escada-1I looked at old Flemish portraits from the late 1500s and 1600s and was influenced by the Elizabethan-period costumes—velvet, wide collars, knee-high leather boots, and intricate embroidery, as well as all the beautiful silhouettes,” he says on the phone from his newly adopted home of Munich, Germany. (The company originated there in 1976 after founders Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley put money they’d won on a racehorse named Escada into what has since become one of world’s best-known fashion houses.)

The self-taught Italian designer has been with Escada for almost two years now, but got his start in fashion long ago in a very unconventional way. When he was just 6 years old, he was watching a fashion show on television when a flash came to him. “I started sketching clothes and I never really stopped. I was—how do you say—born to do it? Sometimes things are in your DNA and there’s not much you can do about it. I have never even thought about what I might do otherwise.” He later shirked fashion school in favor of joining the workforce and landed his first major job working at Gucci during its period of renaissance, when the label underwent a successful transformation. “It was a beautiful experience,” Biella notes. Now, years later, Escada has tapped his creative magic for the same purpose.

When asked how his plans for revamping the collections have looked at old Flemish portraits from the late 1500s and 1600s and was influenced by the Elizabethan-period costumes—velvet, wide collars, knee-high leather boots, and intricate embroidery, as well as all the beautiful silhouettes,” he says on the phone from his newly adopted home of Munich, Germany. (The company originated there in 1976 after founders Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley put money they’d won on a racehorse named Escada into what has since become one of world’s best-known fashion houses.)

The self-taught Italian designer has been with Escada for almost two years now, but got his start in fashion long ago in a very unconventional way. When he was just 6 years old, he was watching a fashion show on television when a flash came to him. “I started sketching clothes and I never really stopped. I was—how do you say—born to do it? Sometimes things are in your DNA and there’s not much you can do about it. I have never even thought about what I might do otherwise.” He later shirked fashion school in favor of joining the workforce and landed his first major job working at Gucci during its period of renaissance, when the label underwent a successful transformation. “It was a beautiful experience,” Biella notes. Now, years later, Escada has tapped his creative magic for the same purpose.

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When asked how his plans for revamping the collections have gone so far, he stresses that he would have never dared turn Escada into anything else than the modern, sophisticated brand for which it’s known. After all, it has a tremendously loyal following. “Younger is not the right word for what I’m designing now,” he explains. “I don’t believe good fashion has anything to do with age. But I am rejuvenating the line, yes. I’m working with rich fabrics, vivid tones, and luxurious shapes and cuts, and creating an updated, more contemporary look, but the principle is the same. Joyful, happy colors have always been part of the Escada identity.”

Cut to a chic photo studio in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, where the charming photographer Paul Cruz is doing his best to recapture the Baroque essence of Biella’scollection. Perched on a block covered in strips of ornate wallpaper, the model sports a burgundy velvet strapless dress with satin trim at the bust, when she strikes the perfect pose. Except something isn’t quite right. The milk-skinned model looks the part with her smoky chocolate eyes, tousled brown waves, and teeny Victorian chapeau fashioned from vintage wallpaper—yet the image seems incomplete. So assistants drape more decorative paper around her arms trying to figure out what is needed to set the right mood. After a brief hiatus that includes a makeup and hair consultation, the model reemerges from behind a changing screen in the same outfit, but now with striking blond hair. “Ah, there we go!” the photographer and stylists collectively murmur. This is what they were waiting for. The perfect modern-day Baroque look has finally been achieved.

Though images of a sixteenth-century maiden may evoke frailty, Biella affirms that the women who best embody Escada are the exact opposite. “Over the past year, I’ve been observing our core customers, and they always have the same thing in common: personality.” Though, he clarifies, this shouldn’t be confused with flamboyancy. “She’s interesting and has led a fascinating life. She’s the one you always want to sit next to at dinner parties because you know you won’t be bored. This is not a woman who spends her time lounging around—she’s fulfilled every duty from motherhood to having a career. She’s extremely active, which is what has helped to build her great character.” And she isn’t one to go unnoticed by men either. “The Escada woman is very feminine and loves to be looked at, but she also wants to be looked up to.”

Fans of Escada will be thrilled with Biella’s new collection, which, while inspired by Baroque, is not heavy-handed in the least. In fact, he wants to lighten things up both literally and figuratively. “You’ll see much more interesting silhouettes,” he says. “I’m working with lighter fabrics and bolder colors that are more playful—stronger—than in the past. I like cuts that are more graphic and a little less froufrou.” No doubt, everyone is excited to see what this master will unveil next.