Born in Puglia expresses my origin, not limitation. It speaks to my roots, to the place where each piece takes shape, and to a culture of making grounded in time, care, and continuity. Puglia is my foundation.

Giò Guarini was born from a personal need: to transform a rupture
into something that can hold, remain, and care. I call that rupture a pause. Because I allowed myself to stop. And in that pause, I found myself.

It was not easy. I was challenged deeply. But I learned that vulnerability is strength. That the further we move from who we are, the more we suffer. So I returned to my origin. To Italy. To my family, my values, my heritage. To something I had silenced for a long time.

I went back to Puglia, where I asked local tailors to hand-stitch a lapel for me. My own. The Love Lapel. Giò Guarini was born. I returned to my grandmother’s name Giovanna.

The asymmetry of the lapel reflects what is human: imperfect, evolving, never fixed. A quiet expression of our many selves. It became the embrace I needed, and the one I now offer.
The blazer is a vehicle to express care, self-awareness, and connection between myself and the women I dress.

This story is about allowing pauses to become transformation. About returning to what is true. About listening, respecting boundaries, and
recognising what belongs to us, and what we carry from others.

Giò Guarini is my embrace to you. An invitation to embrace yourself.

With care, Ivana