Newly living

What if heritage could be futuristic? For Silvia Onofri, leading Napapijri’s transformation is about more than looking back – it’s about amplifying the brand’s adventurous spirit with a modern twist. She’s reviving icons like the Skidoo jacket in daring new forms, blending streetwear’s edgy appeal with luxury materials and sustainable design. With this season’s Future Heritage theme, Napapijri isn’t just preserving its legacy – it’s rewriting it for a new generation ready to embrace both style and substance​.

hube: Napapijri has a legacy of irreverence. How do you maintain that rebellious spirit in an industry increasingly driven by conformity through sustainability trends and social consciousness? Can disruption still exist in this framework?

Silvia Onofri: The concept of irreverence and rebellion in Napa is very subtle. It is not rebellion as synonymous with revolt but rather the choice to interpret oneself freely without fear of judgement and predefined rules. It is the refusal to conform. We do not wish to provoke; on the contrary, we want to work on respecting the values of sustainability, in which we believe strongly, and social consciousness. 

What the brand seeks is the breaking of predefined interpretations, and the valorisation of the individual while respecting their authenticity. The very community we speak to is extremely heterogeneous because we believe that Napa gives its best in diversity and in the free interpretation of the brand. We do not want to create a Napa-style; we want our community to create it, freely interpreting it in colours, fit, and bigender.

h: ‘Future Heritage’ is the motto for Napapijri’s rebranding. Do you ever feel that there is a risk of being too nostalgic, of clinging to past successes instead of driving a bold future for the brand?

SO: The vision is to launch a piece from our archive each season, always complementing it with future-oriented pieces. In AW24, we launched The Archive Project and the Hyper-Puffer simultaneously, both digitally and on the floor. This is because the Future Heritage concept aims to have this transversal look. As in the development of the individual, the history that belongs to us is the history that shapes our being. Experience is the key element in shaping the future. What matters is the balancing act between the two visions, where the past inspires future evolution and the foundation of credibility on which the new is built.

h: Christopher Raeburn’s appointment as a brand curator over traditional roles like creative director is unconventional. What was the biggest internal pushback you faced with this decision, and how did you overcome it?

SO: I owe a lot to VF; they entrusted the brand to me with full confidence, and I experienced no pushback on having Christopher take on the role of Creative Director with a more curatorial angle than what the traditional definition of the role would entail. The corporation is undergoing significant acceleration and renewal and fully supports my less conventional and more holistic vision of the brand. The figure of the brand curator makes the choices more complete, more human, more credible, and closer to the community to which one speaks. 

Today, the language of a brand must enter the social fabric of people, not just dress them up. It must help society to build valuable content and the search for meaning that is relevant and not an end.

h: The FW24 campaign is fronted by Lennon Gallagher and Patsy Kensit. Do you think fashion needs celebrity faces to survive in a world where individualism is on the rise and consumers look for relatability over fame?

SO: The AW24 campaign has a very deep meaning based on the emotional legacy and the value of memory passed down and reinterpreted by new generations. Before being celebrities, Patsy and Lennon are mother and son. Patsy lived through the 90s, which is when our brand was born, along with its values; Lennon, on the other hand, translates the experience and education he received and the memories that were handed down to him into both the present and future. In this vision, our jacket – which has remained authentic over time – represents transformation: it maintains its original meaning while embracing evolution.

h: Napapijri is pushing the boundaries between streetwear and luxury with pieces like the Hyper-Puffer. At what point does a brand known for rugged, accessible clothing risk alienating its core audience in pursuit of the high-fashion market?

SO: Today, our price point has not changed, but we have changed the segmentation of the product, which is now transversal. De facto, we are looking at a shift that allows us to enter higher segments without leaving the core product’s original distribution. For a long time, Napa existed in the premium segment thanks to product research and innovative materials. We are now reclaiming this part of the market that was wrongly abandoned in the past.

h: With FW24 focusing heavily on material innovation and reinterpreting classics, do you think the current fashion landscape has room for experimentation, or are we entering an era where safe bets are the only way forward for brands?

SO: Experimentation and brand identity are two fundamental values in a landscape where there are more equivalent products and stories repeating themselves. We desire to be a brand with its individualism, its meaning that drives the consumer’s reason for choice. We absolutely do not want to embrace niche experimentation; on the contrary, we want to be chosen and understood for who we are by a community to whom we speak in clear, authentic, and direct language. 

h: Having worked at luxury powerhouses like Bulgari and Bally, how does that influence your approach to Napapijri, a brand traditionally associated with outdoor gear and casual streetwear? Is there a luxury streak you want to infuse into its DNA?

SO: Primarily, Bulgari and Bally were a great school with a significant common denominator: a historical archive of immense cultural value. In addition, the theme of exploration and experimentation was, for both Sotirio Bulgari and Franz Karl Bally, the key to the brands’ transformation and worldwide success. Both brands grew out of two men of incredible vision and courage. In Napa, I found the same historical-cultural value and courage in the vision and experimentation of the genius of Giuliana Rosset. Napapijri’s DNA is deeply defined; my role has only been to bring it to light.

h: What are the key cultural shifts you are seeing in streetwear and outdoor fashion that shaped FW24? Do you think brands can still dictate trends, or are you now simply responding to what your audience demands?

SO: Personally, I do not believe in brands that dictate trends nor in service brands that respond exclusively to the needs of the market. Today, we have too much of everything, which is what makes me believe in brands that enter the cultural fabric with their own language, which people can wear with complete freedom of expression. 

A brand that is true to itself, and at the same time can be interpreted in its own way. This is fundamental for a product that can overcome the rules of predetermined trends and uniformity at all costs.