Mauro Orietti-Carella

IT WAS an injection, quite literally, that nursed exotic-skin bag maker Zagliani back to health. The year was 2002 and Mauro Orietti-Carella had just bought the company over for nostalgia's sake from his father, who had wanted to retire and 'get a little bit of rest'. Back then, Zagliani was a luxury-bag house that had been established by Bruna Zagliani in 1947 but had since grown fusty, like an old crocodile skin.

'Seven years ago, I was sitting in a little room, staring at these stinky bags and wondering what I could do with them,' confesses the designer. 'I was thinking, why should people choose a Zagliani bag when there are so many other bags with similar skins and more recognisable names in the market?'

It was then that the Milanese, who trained in dermatology, felt the prickings of a plan. 'I decided I would find a way to work on the material that we use and develop something from a different point of view,' he says. 'Other manufacturers were going into logos and hardware; ways to make their bags easily recognisable. I wanted to develop our bags with a concept of giving healing, with no major hardware or logo on them.'

He had a hunch that applying his medical training to come up with a way to treat the leathers - which are ethically sourced in the sense that Zagliani works in accordance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to ensure their procurement does not threaten the animals' survival - might afford him 'a chance to give the market something new and different'. So he began experimenting with silicone injections. It was a bumpy road to achieving a formula that worked on the exotic skins ('so many things can go wrong: the needle breaks when it enters the skin; the silicone doesn't go in; lots of things. I don't even know how it happened for me but it did'), but after five years of tweaking and testing the dermatalogist-designer had it all sewn up.

The treatment that he developed for his bags is a combination of silicone, botox and 'some other solutions', which are injected into the dead skins to keep them hydrated and plumped up so they are softer and more supple. According to Mr Orietti-Carella, the bags - sometimes known as the 'botox bags' - can also withstand Singapore's weather well as the treated leather is waterproof and resistant to humid conditions.

The Italian reckons that's the way all bags should be. 'A 21st century woman already has so many things to think about - herself, her children, her business, her lovers,' he half-jokes. 'With our bags, you won't have one more thing to worry about. You just carry it and that's that.'

Bag buyers know a good thing when they see (and touch) one, which is why Zagliani counts among its clientele famous faces such as Queen Rania of Jordan, Claudia Schiffer and Kylie Minogue. In Singapore, its sand-coloured dumpling-shaped Puffy bags, priced from $2,790, have sold out since the brand arrived at On Pedder in March (it's also available at The Link).

Even as Mr Orietti-Carella's botoxing technology continues to make waves in the bag world, however, he is already busy with a new technology: injected air. The latest range of Zagliani bags, which will be launched next month, are made with the usual silicone injection plus another of air, which will render them lighter. 'It's like carrying a warm hug around with you,' the designer says of his products. 'If you touch and hold a Zagliani bag, you cannot get rid of it.'

Fulvio Maria Scavia

THEY may be made from one of nature's hardest materials and the most delicate wisps of fabric, respectively, but it is not impossible to bridge the chasm between the worlds of jewellery and lingerie. That's what multi-award-winning jewellery company Scavia believes, and to prove that, it has collaborated for the first time with luxury lingerie maker La Perla to create a range of Jewellery On The Body, a series of gem-encrusted accessories that are intended to beautify one's underthings.

The collection, made up of about 12 designs, comprises pieces such as coral and jewel-encrusted pendants that twinkle teasingly from between the cups of a bra; swathes of diamonds that sweep from bra tops to bikini bottoms; and gem-loaded fine chains that highlight the decolletage when attached to both bra straps.

It's a comprehensive range, but how it all happened was quite by accident, says Fulvio Maria Scavia, who is the third-generation owner of his family's Italian jewellery business and is also a science journalist and gemologist by training. 'About two years ago, I had made a brooch for my wife. She was dressing for a concert and she put the brooch at the centre of her bra just for fun. But it looked great and I thought, why don't we make a special collection? So I suggested it to La Perla because my wife is a customer and that's how it started,' explains Mr Scavia.

To come up with design ideas and inspiration, he made a trip to the La Perla factory in Bologna ('very near to Milan where I live') and had a look at the season's lingerie collection and models. Then, once his designs were mapped out, he developed special accoutrements - such as a clasp that would allow a chain to hang from bra strap to bra strap - before producing the pieces.

At prices starting from $3,500 for the coral pendants, some would naturally hesitate before investing so much in a mere bit of bra bling. But of course Mr Scavia has thought of that. 'The pieces can also be used separately, as a pendant or a brooch,' he states. And in fact, prices in the four-figure range are on the low end for Scavia, which has a long history of producing fine and forward-thinking jewellery (the famous Cone ring that has been copied many times over, for instance, actually began life at Scavia in the 1960s).

Quality-wise though, buyers can rest assured that even the lowest-priced items are typical of the brand. The designer gives his assurance that 'even our inexpensive items show the same philosophy' - that is, high quality, excellent craftsmanship and no two pieces that are the same.

While Scavia is waiting on the response to its Jewellery On The Body collection before it decides whether to launch a second series, the company feels that the concept offers plenty of value - something that customers are particularly seeking right now. Says Mr Scavia: 'You spend $400 for a bra, yes, and the jewellery costs $3,000. But when the bra cannot be used any longer, you still have the jewellery to keep.'

Jewellery On The Body is available via custom order at the La Perla boutique at #02-12F, Takashimaya Shopping Centre. Scavia, meanwhile, is exhibiting its other jewellery designs at the presidential suite of The Regent Singapore. Last day today (May 16). For private viewing, contact Alaya Ochaka at +66 81 9186220.

This article was first published in The Business Times