation of made in Italy, the more the merrier), disappointed me a lot, to the point of wanting to leave the company to choose to embark on a different path. So I chose to follow an annual Startup training course with ISTAO, where I was chosen among the ten most innovative startups in Piceno. My dream was to create an atelier, where to combine my passions for health, organic and fashion, merging them with artisanal manufacturing and an attractive style.

The return to Calabria, my land
I couldn't help but return to Calabria, to my homeland, to create something so important and precious: a choice made out of opportunity, pride, and a desire to show that my region is more than what people think, and above all, to recover and pass down the regional craftsmanship in textiles. So, I packed up and headed down 900 kilometers to my old home with my boyfriend. Together, we renovated an old room in the town center, owned by my parents, and in those 50 square meters, we created a textile workshop where I produce and realize my collections. Doing business, in general, is not easy, especially in the South, especially if you're a woman, and especially if you're alone and don't have much money to invest. I put all the good will and commitment that I can. In my organic tailoring, I design and make clothes following the ancient values of craftsmanship, to create garments that last over time. Mine is a new concept of fashion: artisanal and sustainable, focusing on the well-being of the body and the environment, but above all, diverging from consumerism and creating its own trend.


The most important thing I learned
Never give up when faced with the first obstacles