In Italy, tradition and history merge harmoniously with innovation and design. It’s where a culture of beauty and quality are considered a heritage worth preserving over the centuries and where know-how is a precious gift to hand down from generation to generation. And that is where Dea was born.
The story of Dea is the story of Dea Mantellassi. Ever since she was a child, Dea cultivated her passion and fervor for top-quality linen. She grew up among embroideries, laces and decorations, and when she grew up, she became a pupil of Evelina Bellini, one of the most famous and distinguished embroiderers, as well as the founder of one of the most prestigious designer labels in the world for household linens. In the mid-1960s, thanks to her charisma and abilities, Dea started producing and selling her own products, which were so successful that Dea soon created her first workshop, in the fertile Chianti area, famous for not only wine but also its ancient embroideries. Many skilled artisans who specialized in this art were also there. It was the beginning of what would become Dea.
In the 1970s, Dea’s two brothers began working for the company, Alfredo taking care of the financial and administrative duties and Franco handling commercial concerns. Meanwhile, more color was being added to the designs, as well as automated processing. Soon, embroidery machines operated by human hands were working alongside traditional artisans, who of course remained a cornerstone of the company.
By the 1980s, Dea had begun to expand, and even more so in the 1990s, as Dea began breaking into the foreign market. Dea’s daughter, Sabrina, who also grew up among laces and embroideries, joined the company, adding her experience and expertise in business management studies. Sabrina gave the family company an indelible imprint, guiding it definitely toward the internationalization of the brand and enriching it with additional commercial and distribution development. And as the new millennium started, Dea established a new company: Dea USA. With that came the opening of Dea’s first American flagship store in Palm Beach, Florida.
Innate talent, century-old tradition, a precious sense of beauty and our fantastic hand are the ingredients that give prestige and appeal to each Dea creation. Dea products are created from the careful selection of premium woven fabrics and precious threads that are consigned to our powerful but sophisticated looms, which are able to weave precious cloths. They are then transferred to our Tuscan workshops for processing. In Tuscany, Dea Montellassi, as Dea’s design manager, is in charge of the delicate phases of the creation of the company’s masterpieces, such as the choice of fabrics, colors and designs.
The embroideries are realized by skilled artisans specialized with unique techniques handed down from generation to generation, passed on to the lucky heirs of an incomparable tradition. It is here that laces are applied and cut. The fabrics are unthreaded completely by hand, and rigorously handmade polka dots are formed.
At our headquarters, we ensure meticulous quality control. The products are ironed by hand, piece by piece, and then folded and ironed again by dedicated machines before final packaging, often overseen personally by Madame Dea.
The Dea product is the beautiful result of our made-in-Italy strength, the soundness of a family-run company strongly tied to its territory and a people animated by passion and talent throughout all divisions of the company. All Dea products are the fruits of a consolidated experience based on precious and unique artisan values that are also found in our modern industrial lines.
The Dea style has always combined tradition, quality, craftsmanship and innovation. Now more than ever, Dea produces artisanal, unique and elegant creations.