It neither blooms nor wilts, but like a real flower it needs the presence of water.
The desert rose is a flower born in the sand, in the multiform dunes, with its petals flat and stretched like a rose. It is an aggregate of crystals that only arises in very specific environmental and climatic conditions.
Symbolically, it represents pure and eternal love; it does not wither even though it needs water, which makes this stone formation alive and eternal.
The image of a stone flower that is born in totally hostile environmental conditions, such as the desert, represents the “overwhelming” force of life that can also draw patterns of pure harmony and beauty in the hard stone.
Desert rose
Rose Du Désert was born in Milan in 2019 with the FLOWER ARMY project, which arose from the need to combine functionality and elegance by taking its cue from femininity in a military context, giving relevance to the concept of sustainability through the use of military parachutes.
History
Women at army
An analysis of the difficult path of women’s acceptance in the Armed Forces revealed that it was only during the Second World War that they were employed in the auxiliary services by several countries, such as the United States, Great Britain and the USSR. In Italy, however, the Women’s Auxiliary Service was only created with the advent of the Italian Social Republic. A ‘voluntary female corps’ was established for the auxiliary services of the armed forces, whose members were called ‘auxiliaries’. The existence of this corps, however, was limited to wartime only, and it was later dissolved. With Delegated Act No. 380 of 20 October 1999, effective female military service on a voluntary basis was introduced, the regulations established the possibility of enlisting women. The first enlistments took place in 2000, making Italy the last NATO member country to allow women into the armed forces. Today, women’s jobs in the Armed Forces are in all respects equal to men’s, there are aeroplane and helicopter pilots, bersagliere, paratroopers, alpine women and women members of tank crews. This led to the idea of developing a project that would break standards and go unconventional.
When you walk around the central streets of Milan, you often come across army patrols monitoring and controlling the area, and when you come across a woman in military uniform, she is particularly striking, both for the role she plays and for the fascination with which she wears her uniform.
The vehicles used by the military to guard the city are characterised by stencils. The stencil is a stenographic mask which allows the same letters, shapes or symbols to be reproduced in series. A surface cut out of a special material is used to form the physical negative of the image to be created. By applying paint on the mask, the cut-out shape is imprinted on the surface behind the stencil, leaving the colour behind once the mask is removed so that the ‘positive’ image can be created on the object or surface to be decorated. The stencil, however, does not allow for the creation of isolated figures within the image, so “bridges” are used to connect the isolated figure to the rest of the mask. The stencil technique, being cheap and fast, is widely used for industrial and military purposes to identify and catalogue objects and vehicles. The main purpose of this particular technique is not so much decorative as utilitarian.
Military stencils
Made in Italy
Each piece is carefully designed and handmade in Italy. At the core of our brand are values such as craftsmanship, uniqueness and a focus on sustainability.
Newsletter
Be the first to hear about our new collection launches, special offers and other updates.