A Taste of Rugged Beauty
From April 8th to 13th 2025, Filson and WP Archivio, together with NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, present A Taste of Rugged Beauty, a project that celebrates the beauty of imperfection and the deep bond between humans and the wilderness. Alongside the Milan Design Week 2025, the Filson Store in Milan located at 123 Corso Garibaldi will open its doors to an event that explores the boundaries between tradition and innovation, drawing from the rich archive of WP Lavori in Corso.
A Taste of Rugged Beauty aims to spur an authentic dialogue between art, fashion, and design, while honoring the founding values of Filson – a brand established in 1897 in Seattle as a reference point for outdoor living enthusiasts. Under the creative direction of Stefano Regina, the project unfolds as a narrative that elevates imperfection as an aesthetic value, highlights preservation as a form of responsibility and sustainability, and celebrates collecting as a means of personal expression.
Resulting from a creative synergy, the project brings together emerging talents from the creative industry selected in collaboration with NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, together with the acclaimed collecting duo OutOfUseBerlin and WP’s in-house artisans. Designed in three separate phases, A Taste of Rugged Beauty reinterprets the ethical and aesthetic codes of Filson’s tradition, translating them into a contemporary language.
Bachelor’s students in Fashion Design, Design and Interior Design at NABA were actively involved and guided through the entire creative process: from brand, product, communication to distribution. A team of 11 multidisciplinary young designers worked across graphic concept, indoor and outdoor installations, communication strategy, and an upcycling initiative on selected pieces from Filson’s archive. They reinterpreted the brand with a contemporary vision in a capsule collection that honors its American heritage.
The artisans of WP Lavori in Corso collaborated on a second upcycling initiative, transforming a selection of furniture from different periods and origins into a design collection that bridges the WP Archive with Filson’s stylistic identity.
Finally, through “Selected by OutOfUseBerlin”, vintage and antique dealer known for its exploration of fashion and collecting antique treasures, a personal perspective on the relationship between Filson’s archive pieces and Filson’s SS25 collection will be offered.
“What an opportunity to reflect on Filson by engaging with young talents who allow creativity to flow freely” said Gaia Vitolo, Creative Director of WpStore and head of Wp Archivio.
“To me, Filson isn’t just a brand—it’s a cult”, commented Stefano Regina.
About WP LAVORI IN CORSO: Founded in 1982 by Giuseppe Calori and his daughter Cristina, WP is an international group of historic and authentic brands. Since its inception, WP’s mission has been the research, distribution, and licensing of the finest original brands from around the world, solidifying the brands’ international standing. WP’s brand portfolio includes: Barbour, Baracuta, Blundstone, Filson, Spiewak, B.D. Baggies, and Avon Celli. To this day, WP continues to scout and develop heritage brands, staying true to its original goals, while defining new ideas and energies for the fashion of the future. WP Lavori in Corso’s retail network includes 8 Barbour Stores, 1 Baracuta Store, and 2 WP Stores. Alongside the company, WP Archivio displays a vast collection that today counts over 100,000 garments and countless furnishings, sourced from secondary markets such as charity shops, flea markets, and vintage stores around the world – long before this became a trend.
About Filson: Founded in Seattle in 1897 to equip prospectors during the Alaska Gold Rush, Filson has spent 128 years crafting durable, high-quality garments that have established a trusted legacy with loggers, hunters, anglers, ranchers, and U.S. Forest Service agents – as well as outdoor living enthusiasts around the world.
About NABA: NABA is an academy of arts and design – the largest Academy of Fine Arts in Italy and the first to receive official recognition from the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) in 1981. With campuses in Milan and Rome, NABA offers first- and second-level academic programs in design, fashion design, graphic design and communication, multimedia arts, new technologies, set design, and visual arts. These programs award academic degrees equivalent to university-level bachelor’s and master’s degrees, in addition to PhDs and Special Programmes. NABA has been ranked by the QS World University Rankings®️ by Subject as the top Academy of Fine Arts in Italy and among the top 100 institutions worldwide in the field of Art & Design.
About OutOfUseBerlin: A vintage and antiques brand founded by Sissi Pohle and Pat Scherzer, OutOfUseBerlin has, in just a few years, become an endless source of inspiration for a wide range of brands. Constantly reinventing themselves and sharing their vision with the world through their online store and various pop-up shops across Europe.
A TASTE OF RUGGED BEAUTY
April 8-13, 2025
Creative Direction: Stefano Regina
Filson Store | Corso Garibaldi 123, Milan
Opening hours: from 10.30 to 20.00
Free entry
