Making Things Matter: Inside OLDER Studio
There is a particular kind of design that earns its place through proportion, material and the evidence of having been made well.
That idea sits at the heart of OLDER Studio, the Milan-based practice founded by Letizia Caramia and Morten Thuesen. From their fifth-floor Casa-Bottega, the pair develop uniforms with a strong focus on function, material and longevity, shaped by their experience across fashion, design and architecture.
It is also a philosophy we share at Fredericia. OLDER designs the uniforms worn by our service staff, and our collaboration is grounded in a common belief in good design: that the things we use every day should be thoughtfully conceived, well-made and built to last.
We visited OLDER in Milan to talk about where that belief comes from, how it shapes their work and why making something properly still matters.
Who are you, and what do you make together?
OLDER: We are the founders of OLDER Studio: Letizia Caramia and Morten Thuesen. We founded OLDER, a Danish-Italian design company specialised in sustainable uniforms, operating from Milan. We weave all our fabrics in Italy, in collaboration with one of Europe’s leading suppliers of sustainable workwear fabrics, PFAS-free, whilst we manufacture all our uniforms in Europe, with all pieces compostably packed upon delivery.
Today, clients include many of the world’s leading architecture, design and gastronomy institutions, whilst the studio has been completely independently run since 2013. We started because we wanted to challenge the industrial standard and status quo within the world of uniforms, from both a design and production perspective, and insert values and moral dignity into it.
This vision for “the uniform” found resonance inside the walls of major Italian and international institutions, and OLDER pieces are today part of the permanent collection at the MAXXI Museum of Architecture & Design in Rome, the ADI Design Museum and Hong Kong Design Institute.
In addition to this, we have done talks on the topic of design and uniforms as an architectural extension in spaces including Triennale Milano, Salone del Mobile and Politecnico di Milano.
What’s the story behind the name OLDER, and where did the idea of creating elevated workwear come from?
OLDER: The name of the studio was a reaction to the fast pace of the fashion industry. In Paris, it was always said, “nobody wants to be old, everybody wants to be young.” For us, as designers, the eternally young, eternally new sounded outdated and not very progressive. ‘OLDER’ was a statement we thought was harmonic, poetic and ultimately beautiful.
In the early beginning, with a graphic designer friend of ours, we designed the logo in various fonts, including the sans serif Futura – it was named internally ‘OLDER FUTURA’, which by default gave that time perspective, future/past quality to the name, which we fell in love with. To us, OLDER is another way of saying FUTURE, and time is so essential in a creative design process.
We have always been fascinated by the fact that the future can look old and the past modern: Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings are a good example of truly futuristic architecture and a time when people believed in modernity. And of course, a uniform must be a product that ages well, something that can withstand 300 washes without losing its shape. So many things improve with time and galvanise with age: design, architecture, even wine.
The idea of designing and producing uniforms came about during a New Year’s Eve in Copenhagen with friends who all worked either in the catering industry or in architecture firms. They were talking about a kitchen with a zero-kilometre concept, about the perfect wood for the table, but what they were wearing as uniforms did not at all reflect these sourcing and production achievements. Here a light turned on within both of us – the uniform garment could, if you wish to, carry those messages even more efficiently than the objects that inhabit the space where they operate.
We were convinced that workwear had to meet the same ecological, qualitative and aesthetic principles as every other detail, and that’s how it all began.
You move between fashion, furniture, interiors and objects. Do you think about them as different disciplines, or are they all part of the same creative language?
OLDER: To us, fashion, design and architecture were always connected. In a way, the city of Milan made us a multidisciplinary studio, by having a stamp for it and a tradition for thinking within this triangle and melting it into one thing.
The most direct connection between the three forms is explored in an ongoing design investigation and research project within OLDER called ‘Furniform’ (a portmanteau of ‘furniture’ and ‘uniform’), that works by combining clothing, furniture and architecture.
Based on the idea that dwellings used to be made of fabric or animal skin, we created convertible clothing, like jackets that become chairs, trousers that transform into a parasol and an apron that becomes a table. We debuted with this project in 2023 during Design Week in Milan, and the project has since been exhibited at ADI Design Museum, Hong Kong Design Centre and the Italian Pavilion in Shanghai. We will present the latest version of this project in Buenos Aires in November this year.
