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Arlene Gibbs was on-set in Toronto, working on a movie in production, when she realized she needed a life change. The two months she spent on location was the longest period she had been away from Los Angeles since she began working there 10 years previously.
“Everything in L.A. was about ‘The Business’,” she says. “Everyone I interacted with at work…at the cafes…even at the gym was involved in the movie industry.”
Her time in Toronto was an epiphany. “It hit me that I was without a personal life, working long hours, and being almost completely absorbed by the job,” the former screenwriter, now in her 40s says. “I realized that my movie characters were having lives, but I wasn’t.”
Her father told her she was existing, not living. She knew it wasn’t a healthy future.
But all of that has changed. Today, she lives in Rome, Italy with a fulfilling new business, and a lifestyle she simply didn’t have back home.
“In L.A. I had to make an appointment three weeks in advance to get together with friends, and then often they’d cancel at the last minute. I was lonely despite having lots of friends.”
In Rome she can grab an unscheduled coffee with a friend and finds that there are always people ready and able to meet for a drink or dinner. “My Italian friends will often decide that day to have a dinner party or go for aperitivi. If you can come great, if not, they will see you soon. Nobody is scheduling dinners three weeks out. That’s bananas.”
Arlene first visited the Italian capital in 2005 and says she felt at home immediately. “I thought maybe I’d move there for retirement,” she says. The move, however, came sooner than she expected.
The decision to ditch Hollywood was spurred on when the production company she worked for closed. Arlene planned her move and found an apartment in the historic center of Rome. She sold or donated many of her belongings, shipped the rest, and arrived in Rome on April 1, 2008 with a load of luggage and a handful of contacts.
“On my first day I moved into my apartment, got a codice fiscale (tax ID number), and started exploring the city.”
For income in the beginning, Arlene brought along some writing projects to sustain her while she settled in her new life. She co-wrote a script for a feature film, Jumping The Broom, which was a commercial success.
But surprisingly, a lucrative screenplay didn’t change things for Arlene in Hollywood circles. “I was repeatedly told that my ‘sabbatical in Rome’ must end and that I needed to return to Los Angeles if I wanted to continue a screenwriting career.”
She thought long and hard about her decision, in the end opting to stay in Italy where she was building a life, not just a career. So she returned to something she loved long ago but didn’t pursue—interior design.
Arlene had a brief stint in design right after college, at the Bloomingdale’s Executive Buyers Trainee Program working in the Home Furnishings division. She says friends constantly asked her advice about decorating and furnishings, so the passion for interior design wasn’t new for her.
To retrain, she interned with an Italian designer who also does furniture—despite her lack of Italian language skills. She was introduced by a mutual friend, and Arlene initially met with the designer for advice on going back to school for design. She was offered an internship and worked in the designer’s showroom.
It was a steep learning curve for Arlene. She thought she spoke decent Italian, but quickly discovered she had a long way to go. “I spoke ‘expat Italian,’” she says, “enough to get by.”
The designer was fluent in three languages, but every time Arlene had to answer the phone she was in a panic. She immediately started Italian lessons again, taking private classes, studying solo, and doing a language exchange with a friend to improve her Italian quickly.
The internship experience served to further fuel her choice, though, and she then attended an intense workshop with Kathryn M. Ireland, a famous British textile and interior designer based in Los Angeles. Arlene also attended the Salone di Mobili, the definitive international design expo in Milan, which provided more inspiration.
Her first client was a friend who had fired her previous decorator and needed to finish her apartment re-do. From that first job, Arlene started to build her credibility and portfolio, quickly landing a job collaborating with a noted architect, Domenico Minchilli, on a villa in Tuscany.
“In design, when you are first building your business, the majority of your clients are going to be friends and family,” says Arlene. “It doesn’t matter if you graduated with perfect grades from Parsons or if you are self-taught. Working with someone on their home or business décor is a very intimate thing. Few people would feel comfortable with hiring a complete stranger with no portfolio.
“Once you have a portfolio, people can see your work. Most designers find new clients by referral, even the ones who are well-established. It’s a collaboration. It’s important that the client and the designer are in sync.”
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Arlene Gibbs has a new, inspiring source of income in Italy and a much better social life than she ever had in L.A. © Gina Gomez
Arlene spends a lot of time in Tuscany, Umbria, and Rome, working with upholsterers and blacksmiths, visiting craftsmen, and sourcing fabrics. “The craftsmanship is so incredible here,” she says. “Custom furnishings that will last a lifetime are really appreciated and available. I love discovering these artists’ workshops and working with them. There is an artistry and history behind each object.”
