I absolutely love northern Italy, especially the area known as South Tyrol, especially in late Spring. It serves up a gorgeous Alpine experience with a side of pasta. The wine flows like water, and the design sense of Milan reaches far into the villages, vineyards and mountain valleys.
We had a ball shooting our Fall collection there this Spring, on the shores of Lake Caldaro and up in the peaks of the Dolomites. Read on for a look behind the scenes...
There are so many nooks up north, from lakes to mountains to wanderwegs through vineyards, to villages where only German is spoken and schnitzel is eaten (in Italy!).
Two bucket list hotels reside here and I planned a shoot at one (Seehotel Ambach) and post-shoot recovery at the other (Forestis).
Ambach is on Lake Caldero which isn’t really on the US tourist map, but it should be! It’s a stunning lake surrounded by vineyards and easy to reach by train from Milan. A favorite natural wine vineyard is here– Pranzegg. The mountains aren’t far and the cute town of Brixen is just up the valley. In Brixen, eat and stay at Fink. Abbazia di Novacella is a gorgeous place to visit and indulge in their vino. Prezioso at Castel Fragsburg is a stunning restaurant for a fancy meal out.
Seehotel Ambach is an iconic ‘70s hotel on Lake Caldaro, designed by Othmar Barth, and impeccably preserved. It’s a stunning lake surrounded by vineyards and easy to reach by train from Milan. It was easy to make the 3rd fall drop come to life in this hotel where every detail was well thought out.
Paula took the train from Milan to meet us for 2 days of relaxed shoots here— besides the part about getting locked inside a guesthouse at 4am and delaying hair/makeup until we could wake the owner. But she got out! And it put a pep in our steps for the first shot of the day, I suppose. Our hotel sold out before booking Paula’s room so she stayed next door at Hotel Leuchtenburg which was DARLING and a great reasonably priced option.
Forestis was built for relaxing, and that we did. The cocktails made with foraged moss and fermented bark served with a view of the Dolomites like no other and a spa to make you forget what time or day it is added up to a stay for the books.
I packed spring dresses for the surprise 30 degree weather and was SO HAPPY we lugged 2 extra suitcases of Fall samples from the shoot, which became my vacation wardrobe. The Moritz in Brownie is in my “top 5 products we have ever made” list. This will sell out, you heard it here first.
