Sex and the City Put This Jewelry Brand on the Map and Now, It’s Celebrating 20 Successful Years in Business
Alina sits down with one of the founders of Faraone Mennella to talk about the brand's humble beginnings and the chemistry between him and his late partner that started it all
If you’re a devotee of Cho & Tell (and I hope you are!), you probably have figured out by now that I love Italy.
More specifically, I love Capri, Italy.
Well, you’re about to meet the two men responsible for introducing me to this magical place.
L to R, Roberto Faraone Mennella, Alina Cho, Amedeo Scognamiglio, July 2013, Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
Amedeo Scognamiglio and Roberto Faraone Mennella at La Fontelina, Capri, Italy, Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
Amedeo Scognamiglio and his late partner, Roberto Faraone Mennella — founders of Faraone Mennella, the jewelry brand — made famous by Sex and the City.
Source: The New York Times
This year, Faraone Mennella is celebrating 20 years in business.
Earlier this month, Amedeo threw a spectacular dinner at Capri’s most iconic restaurant, Da Paolino.
Faraone Mennella 20th Anniversary Dinner at Da Paolino, Capri, Italy, Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
On that night, he unveiled a short video that included a touching tribute to his late partner, Roberto, who died of cancer in 2020.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
Amedeo is a man who loves with his whole heart… which is why it was so moving to sit down with him as he remembered Roberto and looked back on 20 remarkable years in business.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
ALINA CHO: What was the original idea for Faraone Mennella? Because you and Roberto were lawyers by trade.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Yeah, by education. But neither of us wanted to be a lawyer. We both knew we had this creative side that we were not nurturing. And on my side, it was easy. I was already involved in my father's cameo business. I was carving cameos since I was 14 years old.
Amedeo Scognamiglio and Spike Lee wearing matching Amedeo "Cameo" rings, Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
ALINA CHO: Jewelry was in your blood.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: It was in my blood. Roberto didn't have a definite path. And I helped him find that path by literally escaping from Italy and law school and forcing him to attend design school in New York. He got into Parsons [School of Design] and that was the first big dream because finally he was studying something that he loved.
ALINA CHO: I didn't realize that he went to Parsons.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: You know, there's one thing people don't know about Roberto, even his family didn’t know. Roberto was highly dyslexic, so obviously, he was struggling with…
ALINA CHO: … reading.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: And law school was impossible. It’s not that he wasn't good, it was just impossible. At Parsons, he felt rejuvenated because he realized that he was actually successful with design.
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
ALINA CHO: Wow, I didn't realize that.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: And then, when he graduated from Parsons in 2000, he went into a panic. He said, “What am I going to do now? I don't want to work for a big company.” He said, “Please, please, please let's do something. I don't want to go back [to Italy]. You don't want to work for your dad all your life.” And that's when he invited me to Starbucks on 8th [Avenue] and 52nd [Street] to talk about business, to start this business.
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
ALINA CHO: What did you think?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: It was funny. It was like a proposal, very romantic. It was his way of saying, “Let's live together.”
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
ALINA CHO: So, you started in 2002.
Source: Faraone Mennella
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: We actually incorporated in 2001, and then in 2002, we launched the collection.
HOW SEX AND THE CITY CHANGED EVERYTHING
ALINA CHO: Tell me about that Sex and the City moment. You met [the show’s legendary stylist] Patricia Field. How did that happen?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Nothing is accidental. [Very early on], before we approached any stores, before we even had a real business, I got a phone call from Sarah Jessica Parker.
ALINA CHO: I didn’t know that.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Because she received, from her husband, a cameo [that was made by my family]. She wanted to see more because she’s obsessed with cameos.
Source: Shutterstock
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: So, she found the number and she called. Little did she know that somebody was going pick up the phone at 11:30 at night.
ALINA CHO: And it was you?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Yes. I try to explain to people that what happened to me that night was like somebody starting a line of anything and getting a phone call from Kim Kardashian herself.
ALINA CHO: Exactly.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: So, we stayed on the phone for 15 minutes. Then, she gave me the number to call her back and she wanted me to go to Silvercup Studios [where interior shots of Sex and the City were filmed] and show the collection. But I lost the number because I didn’t have a pen and thought I would remember it.
