Albino D'Amato was born in 1974, in Rome, to a Neapolitan father and a French-Italian mother. Since he was a child he was fascinated by cars and fashion, a passion which started with drawing cartoons, Japanese mangas and browsing in his mother’s and grandmother’s wardrobes. Amongst the young designer’s passions is also tennis, D'Amato in fact joined the national Italian under fourteen and sixteen tennis team.
At the age of 13 he was living in the same Capitolino district as Valentino Garavani and upon his return to school, he often left his drawings in the mailbox of the couturier, who advised him to gain experience and attend a fashion school. He first studied architecture in Rome, and then industrial design in Turin, for a year, during which he worked at the Fiat style centre. At 20 he went to live in Paris, where he enrolled at the Ecole de la Chambre Syndicale de la Couture.
Due to his varied training and his natural talent for design, the stylist was hired by famous fashion houses from Emmanuel Ungaro to Guy Laroche, Lolita Lempicka, Emilio Pucci and Louis Vuitton.
Sought after by the most famous brands, the stylist returned to Italy, to Milan, to work first with Versace and then Dolce & Gabbana and in the meantime he worked on his own line. In 2004, together with the interior designer Gianfranco Fenizia, Albino founded the brand that bears his name.
In 2005 he won first prize at the "Who's On Next?" contest organised by Vogue and the Chamber of Fashion, increasing the visibility of the eponymous label. In 2007 he became a consultant of the Trussardi brand 1st line menswear and womenswear collections. Later cooperation extended to other prestigious brands such as Karl Lagerfeld and Les Copains.
He is currently the design director of the Maison Vionnet and one of the leading consultants of the Max Mara Group.
His studio, which recently moved to a new and prestigious location in central Milan, also provides advice for some luxury brands in the Chinese market. His low-key fashion limits the profusion of details to the essential minimum and his radical style pays homage to the past without nostalgia, being inspired by the design and couture of the 60s, and certain atmospheres of the eighties.
Mysticism, romanticism and modernity combine in his clothes where the taste for tailoring and an unmistakable couture imprint prevails. Architectural design and femininity are essential elements of his style as well as the ability to mix colours in a creative but very sophisticated way.
To all this is added nearly twenty years of experience in the industry, and the ability to adapt to completely varied work situations and an international attitude.