Ever wander through an art museum, marvel at the garments depicted, and wish they could be yours? Thanks to designing duo Maria Teresa Meloni and Angela Stavola of Thrones and Queens, they can. Meloni, an Oxford-educated portrait artist renowned for her works that have born comparisons to Caravaggio, found herself frustrated with the lack of period-appropriate clothing on the market for her sittings.
Highly influenced by her Florentine roots, Meloni, seeking to convey the romantic elegance of the Renaissance period in her work, expressed her frustration at her limited options to Stavola (a Givenchy alumna), who offered to make Meloni’s visions a reality (and also shares her design sensibility). “It’s great when you find someone with whom you just click,” says Meloni, of their chance meeting through a mutual friend. When Meloni’s clients began expressing interest in the custom pieces, she decided to launch Thrones and Queens.
Favoring neutral shades of natural fabrics such as linen and organza, Meloni sketches while Stavola oversees the tailoring. Their mission: creating garments that, while rooted in the past, convey a sense of timelessness and that flatter the female figure without being overtly “body conscious.” The pair’s most recent designs have taken on a more romantic tone by implementing Chantilly lace accents, “We decided on the name Thrones and Queens because every woman should feel like a queen,” says Stavola.
And who wouldn’t want to be queen for a day?
All images by Maria Teresa Meloni
