The Artisans

Agustina Bottoni is an Argentinean artist from Buenos Aires who lives and works in Milan, Italy. Working alongside local Italian artisans, she dedicates her research to material authenticity, form, and color to fashion spectacular glassware, sculptures, and lighting fixtures of stunning contemporary flair. Bottoni has exhibited her works in various art and designs institutions and designs evocative pieces for international companies and galleries.

Emilie Lisi moves between ceramics, art, design and embroidery with attention to the concreteness of the object and, at the same time, to the relational value beyond form. In this compositional process we find raw and refined lands, pure and variegated in a mixture that leads to the alchemical. A deep half-breed that the artist obsessively molds and shapes terracotta inside and out, alternating refined craftsmanship and a restless intuition for the invisible core of objects. The compositions grow in an atmosphere of continuous experimentation; the fragility of the material suggests directions, shape, architecture and color. Emilie's ceramics, in their elegance and formal power, maintain mysterious sides, reverse embroidery, dark hollows revealing themselves to be fragile buildings of the intimate.

Artist Chiara Della Santina captured the values of mindfulness and art in her pottery atelier ClaireLune. Her collections are inspired by the hustle-and-bustle of cosmopolitan cities and the quiet-paced life of the Tuscan countryside, showcasing minimalist and sincere designs where tradition and innovation harmoniously coexist. She selects top-rate stoneware clay and other materials to guarantee the highest quality and durability of her pieces.

Committed to craftsmanship, slow design, and upcycling, Stromboli was founded in 2016 in Mexico City by French artist and designer Clémence Seilles. Tireless research into innovative waste materials and a network of artisans and suppliers across France, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Italy earned the brand international recognition, with Napapijri, Safilo, Mama Shelter, and RSVP Paris among its clientele. Named after the Sicilian volcanic island, the brand only produces limited-stock collections. The brand relocated its studio headquarters to Milan in 2021.

Wanda Fiscina’s hand-crafted ceramic sculptures have organic silhouettes combined with influences from her native Salerno and the area of Mount Vesuvius. Corals and other marine creatures, as well as the explosive power of magma inspire the themes of her powerful work. Wanda’s knowledge of craft and history makes her sculptures timeless pieces of art. Her work has been recognized internationally in the world of contemporary ceramics.

Founded in 1798 in Meda (Monza and Brianza) by four brothers, Cugini Lanzani specializes in luxe furniture and chairs handcrafted following the traditional techniques of French ebony carpenters. Boasting over 220 years of history reflected in the 2500 original models of all produced works, the workshop-museum includes English, American, and Italian works and was recognized as a historic heritage site for the city of Brianza. The workshop offers a selection of over 700 different classic oeuvres that are entirely customizable to taste with first-rate fabrics and finishes.

Giovanni Botticelli is a product designer and teacher at the IED Institute, where he graduated in 2009 after studying Product Design. His time at ENSA Limoges and Abate Zanetti Murano refined his design aesthetic, emerging from a meticulous exploration of the delicate and calibrated relationship between light, color, and shape. His first solo exhibition in 2016, EQUILIBRISTA MIRRORS at Swing Design Gallery was followed by a second exhibition, HABITAT, at the same gallery three years later. Based in Rome, his works are exhibited in national and international fairs and cities.

William Faulkner's quote "The past is never dead. It's not even past" brilliantly describes the modernist inspiration behind the brand Icone Design. With over 35-years of experience, the brand brought modernist designs to a wider, increasingly aware commercial public. Looking to the past as a way to the future is a vision also embodied in the brand's contemporary collections, which are distinguished by a balance between art and applied arts that is reflected in every minute detail.

Born and raised in Umbria, Martina Lignini, a landscape architect and garden designer, specialized in Ceramic Product Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Immediately after graduation, she embarked on her personal artistic adventure, combining her passion for botany with art and design. Years of research and experimentation with different materials and techniques reveal magnificent pieces inspired by flora and landscapes.

Davide Dessolis lives and works in Mamoiada, a small town in the Sardinian countryside. A master artisan beyond his years, he crafts wooden masks once used in local folklore to scare away evil spirits believed to be responsible for natural disasters. These masks, once worn by Mamuthones - shepherds who gathered in Mamoiada for these anti-evil rituals - are crafted at his workshop, Lumera, with the same patience and attention to detail to preserve a century-old Sardinian tradition.

