WP Store Rounds Up Cultural Fashion Figures for 40th Anniversary Interview Series

WP Lavori in Corso, Italy is the fashion distributor and research foundation founded by Cristina Calori just over 40 years ago and has since culminated an expansive library of unique outdoor and athletic brands. Now, as it aims to document its long-standing history of working with global creatives, the WP Store calls on some of the iconic names for the new WP Stories project.

In the inaugural episode of the series, trend consultant and content creator Samuel Trotman of Samutaro delves into the brand from its origins. “They’ve focused on functionality over trends and building a wardrobe around lifestyle,” he says. “The foundation for the brand was laid in the late ‘80s when they discovered brands like Paraboot, Woolrich, Barbour and Vans. They were true timeless icons that were kind of pioneering.”

The WP archive is a testament to the hard work put into the Bologna-based brand over the years. Along with her father Giuseppe, Calori compiled an archive of over 80,000 garments. With the eclectic collection acting as a lens into WP Store’s new series, Trotman reflects, “It was a revolutionary concept at that time because the brands they were scoping out from around the world, they were bringing them together in one place. For a lot of Italian and European consumers, they hadn’t even heard of these brands, let alone having them all mixed together”

He goes on to explore the introduction of other icons into the archive and later, the WP catalog book that brings together years of research, stories and products. For its milestone anniversary, WP Store will select some of the pieces from its archive to sell in a special sale, stay tuned for more information soon.

Explore the WP Lavori in Corso brand and foundation via its website. For new WP Stories, keep up-to-date on its Instagram page.