THE FLAIR STRAP ABITO IN MERLETTO WITH FLOUNCE SKIRT

Dawn kindles slowly above the ridge, filtering through the holm-oak branches and tracing threads of light across the white lace, while the fabric clings to the bodice like a second skin lined by buttons. Thin straps follow the curve of the collarbones and slip toward the back, and the scent of damp grass rises from the slope, wrapping each breath and making it deeper and calmer.

The air invites ever faster steps, so the skirt stirs into small eddies, touches the mastic shrubs and then springs back lightly. Hands brush the gnarled trunks of olive trees and keep an argent leaf, cool with dew, while the air grows warmer and mingles with the salt carried by sea currents, filling the lungs with a silent energy that drives beyond every thought.

On a rocky ledge the fabric opens in soft folds that yield to the wind, and the gaze meets the horizon where the Tyrrhenian dissolves into an undefined blue. The body pauses yet the heart still vibrates, accompanied by the constant rustle of the flounce that falls and rises, while morning light turns the sea into a liquid mirror, able to reflect the quiet gathered along the line between sky and water.