Provo • Tommaso Cardullo has been designing clothes long before he was featured on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”

In fact, the first item of clothing that the Italian-born, Utah-based fashion designer ever made was for his mother.

“My mother was one of those that liked to dress impeccably,” Cardullo said. Her shoes always matched her purse and she frequently took him and his brother shopping.

Cardullo was 14 when he dreamed up the matching tailleur jacket and skirt for his mother.

“I’m not the best tailor, but I have a good eye for style, and so I designed it. I chose the fabric, I took it to this seamstress,” he recalled, proudly.

It was the first time that Cardullo put his skill for fashion — for bringing people to life through custom clothing — to work.

“I am a firm believer that talents, gifts are given purposely. It’s not a random delivery,” he said. “I am very fortunate to have used it through the years, and now it is not only a hobby, but it’s a profession, something [that] provides a lot of gratification.”

Decades have passed since that first design and Cardullo now runs an atelier from his Provo home where he creates high-end custom clothing for clients.

Cardullo has worked in places like Florida and New York and has designed for companies like Nordstrom, Target and Costco.

But every fitting starts with one question Cardullo asks his clients: “What do you love about yourself?”

From Italy to Utah

Cardullo is from Sicily. As a teenager, he spent years doodling in school. He has vivid memories of his philosophy teacher rapping his desk, begging him to pay attention.

But he credits the artistic Italian region for nurturing his interests.

“You feel embraced on a daily basis. It could be an old cathedral, a little quaint cobblestone village,” Cardullo said. “You just feel that sense of art, the sense of style, gusto for life.”

When Cardullo was 19, he met missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the train. At 23, he served his own mission in London, where he learned English. Two years later, he came to the U.S. with $300 to study fashion at Brigham Young University.

“It was the greatest decision. It improved my English. I learned the basic foundation,” Cardullo said.

These days, the ornate wooden desk from the 1600s at his atelier — his workshop — is covered in sketches of beautiful, elegant wedding dresses for clients.

Cardullo’s atelier is as welcoming as he is — full of comfy chairs, historic maps, a blue rug and historic decorations he’s collected over the years. There are racks covered with ties. There are books of pattern and cloth swatches from Italy everywhere.

Now, he primarily does two things: create and connect. The creation happens naturally when people come to him for a piece of clothing to be crafted. But it’s the connection part that is his favorite — especially when a piece of clothing is created just because.

“That’s where I really connect with people,” Cardullo said. “I see myself more than a designer. I see myself as a mechanic. I have the pleasure [and] privilege to see people as Formula 1 cars. I see people like Ferrari, Lamborghini.”

As a designer, he does a little “tune-up” or “calibration” here and there. But his favorite part of the process is what he calls “the light-switch experience” — when a customer lights up because of his clothing.

After he asks clients what they love about themselves, Cardullo crafts clothing that highlights this attribute and the client’s strongest features. It’s even more special if it’s for a wedding and he can ask other people that question about the person who will wear his design.

“It becomes such a beautiful experience with everybody,” he said. “Then we create something that brings evidence to the following. Once they realize their strength, it’s game-changing.”

They become, he said, luminous.

Timeless clothing

Cardullo’s philosophy with clothing can be summed up in two words: carpe vitam.

“It means seize life, embrace life at any stage, doesn’t matter if you are 50 or 60,” Cardullo said.

He also believes in timeless clothing, crafting items that can be worn a year, two, even five down the road. He made his wife’s wedding dress, for example, and both of his daughters wore it for their temple weddings years later.

Cardullo makes all types of clothing items, not just suits and dresses for special events. He also sources directly from Italy, supporting small family businesses and artisans.

Eleven out of 12 months of the year, he travels around Italy looking for vendors. His ties are made in Florence. Shoes in Marche. Shirts in Sicily. Wedding dress material comes from Puglia and Umbria for the suits.

“Different regions have different expertise,” he said.

Even though Cardullo spends a majority of the year traveling around Italy looking for vendors, he still has time to meet with clients and deliver designs in Utah.

Bringing a touch of Italy to Utah is one of his favorite aspects of his business. A dress artisan he works with can replicate any sketch he draws. Every suit he creates has buttons on the cuffs. One of them is always gold.

“This button is made by hand by a gentleman from Rome, a jeweler,” Cardullo said, showing the button on one of the suits from a rack in his atelier. “The meaning of this button is beauty from ashes.”

That jeweler is named Fabrizio, and was taken under the wing of a jeweler when he was homeless and turned his life around, Cardullo explained.

“This is a human connection. Every piece [of] mine has this little trade to show that we are all connected,” he said.

Cardullo has had a brush with fame.

After designing “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” cast member Zac Affleck’s wedding suit, Cardullo was approached by the reality television star to make a cameo on the show. In Season 4, Cardullo outfits the men of DadTok before they go to “Vanderpump Villa.”

But fame is not what brings Cardullo the most joy.

That comes in other ways. One example: When he made a dress for a woman who was getting married at 51. The woman told Cardullo that she went to many different wedding dress stores, but nothing was working.

“She said, ‘Everything looks like I’m 50. I didn’t feel me, didn’t feel like it was in my dress,’” Cardullo said. “But when we designed her dress, it was like the light switch. She said it was worth it to wait. … [It was] the most beautiful thing I’ve done.”

It’s these touches that Cardullo hopes can give people a sense of the craft and detail he and the artisans put into the clothing. His goal, always, is to make people see that the beauty is within them. He’s just highlighting it.

“We need to learn to love ourselves. It is extremely important knowing who we are,” Cardullo said. “That’s why I love what I do, because I am one of this trumpet that say, ‘Hey, you’re beautiful.’”