From Designing Products to Healing Systems

Chiara Orlandini spent years building things people were taught to crave. As a product designer and creative director for global fashion houses like Calvin Klein and Armani, her job was to understand why people fall in love with physical objects, how brands communicate value, and how thoughtful design influences human behavior. Yet somewhere along the way, she began asking a different question: what if those same design principles could be applied to living systems instead of consumer products?

In 2021, she left the corporate world to return to a way of living she had missed since childhood. Raised in the Italian countryside, she grew up around animals, homegrown food and a macrobiotic lifestyle - one that values seasonal eating and the connection between human and soil health.. "I’d been living a fast paced life full of stress. One day, I had enough and decided to heal myself through nature and completely change my lifestyle by leaving the corporate world and start a farm that would bring me back to nature. I wanted to reconnect with the simple, grounded way of life I experienced as a child. This has always felt deeply right to me." Chiara explains.

FInding the right farm took time. Chiara visited more than one hundred properties across southern Italy before arriving at a neglected three-hectare farm in Salento, Puglia. "The first time I drove through the entrance, I knew," she says. "I had seen so many places, but none gave me the feeling I had when I arrived on the land that would become Theriaké. There was an abundance of trees, wild greenery, and a vibrant energy."

Though there were higher financial bids for the land, the previous owner’s widow chose Chiara to take over, moved by her clear passion to care for the property. What began as a personal relocation quickly evolved into Theriaké - an experiment in redesigning what a small-scale regenerative farm could become.

Reviving a lost oasis amidst a regional crisis

Theriaké, meaning "antidote" in ancient Greek, sits in the heart of Salento, a region synonymous with one of Europe's worst agricultural disasters. Over the past decade, the bacterial disease Xylella fastidiosa has devastated millions of olive trees across Puglia, exposing the fragility of monoculture and leaving countless farms abandoned. For Chiara, however, the crisis revealed something different: possibility.

When she first arrived, the three-hectare property had stood largely unattended for nearly five years following the previous owner's death. Yet beneath the neglect, she saw extraordinary potential. More than 800 olive trees still stood alongside citrus orchards, mixed fruit trees, and two shaded groves of pine and palm. Nestled a few meters below the provincial road, the land formed a natural basin that retained water, fed by an ancient groundwater well reaching 130 meters deep.

Rather than imposing a new vision on the land, Chiara chose to work with the ecosystem that was already there. Her belief is simple: nature already knows how to regenerate when given the right conditions.

She introduced regenerative and organic practices such as compost, cover crops, mycelium inoculation, zeolite, and no-till cultivation. The land responded far more quickly than she had imagined: "Within six months, the soil turned darker and full of life. The first food garden, built as a spiral with raised beds and no tilling, exploded with growth in just three months. Earthworms returned, insects buzzed, the smell of fertile earth filled the air." Chiara recalls.

Alongside producing certified organic, high-polyphenol extra-virgin olive oil, the farm cultivates medicinal herbs, ancient fruit varieties and seasonal vegetables sold directly to local restaurants and markets. Workshops, communal dinners, landscape design consultancy and small-scale hosting create additional income streams, while circular practices ensure even olive prunings find a second life as fencing, garden structures and future furniture. Like the ecosystems she cultivates, Theriaké's resilience comes from diversity rather than dependence on a single crop or revenue stream.

A curated sanctuary for cross-pollination

Chiara describes Theriaké as a highly curated sanctuary where ecology, design, technology and ancestral wisdom intentionally cross-pollinate. It’s a philosophy rooted in observation rather than control. "Nature is giving me all the energy necessary," she says. "Everything that you give to nature comes back to you a hundred million times."

She believes that paying attention to biodiversity, soil life and the way food is grown allows plants to reach their fullest potential. "Everything grows three times faster, tastier, energetically and vibrationally beyond expectations," she explains. "This is magic. It's magic from the earth and from the weather. Energetically, it's key for the future."

That same relational philosophy shapes how she connects with people. Rather than operating in isolation, Chiara anchors the farm's success in active community collaboration: she partners with local nurseries to propagate ancient, non-GMO fruit varieties, welcomes university students and professors to study the land's progress, and collaborates with the municipality of Castrignano de’ Greci to develop a community food garden. By using local farmers' markets to connect directly with consumers and champion the value of living food, her vision thrives through the same continuous, meaningful connection that sustains the ecosystem she tends.

Prototyping a new rural reality

While Chiara originally starting Theriaké to support her own healing journey by reconnecting with nature, the farm has evolved into something much bigger. As Chiara explains,  “I want this farm to be proof that with a small piece of land you can live healthier, make money, and help the soil regenerate while respecting nature and animals. My hope is to share this place with everybody who needs it."

This is also why she joined Top 50 Farmers. “I think the key to success is building strong connections with people who know more than me, who have access to funding knowledge and business advisory. Top 50 Farmers provides an incredible like-minded network across Europe."

Looking ahead, Chiara envisions Theriaké evolving into a multidisciplinary sanctuary for rural regeneration. Her vision spans innovative infrastructure projects, including 3D-printed eco-homes constructed from local soil, a smart solar greenhouse for botanical propagation, and creative artist residencies designed to restore biodiversity. Piece by piece, she is designing a space that invites others to reconnect with nature, just as she once did.

Written by Top 50 Farmers and Migle Labeikyte