An Italian Chasing Fashion Dreams in Paris
From dressing football stars in Naples at 18 to carving out a place in the fiercely competitive world of Paris fashion, Roberto Flaminio’s journey is one of ambition, reinvention, and resilience — a young Italian stylist who arrived with little more than a suitcase and a dream, and built a career that now bridges two of Europe’s most powerful style capitals.
GWF: What was it like moving from Italy to Paris to pursue your career in fashion?
ROBERTO: Moving from Italy to France was not just a geographical change — it was a profound transformation. I started working in fashion at 18, in one of the most important boutiques in Naples. That’s where I truly began. I had the honor of dressing football players and public figures — people I had only seen on television until then.
But more than that, I had the privilege of touching haute couture pieces that, as a child, I admired in magazines. For me, they weren’t just garments. They were stitched dreams. At 20, I realized Naples was becoming too small for me. I love my city — it’s my root — but I felt the need to grow, to expand my fashion knowledge, to learn more. I didn’t want comfort. I wanted evolution.
GWF: How did you go from starting from scratch in Paris to receiving your first Fashion Week invitations and signing your first major contract?
ROBERTO: I arrived in Paris without speaking the language and with very little certainty. During the first months, I lived in a shared apartment and worked small freelance jobs as a personal stylist. I had no connections, no network. Everything had to be built from scratch. It was exciting — but also incredibly hard.
I started sharing everything on Instagram — my style, my vision, my journey. Then Fashion Week arrived, which had always been a dream of mine. And something unexpected happened: I received my first invitations. Shortly after, I signed my first contract with a historic Italian brand. From that moment, everything shifted. Events, contacts, the Parisian jet set — and that’s when I understood that maybe, truly, I could make it.
GWF: When you look back at the 20-year-old version of yourself arriving in Paris, what goes through your mind today?
ROBERTO: It wasn’t easy to establish myself. I was young, foreign, new in an extremely competitive environment. Paris is demanding. It’s selective. You constantly have to prove your value. But I never thought about giving up. Not even in the hardest moments.
“Italy is passion, instinct, craftsmanship. It’s warmth. France — and especially Paris — is structure, vision, strategy”
Today, nine years later, I work for the brand of my dreams. I bought my own home. I completed a Master’s degree at the Institut Français de la Mode. When I think about that 20-year-old boy arriving with a suitcase and a head full of uncertainty… I almost smile. Who would have imagined it?
GWF: How would you describe the differences between the fashion worlds of Italy and France — and how have both shaped you?
ROBERTO: Italy and France remain two fashion capitals with very different energies. Italy is passion, instinct, craftsmanship. It’s warmth. France — and especially Paris — is structure, vision, strategy. In Italy, relationships are emotional. In Paris, they are more calculated, more constructed. Living both has given me balance.
I often go back to Italy. My roots are there. That’s where my aesthetic sensitivity was born. But Paris taught me discipline, ambition, resilience.
GWF: What does success look like to you, and how do you stay connected to your original dreams?
ROBERTO: My greatest pain today is that my mother is not here to witness all of this. She cannot see what I am building, the milestones I am reaching. And perhaps that is what drives me even more. Every achievement carries her name within it.
For me, success is not about reaching the top. It’s about staying true to who you were when you started. It’s about not forgetting the boy who used to flip through magazines and dream.
And maybe the real luxury is not only what we wear, but the freedom to turn a dream into direction.
@robertoflaminio by @raffaelepolicarpoph , @fredericwhite & Roberto
Roberto Flaminio’s first major role after arriving in Paris was with the Ferragamo brand, followed by the Farfetch Group. His main role is as a stylist. He has collaborated as a content creator with brands including Balmain, Diptyque, New Era, and Sephora. Roberto has also participated as a contributor and fashion journalist at fashion shows such as On Aura Tout Vu, Juozas, Givenchy, Balmain, and Burberry.
