Wanny Di Filippo is the founder of Il Bisonte. A determined, eclectic, out-of-the-box dreamer, he founded his own leather goods workshop when a company that considered his designs too innovative, rejected them: "If I can design them - he said to himself - I can also create them".
Wanny Di Filippo and his unmistakable style are an anthem celebrating joy as well as a tribute to freedom: free to choose your own style and wear it proudly; free to play with shapes and colors; free to keeping dressing as only he has been able to for decades, smiling detachedly at passing fashions and trends that grow old.
“My clothes are my fur,” he explains. And in fact they fit him perfectly, like a gift from nature. Because of them, Wanny is and continues to be an ambassador for the most authentic Made in Italy products: each piece of his clothing tells stories of creativity grafted to an infinite love for quality materials and the craftsmanship of those who transform them into something unique.
A unique style
The ingredients making up Wanny’s joyfully anarchic style are a pinwheel of colors dancing over classic materials: suede, cotton, linen, Casentino cloth, velvet, straw and felt.
In his large nineteenth-century wooden wardrobes there are four examples of each garment. The seasonal change of clothing is done in a flash: felt hat for winter / straw hat for summer (he has over 100); fustian jackets or Casentino wool in winter / linen jackets in summer; ankle boots in winter / boat shoes from May onwards. There are no sweaters. The few ties he has are hand-cut and made by him.
WANNY THE SUPERHERO
It’s 2010. With the support of his friend Felice Limosani, Wanny stars in two hilarious cartoons where he very comfortably dons superhero costumes.
WANNY USB
Wanny himself had the idea for a limited edition USB flash drive bearing his image and likeness, and featuring a cowhide cord, Il Bisonte's material of choice.
WANNY MANGA
In 2013, thanks to manga artist Keiko Ichiguchi, Wanny is immortalized as a comicbook character. As the protagonist of a graphic-novel set in Florence, he takes us on a tour of his beloved places.
An amazing transformer
When the right opportunity comes up, though, Wanny is also an impressive transformer. For his company’s advertising campaigns, he was portrayed as a captain, a pirate and an ancient Roman. With typical playful irony, he was transformed into a Playmobil figurine and a USB flash drive both of which displayed his likeness and were very close resemblances. He has also been found – as a main character – between the pages of a Japanese comic book and in the frames of two cartoons where he comfortably dons super-hero togs. And when he roots for his volleyball team, he never forgets to adapt his look to fit the image of unwavering fan.