Her design work, she says, is almost like being on a film set, putting every detail into place to create just the right atmosphere. Arlene discovered that the narratives she told in film could also be told in design. Many of the skills she already had were put to use in her new venture.
“Decorating involves the visual arts and—like making a film—it’s a creative and collaborative effort,” she points out. “I have to work with the owners, the architects, and various builders and craftsmen. But interiors are homes, not just ‘sets’ for show. Each piece, each fabric has meaning and significance or says something about the building or the owner.”
The business aspect had to be dealt with, too. She opened a Partita IVA (business tax account) and hired a commercialista (business accountant) to keep everything on an official business level. Business and tax laws are complex and incomprehensible even to most Italians.
“There are a lot of complications in setting up a business in Italy, but my commercialista is good and is very patient in explaining tax laws to me,” says Arlene.
Arlene’s parents hail from St. Martin in the Caribbean and their citizenship enabled her to get a French passport. Because it’s from a European Union country, she was allowed to work in Italy. In general, American and Canadian expats can live and work in Italy after obtaining a visa and some other necessary paperwork (see sidebar).
Arlene says her design philosophy of “stylish simplicity” is influenced by her Caribbean heritage, her career in film, and the daily inspiration around her in Italy. Her portfolio, contacts, and client base have been expanding steadily. “I have Italian clients as well as expat clients. I’m glad that I’m able to not just live in Italy, but also work in Italy.”
Her current projects include designing an urban apartment in Rome, a villa in Tuscany, and a beach house in the Caribbean. Arlene has also recently taken on commercial design. In the future, she plans to design a line of bedding and candles.
Interior design was clearly the right career choice for Arlene, who bursts with excitement over her new work. Her new career is still a job, of course. She works some weekends and has to travel.
“I’m not on a perpetual vacation as many of my U.S. friends think,” she says. “This is a difficult industry to break into, especially in Italy. There are four times the number of architects in Rome than in the city of London, which is much larger.
But I’m sourcing materials and furnishings, learning about the traditional crafts, and seeing some great places in the process.”
She says that it is a job, but at the end of the day she can pop down to the piazza and find a friend to enjoy a Prosecco and unwind.
“Creatively, it is inspiring, but personally it has been an amazing change. I’m more integrated now. I love what I do, and I finally got a life!”
The Essentials of Doing Business in Italy
A jumble of complex laws that change regularly and seemingly indiscriminately can make doing business in Italy challenging, especially for freelancers and entrepreneurs. If you plan to work independently, known as lavoro autonomo, you’ll need a commercialista and a Partita IVA.
Commercialista
The commercialista is your best friend in business, so choose one wisely. More than a mere tax accountant, he is also a business consultant who will help you legally set up a business, pay taxes, and offer expert advice on business and tax law. A commercialista will answer questions about work, commerce, and fiscal issues, and will keep on top of the constantly changing tax laws and business regulations. A good commercialista is crucial if you’re going to work in Italy.
Partita IVA
IVA is the Italian abbreviation for what we translate as “value added tax” or VAT. The Partita IVA is your business tax number, necessary for doing business and billing clients. It’s issued through the Agenzia delle Entrate, or the Italian Revenue Agency. Your commercialista can register your Partita IVA for you.
What You Need to Know about Italian Visas
• Short-Term Visits
North American citizens do not need a visa for short-term stays in Italy. You can visit and stay 90 days in a 180-day period without a visa. That means if you stay for 90 consecutive days, you must leave and remain outside Italy—and other Schengen countries—for 90 days before you can return.
• Long-Term Visa
If you want to live in Italy for a longer period, you’ll need to obtain a visa from the Italian Consulate in your home country before arriving in Italy. It can take a few months to compile the necessary paperwork and receive approval, so plan ahead. Different visas are available depending on your circumstances, such as student visa, freelance work permit, tourist visa, or elective residence visa. Check with the Italian Consulate in your area regarding restrictions, regulations, and required paperwork for each type of visa.
• Permit to Stay
The visa allows you to enter Italy for a period longer than 90 days, but to stay you’ll need to obtain a permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) after you arrive. You’ll need to take all the original paperwork you provided to the consulate and declare your presence at the provincial immigration office and start the procedure for your permesso di soggiorno. The actual forms for the permesso di soggiorno are obtained at and then submitted to the post office.
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