MILAN–Entrepreneur Helen Nonini possesses the audacious fashion sense of Jazz Age muses like singer Josephine Baker and flapper Zelda Fitzgerald. With a potent ethnic mix of Italian, Persian and Egyptian blood, Nonini’s unique beauty has been captured by top consumer glossies and world-famous photographers like Giovanni Gastel. Born into a modern era where women don’t have to sing, dance or be married to a literary genius to turn heads, Nonini gets noticed as much for her business savvy, as she does for her uninhibited style that has embraced everything from wigs to lens-less eye-glasses. Like fashion mavens Audrey Hepburn and Elsa “Schiap” Schiaparelli long before her, Nonini’s has an affinity for turbans. Whether she is jetting off to a meeting with a high-profile corporate client or to an Alpine ski weekend, she never leaves home without her coveted bespoke headpieces made by her go-to milliners Elena Todros and Antonina De Luca of Milanese atelier Atalen.
With the 1930’s inspired architecture and decor of Milan’s T’a temple of chocolate in the backdrop, Nonini discusses her obsession with turbans and personal style with BACO’s Editor-in-Chief Sofia Celeste:
Occupation: Brand Advisor, Strategic-Consultant, Author
Age: 35
Headquarters: Milan
The Look: Loro Piana wool sweater, jeans, Art Deco-style Altalen turban and Fratelli Rossetti biker boots.
Personal Style: “I think clothes are like yogurt — they expire. Some are timeless but if you want to evolve you have to change your look. At a certain point, I started to really concentrate on what I had on my head. Turbans are unique pieces and nobody else will have anything exactly like it because it is made for you. I love turbans because you can leave for a weekend, bring one outfit and if you change your turban you have a different look completely.”
Always: Turbans
Never: Plunging necklines or trendy in the moment items.