ALINA CHO: Oh, Ame… how could you?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Exactly, that's what Roberto said. And because she was the Kim Kardashian of the time, there was no way to track her down.
ALINA CHO: Well, this was before Instagram.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: It was before Instagram, before social media. It was impossible. But about a month later, we were looking [to maybe open a retail store, and] somebody offered us this little place on 63rd Street between Park and [Lexington Avenues]. And it was very cheap, $1200 a month, but when you don't have money, $1200 a month is a lot of money.
ALINA CHO: Right.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: So, one night we said, "Let's go see it for the last time and tomorrow morning, we'll call [and say] it's not for us." [So, we get there], and the whole block was filled with vans and trucks. And parked in front of that door, there was the truck and it said, "Sex and the City wardrobe."
ALINA CHO: Oh my God!
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Roberto said, "That's exactly the woman you have to meet, go knock on the door." So, I knocked on the door and here comes Patricia Field.
L to R, Roberto Faraone Mennella, Patricia Field, Amedeo Scognamiglio at Bergdorf Goodman, New York, NY, Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
And she says, "Who are you?" And I said, "Oh, you know, Sarah Jessica…” I knew I wasn't making sense. And she said, "Oh, you're the cameo guy, what happened to you?"
ALINA CHO: She knew.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: And she said, "We've been waiting for you for a month. What happened? You were supposed to call back.”
ALINA CHO: Oh my God!
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: So, I introduced Roberto. And then she said, what do you do? He said, "I'm starting a new line." She's like, "Show it to me." And he ran back home, 20 blocks, and came back with [our jewelry].
ALINA CHO: You have to seize the moment.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: You have to ride the wave. And when he came back, Kim Cattrall came in to change and they said, "Oh my God, this is perfect for Samantha. Can we keep it all?"
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
We had nothing else to do.
Source: The New York Times
So, we left the collection there and that was it.
REMEMBERING ROBERTO
ALINA CHO: Let’s talk about Roberto.
Roberto Faraone Mennella, Source: l'Orafo Italiano Online
Because I think that so many people in the fashion world and beyond were taken by this, whether they knew you or not.
Roberto Faraone Mennella and Alina Cho at Ristorante Lo Scoglio, July 8, 2018, Source: Alina Cho
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: Yeah.
ALINA CHO: I remember in the fall of 2019, the two of you were meant to go to Singapore. But then Roberto was not feeling well. So, he said, “You go on your own.” Right?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: “And we will meet in London in two weeks.”
ALINA CHO: So, what happened next?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: What happened was that I came back two days later. I got a phone call. I was in Hong Kong, and he said, “Ame, I’ve got cancer.” He never cried. I cried all night. I felt so powerless. So, I scrambled the next day to catch a flight to Singapore, to fly back to Italy, and two days later, I talked to his doctor, and he told me [it was] lymphoma. Two weeks later, he decided to be treated in Milan.
ALINA CHO: I remember.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: I went to pick him up around May 15th [of 2020]. We moved into this apartment to stay close to the hospital. And then a few days later, they told me that they didn't want him back. Because he was terminal.
ALINA CHO: Oh my God.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: And to me, it was the hardest moment. I had to lie to him. I had to pack up and say, "Oh, let's go back [to Naples]. It's summer. We'll stay in your house.”
ALINA CHO: Oh, wow.
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: So, we drove back. And that final 10-hour drive was the most beautiful trip.
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
At one point, he took my hand while I was driving and he started to kiss my hand and he said, "Ame, thank you for everything you did in my life. You've been the only person who took care of me and loved me. I will never stop thanking you. I will never stop loving you for everything that you did."
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
ALINA CHO: Do you think he knew?
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: I think he knew.
ALINA CHO: How do you want people to remember Roberto?
Source: Amedeo Scognamiglio
AMEDEO SCOGNAMIGLIO: I want him to be remembered as an incredible talent, and a kind person. He was the most elegant person I've ever met, and I will ever meet.