The Artisans

Specialized in natural stones and marbles, Ballarini was established in 1979, but the Crystal Stone® cave in Montebello has been with the Ballarini family since 1800. In 1965, the family began extracting Crystal Stone® alabaster for decorative purposes. Until this day, the entire process, from the excavation to the final finish is performed under the Ballarini family alongside their artisans. Every piece of furnishing is made entirely by hand in Italy using artisanal techniques.

CuoreCarpenito is a ceramic studio based in Reggio Emilia founded in 2012 by Claudia Carpenito, a trained art restorer with twenty years of experience. Her knowledge of both ancient and modern art, combined with an exploration of shapes, traditional techniques, and materials, give life to collections inspired by the Mediterranean landscape with an irresistible pop twist. CuoreCarpenito was selected for the 2020 Ceramic Art London exhibition.

In 1904, a family of carpenters started a small workshop. Later in the 1950s, the know-how allowed them to become a full-fledged member of the furniture sector. Today, Fratelli Dutto is led by the fourth generation, creating both furnishings and accessories. While innovating and creating new fields within the sector, Fratelli Dutto still respects their identity and the artistic tension of creation while transforming and restoring their most precious material: wood.

Pet Therapy is a new design brand by Atelier Biagetti, home to giant, docile, lunar cats that become sculptural lamps and seats shaded by soft palm trees with crazy coconuts that double as lights. Each object is a functional sculpture conceived to activate the idea of a home without boundaries, where interior blurs into exterior and playfulness is a serious business that we just can’t do without.

From a small bottega producing artistic furnishings, Annibale Colombo, founded in 1812 by Filippo Colombo, is now an international reference point for quality woodworking. Going by its current name since 1990, the company has skillfully combined industrial structures and avant-garde techniques with artisanal tradition. Based in Novedrate outside of Como, the brand’s main focus remains woodworking, with both classic and contemporary styles in over sixty types of wood, inlaying and carving techniques.

Founded by potter Filippo Vento and entrepreneur Francesco Alparone, Verus encapsulates the historic ceramic patrimony of Caltagirone with innovative ideas on lustrous accents and juxtapositions of matte and glossy. The Virus team toys with details and eclectic styles, blending elements in a never-before-seen elegance, concentrating on the use of special glazes and both mono and two-toned themes. Verus is particularly renowned for its Moor’s head sculptures, popular in Italy and around the world.

Established in 2009, True can trace its roots back to TMA Treviso, Monselice, Asiago: a family company created in 1983 and specialized in office furniture. Alessandro, Lorenzo, and Francesco Maniero, the second generation, are the faces behind True, led by the internationally renowned architect Aldo Parisotto, acting as art director since 2014. Collaborating with important designers and creative talents, True furnishings, and accessories, all made in Italy, bring together design and function.

Established in 1982, Friuli-based FerroLuce Handmade Light is specialized in handmade ceramic lamps and lighting accessories. With an all-Italian production process, every product offers harmonious shapes and fresh colorways. Ferroluce prides itself on its attention to materials and production, as well as their ability to offer personalizations, be it shape, size decoration, and color, for every product to satisfy the most specific tastes.

Florence-born Filippo Carandini is an interior designer, based in Milan, specialized in the overall visual concept of residential and commercial projects. In 2021 he launched a furniture collection, which represents a natural evolution of his professional experiences and passion, entirely produced in Italy in collaboration with local artisans. Essential volumes, vibrant colors and tactile materials are the key elements of the pieces which are designed to interact with the surroundings creating a charming asymmetric accent.

Based in Cava De’ Tirreni outside of Salerno, Arcea Ceramiche has been reinterpreting Vietri-style ceramics since 1976. Respecting traditional techniques but with total creative freedom, Arcea’s master potters express their ideas on both tile and a wide variety of decorative accessories. The heart of the company lies in its workshop for research and experimentation, where past and present, culture and tradition all come together to create the future.

