Alexander Rymkevich, Bon Mot

Fronte Parte is more than a knitwear brand. For Daria Shinshina, the founder of this project, knitwear is a universal matter, alive and mutable, one of the oldest human creations.

In Latin, Fronte Parte stands for “the right side of the fabric”, and this is not just a figure of speech. Every garment is essentially a set of knit stitches, which themselves form the fabric, or canvas, the basis for a future masterpiece. It may be as minimalistic as Cy Twombly’s art, or as expressive as Jackson Pollock’s abstraction.

Perfection needs special conditions. Since creation of unique garments is the heart of the Fronte Parte, Daria decided against opening a showroom and opted for an atelier instead. Here, she meets her clients and designs her works. The Fronte Parte space is reminiscent of an artist’s studio – it is airy and light, decorated with light tones and natural materials. The conditions are ideal not only for the master’s creative work but also for precious yarn, which must be kept in a particular microclimate.
 

For Daria, yarn is the equivalent of paint for a painter. It should be visible and easily accessible. Many artistic treasures are conceived spontaneously since the material itself often guides the thought and the hands of the artisan. Fronte Parte garments are made the same way – Daria does not work with sketches, instead preferring to select yarn intuitively and to find visionary solutions while working.

The atelier is an artist’s private world, which people, who want to fulfil their dream of unique knitwear through Fronte Parte, may only access by a personal invitation.

The Fronte Parte was born largely thanks to travel. Daria has frequently used knitting to keep herself busy while flying, with her journeys spanning the whole world – from New Zealand to Peru. Frequently, the ideas for knitwear are born from memories of faraway lands, architecture, locals’ clothing, materials and palettes. This is how Daria came up with the concept for a knit vicuna wool coat with leather inserts during her trip to Peru, and materialised it 11 years later.

There are no fashion magazines at the Fronte Parte atelier. Instead, there are albums on art, architecture and art photography, which is a hobby of Daria’s. She confesses to never watching fashion shows, because she believes that her memory could play a trick on her and give her someone else’s idea while she is creating. This is also why Fronte Parte never manufactures copies or variations of garments produced by other brands. This project was established as a designer knitwear atelier, where each attire is unique.

Handmade knitwear is, without doubt, a luxurious object, but Daria does not believe in pointless fleeting opulence. She believes that even an expensive thing should be practical. This is why any Fronte Parte garment may be worn or combined with other items in dozens of ways.  In today’s world brand name does not equal luxury, because the industry hardly uses the most important component – artisanship by hand. In this way, Fronte Parte epitomizes the true meaning of luxury. Fronte Parte’s uniqueness is encapsulated not only in artisanship by hand, but also in production secrets. With multiple years of experience with knitwear, Daria has devised her own method of gathering and binding off the stitches, which are impossible to repeat or knit out. Every hand-knit item contains such signature, guaranteeing authenticity.

However, today even machine-made knitwear may be of very high quality if it is made using correct technology and excellent yarn – Fronte Parte’s modus operandi. The brand has a small collection of such garments but even then each and every one is assembled and finished by hand.

Fronte Parte doesn't have seasonal collections, anything from it's lookbook may be recreated or modified. Alternatively, the brand may design a unique garment just for you.