The Artisans

Living between India, Thailand, and Austria as a child, Maria Christina Hamel moved to Milan at the end of the 1970s where she studied Industrial Design at the Scuola Politecnica di Design. Starting off her career alongside designers such as Andries van Onck, Ugo La Pietra, and Ambrogio Rossari, she was Alessandro Mendini’s assistant in Vienna for over ten years. Her unique style captures influences of her multicultural background, handcrafted in historic traditional places. She also teaches and her works are part of the permanent collection of the Triennale di Milano.

Evoking a unique, immersive ambiance with her distinctive paintings merging real-life figures and fantastic characters, fluid shades, and clean geometries, contemporary artist Anna Caruso grew up in a culturally rich yet fragmented Milan during the 1980s. A graduate of Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bergamo in 2004, she now collaborates with Italian and International art galleries, including the Gilda Contemporary Art in Milan, the Anna Marra Contemporanea in Rome, and Thomas Masters Gallery in Chicago.

Alberto Alicata (b. 1983) is a Milan-based photographer and artist. Whether behind fashion shoot or in art project, his work is marked by his unique perspective on art and style, driven by a sensitivity to the personal essence of his subjects or the creative vision of the art. His works have appeared in such publications as Elle Italia, Vogue China, D-laRepubblica, Vanity Fair, Wired, theGuardian, Telegraph, L'Oeil De La Photographie, among others. Has won, in 2016, the Sony World Photography Awards and, in 2022, the Duane Michals MA-g Awards.

Born near Perugia in the rolling Umbrian hills in 1980, Matteo Peducci has been drawn to sculpture since childhood. This natural pull turned into a reality when he received the highest honors at the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, Tuscany. Following graduation, he flew to Thailand where he was hired as the royal sculptor for the King of Thailand for more than three years. His return to Italy marks the birth of Affiliati, conceived as a space where the only code word is freedom, an open box for always new artistic languages to converge and thrive.

“Clay lets me experience the beauty of natural rhythms”. Cristina Cavallari is an Italian contemporary ceramist with a small yet vibrant workshop where she embodies different roles. Her artistic philosophy is deeply rooted in the respect for the natural world, as inspiration but also as our home. With this in mind, she creates unique oeuvres tracing the slow passage of Nature’s time, taking care of her clay in the art that transforms a ductile raw material into a solid object.

A tribute to “Made in Italy”, Hemo creates interior design pieces with a versatile and sophisticated character, down to the smallest detail. Merging international inspirations with traditional roots, the brand is based in Brianza, the furniture-making capital of Italy, bringing with it a deep and familiar knowledge of raw materials as well as modern and innovative techniques.

Laesse is the artisan ceramic workshop of Stefania Vazzoler who, for over 10 years, has been modeling and painting by hand in her farmhouse in Oderzo, in the heart of the Treviso countryside. After her experience in Luigi Cillo's workshop, Stefania Vazzoler began to experiment with metals, glass, and enamels until her interest grew in working with ceramics, bringing her to create everyday objects; plates, cups, and bowls, with simple and clean shapes.

Brothers Francesco and Mario Ballarin founded the F&M Ballarin company in 1956 in Murano, dedicating their life to the creation of pieces made with the ancient techniques of glass processing. Today, the company is led by Angelo Ballarin who carries on the tradition, passion, and techniques handed down by his family: grinding, engraving, and glass blowing. Unique and elegant objects in perfect classic Murano style revisited with a contemporary tone, characterized by bold and contrasting colors.

Since 1980, Nalesso has been synonymous with the sartorial tradition at the service of furniture design. The typical artisan crafting experience and production skills make Nalesso a manufacturer of excellence in the furniture sector. For three generations, the company from Rubano, Padua, has been producing high-end and made-to-measure Made in Italy furniture and accessories to meet every need. The assortment of materials used is vast and includes leathers, fabrics, woods, marbles, metals and plastic materials worked by specialized craftsmen.

Lalabonbon was founded from the encounter between contemporary creativity and Italian tradition in the production of chairs and furnishings from the 1950s and 1960s. Having always loved Italian vintage design, the designer Cristina Zanni is the soul of Lalabonbon. Cristina reworks and combines finishes and materials, from velvet to tartan to the Prince of Wales, creating dynamic collections that intrigue and entice, adapting to any environment. All products are handmade in Italy by expert craftsmen.