Kubel Design, a brand of handmade rugs, was established in the heart of Abruzzo by Maria. With a passion for Bauhaus style and suprematism, Maria wanted to blend these movements into special furnishings made with sustainable technologies and materials. Kubel Design rugs are made by hand with high-quality cotton cords without the use of dyes, water, or chemical substances. A modern approach to home design: artisanal tradition, contemporary art, and sustainable production.

Producers of accessories for the kitchen and table as well as high design furnishings, all made entirely in Italy with the best materials with meticulous quality controls. Mepra was established in 1947, but the Prandelli family’s entrepreneurial history dates back to the early twentieth century with a metalworking company. In the 1950s, the family converted to steel cutlery production and eventually dabbling with golden decorations and colorful enamels before experimenting with plastic, glass, wood and ceramic.

Donghi, based in Meda, operates in the design sector, creating furniture and interior decorations that blend tradition and innovation. With roots in Lombard craftsmanship dating back to 1830, the company transforms artisanal heritage into modern aesthetics. Combining expertise with experimentation, Donghi preserves traditional techniques while exploring new shapes and materials, offering unique designs that reflect a legacy of excellence in contemporary furniture and refined finishes.

Filadelfio Todaro is an Italian ceramic artist. After obtaining his diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo, he has been exhibiting successfully since the late 1980s. He uses the technical and aesthetic canons of the Sicilian ceramic tradition as a solid foundation for his art. He focuses on the shape of the piece of art, trying to create new forms through the use of traditional and modern techniques. The color is used as a way to emphasize the main features of the shape.

Italia Veloce was established in Parma in 2009, but its history dates back to 1909 and an artisanal bicycle and steel frame workshop. A century later, a new brand was born, boasting high artistic and artisanal value with refined designs and exclusive, handmade parts, vintage pieces, leathers and fabrics, for the ultimate personalization experience. A collection of six bicycles, including one electric model. All bicycles are numbered with hand-incised tags.

Festina Lente is a Latin motto that means Make haste slowly. With this motto in mind, in 2017 Marta founded the brand of eco-luxury home fragrances Festina Lente. She creates each fragrance and makes each product by hand in small batches in her atelier in Milan, using vegan, cruelty-free ingredients with precious, phthalate-free scents and sustainable, locally made packaging. The logo is based on a series of gold coins minted for emperor Augustus in ancient Rome with the image of the prudent crab and the ambitious butterfly. This reflects in the brand's mantra: have a purpose but savor every moment. Each scent tells a story, conjuring up another place, another time, another season.

Founded in 1923 by the Nason brothers, NasonMoretti is one of the oldest glass factories in Murano. Stemware, glasses and designer objects, all made by hand, signed and numbered, their work has become indisputable symbols of the Venetian art of tableware. Now led by the third generation, the company collaborates with prestigious fashion, jewelry and luxury brands, and has displayed at international expositions including the Triennale di Milano, il Salone del Mobile, the MoMA in New York and the Corning Museum of Glass.

Artist Elisabetta Milan grew up in her grandfather Pietro’s workshop where she immersed herself in art before training in Udine and Venice as an art historian and restorer. Her paintings blend techniques linked to the artisanal patrimony of restoration and abstract art, while including stones, minerals, sands and shells. Since 2008, Milan has collaborated with important art galleries in the USA as well as with companies in the nautical sector, including Fincantieri and Carnival. In 2020 she founded the PlasticOcene project to protect the sea through art.

Inspired by stone and driven by design, Marmobon's decades of experience in the sector is based in the famous Stone District of Verona, specializes in the design and processing of marble, natural stones and conglomerate projects. The choice of materials, manufacturing experience, technological innovation and collaboration with architects and designers, allows the brand to bring quality products to the national and international market that are capable of responding to the modern needs of the sector.

Artist, designer and creative director, Antonio Aricò was born in 1983 in Reggio Calabria. In 2011 he opened his own studio in Milan and created the first Back Home collection, presented at Milan Design Week 2012. The result of an encounter between craftsmanship and industrial design, his works are exhibited all over the world. Aricò collaborates with major brands, such as Barilla, Seletti, Alessi, Bitossi and EditaMateria, creating iconic products. He also followed the artistic direction of Bialetti in 2017.