DAEMA × BLACK: the light born from transformation

In a world that often asks women to conform to predefined roles, shapes, and expectations, the search for one’s authentic beauty becomes a revolutionary act.
It is precisely from this aesthetic, emotional, and social urgency that the encounter between DAEMA and BLACK. The Voice of Darkness is born. A profound dialogue that speaks of transformation, identity, and rebirth, where art, fashion, and personal experience become tools of conscious expression.

BLACK: a journey from darkness to rebirth

The photographic exhibition BLACK. The Voice of Darkness, conceived by Maryam Nezaratizadeh and brought to life through the photographs of Gianluca Burini, hosted at the ADI Design Museum Compasso d’Oro in Milan, narrates the passage from darkness to light.

An intimate journey that every woman undertakes when she chooses to look inward, to cross the shadow, and to reconnect with her truest essence. A path deeply familiar to DAEMA: the brand was founded with the intention of accompanying women in discovering and affirming their authentic beauty, celebrating what emerges when one has the courage to remain faithful to oneself – in private life, professional life, and also through sport, experienced as a space of personal expression.

DAEMA in the BLACK exhibition: not just a sponsor, but a partner in vision

It is within this profound dialogue between feminine identity, inner freedom, and the search for one’s own beauty that DAEMA chooses to act not merely as a sponsor, but as a partner in the BLACK project.

With its installation ‘From the Dress to Rebirth’, DAEMA’s voice resonates within the exhibition’s narrative, offering a tangible reflection on transformation as a generative resource.

The Petalo dress: a symbol of rebirth

To interpret the theme of the exhibition, DAEMA brings into the installation an iconic piece of its vision: the Petalo dress, designed for tennis, padel, and golf.
A dress that, also through its design, becomes a living metaphor for transformation.

The Petalo dress originates as an essential design project, in which line, material, and function enter into dialogue to allow each woman to express her femininity with grace and elegance even during sports practice. It carries the idea that beauty arises from the search for one’s own style, voice, and authenticity, without compromise.

When the dress completes its cycle in the hands of a woman, it is not discarded: it is regenerated.

Through an artisanal process shaped by care, memory, and respect, the Petalo dress is transformed into a unique accessory, created from preloved fabrics and enriched by the emotions of those who wore it.
Each piece thus becomes a witness to a personal story.

Within the installation dedicated to the BLACK exhibition, this regenerated dress, in its new design form, represents the point of contact between darkness and light, between who we once were and who we can become. It is the symbol of a woman who passes through darkness – pressure, expectations, the fear of not being enough – and emerges more aware, more centered, more faithful to her authentic beauty.

Identity, sustainability, individuality: DAEMA’s common thread

The choice of the Petalo dress as an installation work is not accidental: it encapsulates the values upon which DAEMA builds its vision.

1. Individuality
Every woman is a universe. The Petalo dress, regenerated into a one-of-a-kind piece, preserves the unique imprint of the woman who lived it and interpreted it through her own sensitivity.

2. Sustainability as an act of love
The transformation from dress to accessory is a gesture that unites ecology and emotional memory: what holds value is not discarded, but guided toward a new life.

3. Empowerment of authentic beauty
DAEMA speaks to women who live consciously – in work, in everyday life, and in sport – and who wish to feel free to express their beauty without adhering to imposed models.

4. Transformation as feminine strength
The Petalo dress does not represent a return to what it was, but the evolution of a design idea that embraces change and openness to new possibilities. In this way, it becomes a mirror of the protagonist of the BLACK exhibition, who is reborn after passing through her own darkness.

DAEMA in the BLACK exhibition: a silent, powerful, necessary dialogue

Within the exhibition, the Petalo dress appears as a poetic presence, almost a whisper. It does not invade, it does not impose: it accompanies.

It invites reflection on what remains with us even when we believe we have moved beyond it. It suggests that every experience of darkness holds seeds of light, ready to transform into new awareness. DAEMA’s installation dialogues with the photographs of the exhibition – those in which the protagonist crosses the seduction and the wound of black – offering a counterpoint of rebirth. Where the image narrates conflict, the regenerated dress narrates possibility.

Words by Daniela Manzoni, CEO of DAEMA

Daniela Manzoni, CEO of DAEMA, shares her perspective on the project and the importance of female collaboration:

“As a woman and an entrepreneur, I am deeply happy to take part in this project. I met Maryam in a networking context among entrepreneurs and professionals, and I immediately recognized in her the archetype of the DAEMA woman: authentic, determined, and conscious. Bringing together our journeys, energies, and visions to narrate the theme of feminine rebirth is for me a source of great pride and motivation.”