Strato was founded in 1987 as an interior design company with Gianna Farina and Marco Gorini. In 1990, their passion for cooking led the company to specialize in the design of custom kitchens, which are today present and marketed all over the world. Using quality materials such as stone, marble, wood, stainless steel and copper, the company has a refined and contemporary design style and their continuous search for new technical solutions and finishes constitutes a new way of interpreting kitchen design.

TrackDesign was born from the passion of an entrepreneurial family from Puglia for industrial and Nordic style furniture. A 100% Made in Italy brand that creates original and contemporary furnishings, for interiors and exteriors, in which the absolute hero is the multiform steel par excellence, the corten. A future-oriented company with a team of engineers, architects and designers from all over Europe. A company committed to the constant search for new materials and finishes, which continues to recognize steel as a predominant material.

Prane Design is a brand specializing in the creation of modern style upholstered furniture, sofas, and beds, made with top quality materials. With headquarters in San Martino di Lupari in Padova, Prane Design is today a leader in the world of furniture and upholstery. A company with an artisan heart and an entrepreneurial spirit. For Prane Design, creating sofas means tailoring fabrics in order to weave bonds.

Vetrogiardini was founded via an encounter between Sandro Santoni, founder of the historic Santoni Vetri company and Sametec, and Luca Degara, an eclectic artist and designer famous for his engineering ability to create innovative products with strong emotional impact. Vetrogiardini designs and manufactures interior and exterior furnishings and accessories where glass is the absolute hero. Through the latest technologies in glass, new technical solutions come to life to give aesthetic shape and resistance to new revolutionary furnishings

Originally from Rome and subsequently relocating to Bolzano, Andrea De Chirico is a young designer who boasts a curriculum rich in studies and experiences throughout Europe. His projects are born from a desire to combine tradition and modernity: everyday objects are manufactured and transformed to become something completely new, to be used in a variety of contexts. His work has been exhibited at, among others, the London Design Museum, the Triennale Design Museum and the Z33 House for Contemporary Art.

Stella Fatucchi Art Porcelain is an artisan workshop in Arezzo that was born of the desire to restore a more than 50-year-old family tradition. Stella Fatucchi porcelain works are strictly Made in Italy and are embellished with precious decorative hand painting. Every piece is crafted entirely in the artisan workshop, from the creation of the design to the manual turning of precious metals such as gold, platinum or colors.

A young and dynamic company that boasts a solid thirty years of experience. Tremolada was born in Cabiate, Como, in the heart of Brianza, an area famous throughout the world for the production of furniture and furnishing accessories. Tremolada offers sofas, armchairs and poufs, plus chairs, tables and coffee tables. A company that combines Italian craftsmanship tradition, design and a production capacity capable of looking to the future with focused attention, to interpret all of the styles and needs of contemporary life.

Founded in Murano in 1927 by Nicolò Barbini, AAV Barbini is the oldest Murano company still operating today. A small creative studio specializing in glass engraving and the production of Venetian mirrors, that over time has been able to grow and reinterpret the family tradition in the field of glass. Even today, all of the processes, from design and cutting, through to grinding, engraving, silvering, and assembly are supervised in Murano by Vincenzo and Giovanni Barbini and their children.

From the talent and passion of Francesca Micale comes Ceramiche Micale, finely crafted and decorated by hand to respect the typical style of Sicilian baroque works: excellence in the Italian crafts sector. Elegance and high quality distinguish not only the ceramics but also party favors, jewels, and all other pieces created in Francesca Micale's studio. Unique objects, entirely handmade, simple and refined.

Fashion and design come together to form AltaModa. A new concept for environments as a total look, where every piece of furniture, from sofa to table, through to the carpet or a lamp, becomes a symbol of style. Stefania and Riccardo Volpi, founders of the brand, offer quality furnishings, made with refined materials, which combine the artisan furniture tradition and the tailoring approach of high fashion. Made in Italy collections that are modern and trendy and all customizable for both residential and contract use.