To us, there is something extremely fascinating about analysing everything that inhabits a physical space: from cutlery to doors, from floors to buildings, to uniforms. The gesamtkunstwerk, if you want. We have always considered uniforms as a form of industrial design as they operate under industrial standards, from washing to wearing, which is why it was completely natural for us to merge these disciplines into a single creative language through the Furniform project.
Danish and Italian craftsmanship both have strong identities. Where do those traditions meet in your work – and where do they pull in different directions?
OLDER: Before moving to Milan, we lived in Paris for nine years, and much of our early inspiration came from studying French mid-century design, looking at figures such as Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret, Jean Prouvé, Jean Royère and Charlotte Perriand.
In Milan, on the other hand, our attraction and admiration for the Italian approach, from rational to radical within design and architecture, came from researching names from the modern and post-modern era such as Aldo Rossi, BBPR, Carlo Mollino, Gae Aulenti, Cini Boeri and Umberto Riva. Especially Carlo, Afra and Tobia Scarpa, who have served as major inspirations to us and the world-building of OLDER Studio in a way.
With that said, the Scandinavian and naturally Danish modern scene, which Morten grew up with and within, plays a major role too in our lives. It’s quite helpful that this design approach is more sober, toned down and reduced. It contrasts with the Italian one, which is super interesting to us and reflects our different backgrounds as a duo, too.
Letizia, who studied at Polimoda in Florence, and Morten at London College of Fashion, actually used to sit at a desk at the architecture school in Copenhagen preparing his portfolio for applying in London, so not as an enrolled student, but through kind friends who had lent him a table to work from. From here, the early seeds were maybe planted. Whilst all the students around him were making models for buildings and interiors, he was drawing clothes in order to gain access to the university.
In that sense, the different sectors were always blurred or intertwined for us from the beginning.
Your references seem to come from hospitality, architecture, art and food as much as fashion. Where do you find yourself looking for inspiration?
OLDER: Yes, these references always existed, coming from two very strong cultures and countries regarding modern design history. We think these inspirations have a tendency to find us.
But food too. We are naturally blessed by the idea that visiting clients often means visiting incredibly beautiful restaurants, dining with them and seeing how the uniforms operate within the space. It’s all quite organic.
In addition to this, we buy lots of books, vintage clothes, historical objects and vinyl records: our library is quite extensive, particularly when it comes to design, fashion and architecture, with sources from all over the world.
Music also plays a key role: it sets the atmosphere in the studio and is a constant companion throughout the day. We are never set to one genre; we have a sampling culture in the studio, so our playlist jumps from Mozart to Memphis rap, from techno to Italian protest folk songs. We like it in that way.
“ This world needs less stuff. Therefore, the things you put out there need to matter from the get-go. ”
OLDER
When you’re designing something, what comes first: a function, a material, or an emotion?
OLDER: The “need” comes first, we would say – it depends a lot on what we are working on. Our uniforms operate in so many different venues and areas where a uniformed identity is needed: brands, hotels, restaurants, museums or stores, so we are given a lot of information about the technical needs they need to solve for the end user.
We consider the uniforms kind of like a technology or a software, in the sense that they have the ability to upgrade should the users’ needs change – they can organically develop with their user.
To us, the brand tag is a symbol of a set of rules and values. From the design process, how it was conceived, but especially how it has been produced.
The OLDER Studio supply chain actually serves as an inspiration to us, in the sense that because it’s an ambitious alternative to how industrial uniforms on a global scale are produced, sold and distributed, so we constantly try to improve it and upgrade it.
When you’re working together, do you naturally take on different roles, or do those roles constantly shift?
OLDER: Having a shared vision was certainly a starting point, and our outlook on things is still aligned today; we share the same values and complement each other. We both have the same dream of what we would like OLDER Studio to become and the methodology to make that a reality.
When we work, where one of our individual skills ends in a process, the other steps in and takes over quite naturally. We take this work very seriously, but from the inception of OLDER we promised ourselves we would have fun, and so far we’re managing that very well.
What’s more, we’ve never let work spill over into our personal lives: we stick to strict, fixed working hours and don’t discuss work or its issues outside those hours, without exception. I think this work-life balance approach is essential for us, to keep a healthy distance from both, depending on what time it is.
Is there a detail in something you’ve made that almost nobody notices, but that you’re particularly proud of?
OLDER: When it comes to the product we produce, we are firm believers that this world needs less stuff. Therefore, the things you put out there need to matter from the get-go. If you see our mint logo somewhere in a restaurant, hotel or a museum, it means somebody gave care to a detail others might have ignored.