Otto e Mezzo is the sustainable brand of Marmi Azzolini, an Apulian company that has been a decades-long leader in the marble and stone sectors. Distinguished by a design language that distills luxury and sustainability in equal measure, their collections are handcrafted using precious marbles sourced from oft disused quarries, raw treasures cut and finished into pieces that will elevate any table. The ideal measurement set by the brand is 8.5 cm - hence its name - that will transform any marble scrap to reveal its hidden luxury.

Maria Vittoria Paggini creates limited-edition collections of decor design objects and furniture inspired by contemporary essentialism merged with sublime traditional craftsmanship. Outlined by expressive yet minimalist shapes, her pieces are visually dynamic and texturally soothing. Paggini is driven by a holistic design narrative: “I believe in a living house, one that expresses emotions, one in which colors follow the rhythm of the heart”.

Part of the Pollini Group, Pollini Home seeks to turn the commonplace use of tiles on its head, shifting from using them as mere wall or floor coverings to producing remarkable furniture pieces and home decor accessories. Siblings Marco, Luca, and Emanuela took stock of the brand's rich ceramic heritage - active since the early '90s in the ceramic district of Sassuolo - and modern high-precision technologies to create handmade collections of porcelain stoneware designs of unrivaled quality, class, and beauty.

DygoDesign is renowned internationally for its daring research and experimental approach to materials and design. The fusion of art, technology, and sustainability is captured in innovative projects comprising numbered and certified pieces made using modern techniques and materials, such as three-dimensional printing. In creating tailored sculptural objects from exceptionally sustainable materials, DygoDesign combines exclusivity with elegance.

The creative vision founder and director Elisabetta Buonaiuto sowed the seeds for “The Art and Design Group” to become an internationally-acclaimed brand celebrated for its one-off, functional pieces reflecting the essence of the artist or artisan behind them. Established in 2019, the original designs capture the imagination of their creators and transform that abstract language into artful collections of art designed exclusively for The Art and Design Group to elevate private or commercial spaces.

Renaissance man Federico Pepe is today based in Milan, where, in 2006, he founded Le Dictateur, an editorial project and exhibition space that has served as a collaboration hub with artists Maurizio Cattelan, Patricia Urquiola, and many others. Previously Art Director for international communication agency DLVBBDO, he merges his graphic design, art, and video-making skills in eclectic collections crafted exclusively by hand. The New York MOMA and the London Tate Modern are just two of the prestigious museums that have hosted his artworks.

Trained in set design, Chiara Berta immersed herself in the world of ceramics by chance while working as a decorator in a small workshop. In 1999, she established her own ceramic workshop to continue exploring the medium and art form. Focusing on shapes and silhouettes, she aims at enhancing the singular, poetic character of the irregularities of a handmade piece. She uses different kinds of earthenware to create spectacular objets d’art inspired by great masters.

Creating singular and fascinating rugs brimming with contemporary flair, Caterina Frongia experiments with ancient weaving techniques from the Sardinian crafting tradition to bring her pieces to life. All rugs are entirely handwoven and designed in a modern key that lends them a timeless allure. Each piece is distinguished by exceptional geometric symbols that tell a story.

Classic, modern, and ergonomic define Alessio Salotti’s singular sofas. Deftly handcrafted with minute precision and attention to detail by expert Italian artisans, the upholsteries are handsewn using top-quality materials and the cushions are padded with polyurethane foam to ensure long-lasting comfort. Based in Italy and the United States, Salotti collaborates with first-rate showrooms and architecture firms on permanent and exclusive collections.

Italian artist Clara Holt creates magnificent, one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces that feature her original drawings. Clara's work focuses on storytelling, in the ongoing impulse to tell and convey stories, characters and experiences, often inspired by mythology, folk traditions, legends, real or fantastic tales. Each character is transformed into an entirely personal representation, and each work is peppered with hints of her own experience. Clara has exhibited her pieces in Italy and abroad and she currently lives in Milan.