SAN FRANCISCO — Next time Veronica Etro returns to Northern California, she hopes to see the scenery from a car pulling an iconic silver-bullet Airstream trailer with her husband and son inside. “It’s the American dream. I would just do it here,” she said.
Etro was in town earlier this month with her brother, Kean, the respective women’s wear and men’s wear designers for the Milanese family’s fashion house. The top-selling store of Etro fashions in the U.S. is the Neiman Marcus in San Francisco, a distinction it routinely trades with the Neiman’s in Los Angeles.
Her visit also marked the first trip for her spring 2007 line of paisley, floral, batik and geometric pieces, which was shown in Milan last month. “This is a real trunk show,” Veronica, 32, said at Neiman’s on Union Square.
The collection is called “Cosmic Nomads: The Time Travelers,” and Veronica said it channels her childhood love of science fiction, including a passion for “Star Wars.” The movie’s hairy Chewbacca character inspired a geometric inset of turquoise leather in a sheer black sleeveless top — a likeness that might be hard for others to spot.
The bare back of a long, flowing halter dress in batik and paisley prints has a flirtatious, over-the-shoulder asymmetrical panel of shiny quilted pieces in purple, yellow and blue. “It’s Princess Leah,” said Veronica, who appeared disappointed to learn “Star Wars” creator George Lucas’ studios are in San Francisco and she was leaving that afternoon.
It was a quick trip for the sister-and-brother team. Kean, 42, alighted just for the day to attend an Etro fashion show for fall that took over Neiman’s couture department. The next morning he flew to Mexico City to be with his new fiancée, identified by a company spokeswoman as living there. Veronica said the engagement is new and only allowed she knows her future sister-in-law as “Costanza.”
Veronica has designed Etro’s women’s wear line since 2000, taking over from Kean. Now a mother of two-year-old Filippo, Veronica said her designs have become more practical.
“At first, I was more gadget-like, if you think of the Chicken Bag,” a comic purse with a likeness of a nesting chicken on the side. “Now I want things to be beautiful, more for women,” said Veronica, who was the only girl in the family, the youngest child and who recalls playing with swatches as a child. “I never actually did dresses for dolls,” she said.
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Growing up, Veronica said her mother, Roberta, an interior designer, never talked about fashion, and she’s never been to one of her daughter’s shows — an absence that doesn’t bother the designer. “I love it because she has her own sense of style,” Veronica said, which she describes as classic.
Veronica’s key fashion barometer continues to be her father, Gimmo, who founded Etro in 1968 as a textile design house and whose fabrics are used in the company’s collections. She still seeks his opinion of her work. “We all do,” she said, also referring to her brothers Jacopo, 43, who oversees accessories, and Ippolito, 39, who looks after international business.
As for her own sense of fashion, Veronica said there are as likely to be Gap jeans and Ts in her closet as separates from Yves Saint Laurent or Dries Van Noten. Before leaving for the airport, she planned to buy her husband a pair of Levi’s jeans at the store’s Union Square flagship. She had already picked up a pair of sneakers for her son at Niketown.