My empirical life

During my holidays I made a trip to Rovinj in the northern part of Croatia to visit my dear friends Mark Vassallo and his partner Mauro Massarotto at their beautiful summer residence. I have known Marky since ’98 when we both lived in NYC and he was a freelance stylist for major advertising jobs, working for celebrities and the likes of Vanity Fair magazine. When he moved back to Australia he relaunched Oyster magazine, than had stints as a fashion/style director at Australian Vogue,Harper’s Bazaar and Grazia , in between which he managed to squeeze in founding the legendary Mark magazine and Petit Mal comic books with Shane Sakkeus and Jonathan Zawada. His talents also expand to working as a creative director for fashion shows such as Dion Lee, Josh Goot, Romance Was Born, Ksubi ,Lover and Kanye West , his keen eye and impeccable taste having been responsible for some spectacular show experiences. His partner Mauro Massarotto is an Italian / Croatian creative director and designer whose list of clients include Ellesse Heritage, Startas,Ghetaldus vintage,Lacoste,Studiostore and Zooo. It was his idea to relaunch vintage Yugoslavian sunglass shapes in lots of vibrant colours and combinations for his hip company Sheriff & Cherry.  If you’ve checked out my blog before, you will know I just love these sunglasses – they are just the perfect pop of wickedly kooky colour and retro cool , all the while staying high on quality- all styles are handmade in Croatia. Marky and Mauro have  joined forces in the company and the sunnies now come in 4 styles and 36 awesome colour combinations that have just been picked up by retailers such as Net-a-Porter, Barneys, Colette and Liberty. Watch this space also for a collaboration with Modular records on  limited edition Presets sunglasses.

With a blend of two such delightfully creative people, Marky’s knack for details and Mauro’s affinity for colour I was curious to delve into their Adriatic utopia and explore the lovely town of Rovinj . This is what I found…