The Artisans

Giovanna Zighetti, ceramist and set designer, and Lucia Zamberletti, fashion consultant, are respectively aunt and niece. In their ceramic laboratory surrounded by the green hills around Varese, they create unique, handcrafted pieces that reflect their love of nature and celebrate femininity in all its variations.

Antonino Negri is the perfect mix of artist and artisan. His craftsmanship and his knowledge of techniques, materials, and colors allow him to create unique, poetic pieces reminiscent of the great sculptures of Arturo Marini. His ceramic works were featured in many prestigious exhibitions throughout in Italy.

l'Opificio is the embodiment of Italian tradition. Created by a Torinese family, this brand has designed and produced home décor and furnishings of outstanding quality and beauty since 1998. These garments and pillows anticipate the constant evolution of style in home décor in the same way as haute-couture does for fashion. l'Opificio's timeless glamour combines research, excellent craftsmanship, and the use of exclusive, luxury materials.

Located in the historical Palazzo Marigliano in the center of Naples, the bookbinding atelier Legatoria Artigiana has been working with paper since the 19th century. The workshop was founded by the Eliseo family, and is now run by Annalisa Mignogna and her collaborators, who continue to follow the ancient techniques of bookbinding. They are famous for their marbled paper, soft leathers, precious fabrics, and unique colors of their books. The books of Legatoria Artigiana are almost entirely handcrafted, which means each of their pieces features a unique one-off quality.

Pagliai is a Florentine family bottega now in its third generation. This historic silversmith workshop has in fact been open since the 1950s, when it was founded by Orlando Pagliai in the basement of a famous convent. Later, the atelier moved to the current location in the Oltrarno, where many other historical silversmiths work. The perfection of Pagliai's production has earned international recognition since the 1960s, when Tiffany & Co. commissioned Orlando Pagliai the production of different silver pieces, some of which are still reproduced and are on offer here.

Florentine wood carvers Fiorenzo Bartolozzi and Giuseppe Maioli met in 1938 and, soon after, from their friendship stemmed a fruitful artistic collaboration that made their Bottega d'Arte one of the leading wood carving and restoration workshops in the world. 70 years later the atelier remains internationally renowned, attracting the attention of the most discerned commissioners around the world. Prestigious examples include works for the Quirinal, the Italian President's palace in Rome, for the Arab Emirates Palaces and, most recently, for the Kremlin in Moscow.

Alessandro Iudici represents the ninth generation in a family of ceramists. His training was received among the centuries-old family kilns, while playing with clay, then sitting at the lathe to turn his first vessels. His work on the lathe is the foundation of his creativity, spurring him to transform the round vessels he created into anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, which continue to issue from the kilns whose fire is never extinguished.

Gloria Giannelli is well-known for the peculiar feminine touch she gives to her alabaster creations. She featured in several international magazines thanks to the elegance of her elaborated fretworks and trimmings. Throughout her prestigious career, Giannelli was awarded several times. She won the “Gremigni Award”, participated to the German prize for young artists "Jugend Gesteldet" and represented Tuscany in international expositions in China and Japan. Yet, she still keeps working in her workshop in Volterra, the famous ancient town perched among the Tuscan hills.

DMG Fiesole was established by brothers Mario and Ferdinando Modi in the 1960s in a small workshop in Fiesole, an ancient Etruscan-origin hamlet on the hills just outside Florence. In 1982, Luigi Giannelli took the company, propelling the brand to national and international recognition. Currently run by Mario Barbari and his son Damiano, generation after generation DMGF is a specialist in wrought iron processing, using a traditional forge and mallet to make every piece. DMGF's elegant furniture collections are designed by architect Pietro Porcinai to last a lifetime.

Livio De Simone created his company in the 50s and became the icon of the Capri style, with his artisan approach to production and his love for vivid colors. The new generation continues honoring this legacy, making one-of-a-kind ceramics and printing on fine fabric using the same system Livio invented to create home décor with (as he would say) “brushes of joy in every possible color.”

