Vellutini Lingerie: A Love Letter to the Mediterranean
Ellen Lewis
By ESTELLE PULESTON
I love it when a new lingerie brand enters the market with a distinctly original point of view, and Vellutini certainly has one. Launched in summer 2025, the brand was conceived by Jeanne Davies, a Corsican native who wanted to weave together fine-quality lingerie with coral carving, a practice that has been tied to the trade and deeper culture of Corsica for centuries.
There, coral is gifted at birth or at important moments in life, carved by hand into symbols such as a closed fist, and worn by people of all ages as a protective talisman, a good luck charm, or simply a style statement that links to their Corsican heritage. Davies’ own great grandmothers, like many others on the island, never left the house without its protection.
The coral that grows in the waters around Corsica has an intensely-red color. It’s also known as Oxblood coral, and was said by the ancient Greeks to have been created by Medusa’s blood flowing into the sea after she was slain by Perseus . Davies carefully selects the very darkest red pieces to become part of the Vellutini collection.
The lingerie is an all-round tribute to Mediterranean culture and craftsmanship. The coral is sustainably harvested in local waters and then carved in Torre del Greco, Italy. The brand’s silk is sourced from the Lake Como area, and its mesh is also made in Italy. Manufacturing takes place in the country as well, at an atelier that specializes in low quantity, high-quality production.
For a new brand already steeped in so much heritage, even the name, taken from a family surname, was traditionally associated with those involved in the textile trade. It’s unsurprising that some of the Vellutini designs feel vintage-inspired. The Amalia range includes delicate silk bralettes, camisoles and button-close tap pants, while the Ghjulia range also feels a little retro with its sweet ruffled edges. The silk-edged Milena bra set on the other hand is a nod to modern sheer tulle and embroidery looks. The embroidery in this case is shaped, of course, like branching coral.
All Vellutini lingerie pays homage to the marine animal in some way, whether it’s through an embroidered representation or an actual piece of carved coral sewn on as part decoration, part amulet. (The whole idea for Vellutini as a lingerie brand came about because Davies wanted to create a new way to wear the local coral talismans close to the body.)
Overall, it’s a brand aesthetic that, Davies says, “bridges past and present… standing at the crossroads of island tradition and intimate, contemporary luxury.”
Vellutini Lingerie is available in sizes XS-XL, with bras intended to fit across US sizes 32A to 36DD/E. It is priced from 65€ to 230€, approx. $75 to $265.