Alberto and Paolo Sala with Federico Ferrari created Edizioni Design in Milano out of a common passion for design and architecture. Their objects are minimalist, with shapes strongly linked to their functions, while the technology used is deliberately “lo-fi” and employs stones and metals with different and precious finishes. The result is something that they call “naked design”: sleek pieces that are also evocative and full of emotions.

Annalisa Valoroso’s unique ceramic objects are entirely hand-made. Each of them reveals the way it was crafted and shows a tension toward an esthetic perfection that is deliberately unresolved. Stanzanumerotre is the place where imperfection, rough surfaces, and the vibrancy of colors define pieces that are the embodiment of the border between craftsmanship and art.

Ghidini Bosco has been creating custom-made brass objects for more than 60 years, in a factory where each stage of production is meticulously developed. In 2016, the company started the new brand “Ghidini 1961” which collaborates with international designers to create innovative, timeless pieces in stainless steel and brass, chiseled with all the care for every detail that is distinctive of Ghidini’s fine craftsmanship.

OC’s artistic director Lapo Ciatti represents the third generation of the Ciatti family. He has being following the guidelines of Bruno Rainaldi, who retired in 2011 after creating various exquisite collections, among them Ptolomeo for which he had received the prestigious design award “Compasso d’oro” in 2004. Lapo Ciatti’s passion for design applied to everyday furniture makes every OC object a masterpiece meant to last forever.

Since 1965, in the heart of Rome, the artisans of D’Oro Collection print and bind books entirely by hand using the finest leather, paper, silk, and handcrafting bas-relief covers finished with gold leaf. Manufactured using ancient artisanal methods, these books become jewels made to preserve history, tradition, and excellence for future generations.

SO.VE.T was established at the end of the 80s, initially comprised of six glassmakers from Treviso, Italy. In 1990, the current owner bought the company and transformed it into one of the protagonists of the Made in Italy interior design movement. Famous for being a pioneer in the curvature of glass, SOVET keeps experimenting and researching to this day with glass, steel, aluminum, and wood, using artisanal knowledge and the most advanced technologies to reach the highest quality for its products.

At FRANCOMARIO the preservation of the tradition of woodworking and the values of Italian hand craftsmanship are most important. Love and care for the product are in the DNA of the Italian land and the DNA of the company. Production is entrusted to local craftsmen who, with dedication and knowledge of the material, have being transforming wood for generations. The brand is distinguished by their exquisite artisanship, attention to detail, and exceptional designs customizable based on the clients’ wishes.

Royal Trunk’s masters craft limited edition luggage, storage, and home décor customizable pieces inspired by Italy’s sophisticated lifestyle and the timeless allure of vintage traveling trunks. Each patch of leather used is handpicked and the wooden structure of each item can take up to five days to shape, sand, and lacquer. The artisans could work up to 250 hours to hand-craft one single piece, which then passes through a very strict series of quality tests to guarantee its perfection.

Italian architect Giovanna Sposato worked as a restorator for 15 years, mastering the ancient gilding technique of gold leaf. She launched the "Signora Luna" design project blending ancient craftsmanship with innovative design concepts. Sposato's handmade objects are decorated using the millenary gold-leaf gilding method using local materials and skilled craftspeople. Reflecting a seamless fusion of past and present, her work aims to stimulate collective awareness of our heritage while creating singular pieces that speak to our creative psyche.

Following a passion he had since his teenage years, Stefano Raffa became a photographer and collaborated with international magazines. When in 2006 he moved his studio into an old furnace in Milan, he was introduced to a stimulating environment of artists that encouraged him to explore another passion of his: manufacturing. Now he uses refined materials such as ebony and horn to create by hand exquisite, one-of-a-kind objects with a rigorous attention to detail and the absence of toxic products and solvents.