SHOPPING IN ROME IN AN ARTISANAL HUB

Thanks to my PR friend Benedetta, I discovered Manifactory -Craftsmanship Coworking. It is more than a concept store, it is different things together : a new gallery of contemporary art, craftsmanship and design, fashion and ideas.  It was conceived by Cristiana Del Bello and Paolo Molaioni, with the aim of promoting and developing small and medium-sized craft companies and emerging designers, Italian and International. They change designers more or less every month, for example now we have bathing suits and tote bags for the beach.

The gallery is located in the ancient Jewish district: in  Via dei Funari 21A, one of the oldest areas of Rome where sometimes I go, especially to visit a fantastic home living store nearby called Limentani but this is another  story. 

MANIFACTORY is extremely interesting because generally clients asked me for brands they don't find in their countries. Here is exactly what they are looking for eventhough not everything there is up to date. Some orange coats did not convinced me but, on the other hands, some jewels were gorgeous.

To highlight its activity Manifactory organizes events every month in collaboration with the artisans and designers, attracting an Italian and International audience.

This great concept store presents mostly emerging designers. Not only shirts and bags but also jewels and bathing suits, hand-painted tshirts and why not  ? Ceramics.

At the moment, on the wall, you can admire the works of Olga Volha Piashko, whose three-dimensional portraits have already been presented in many galleries in Italy and abroad. Another artist to mention is Massimo Ripa, a goldsmith craftsman who creates paintings. I was happy to visit it and, in a moment where Italy needs to promote its artisans, a place like Manifactory  deserves to be known.

HERNO THE MAGIC WORLD OF RAIN COATS FROM FLORENCE TO ROME

If you want to find a rain coat, a duvet, a jacket that are masterminds your place is Herno. The boutique in Rome is in via Borgognona 4 f and 4 g, one of my favourite street for shopping. Herno has a big birthday, 70 years of history. The owner Claudio Marenzi made a speech in Florence before the sitted dinner with press an buyers. It was preceded by a fantastic installation in the Leopolda Station. "In 1948 my father transformed the rainy climate of the lake and the humidity of the river into an opportunity when he started producing raincoats. Production organised itself so that in 1980's and 90's it was almost easiier to decide to work for third parties, for french maisons. Since 2005 my strategy has relied of the awareness of being able to develop our brand in an  evolutionary, practical and tailoring way we handle each stage of the process".

A perfect combination of praticality, tradition  and innovation. The factory is in Lesa near Novara, on the Maggiore Lake. It is the quintessence of doing it the Italian way, intuition that uncovers an opportunity in the waters of a lake, river and rain. It is the revelation of how a raincoat has travelled down through decades.

Renewed, deconstructed, strenghtened, modified in technological, ecological, luxurious and urban variations enhanced in its fabrics and advanced in performance. In Florence, in the Leopolda station, the Water Echoes was an interactive installation designed by Studio Azzurro (we were sitted next to them at the dinner) that summarises and evokes the element best suited to the brand: obviously water.  It was an artistic immersion of images and sounds. Of course the installation called L.I.B.R.A.R.Y was like a spectacular box containing old and new models of jackets and raincoats but also objects, memories, old pictures, videos, furnishing and photos.  A brand that I admire and want to make my clients discover more and more.

FROM FLORENCE TO ROME SHOPPING IN EMILIO PUCCI BOUTIQUE

If you want to discover Emilio Pucci 's world in Rome, you can shop in the lovely boutique of the Spanish steps. The store is located in piazza di Spagna 87. It is always a glamourous experience reinforced by the amazing set they made in Florence in Palazzo Pucci last week during the Pitti fair. The exhibition was called "Bonaveri, a Fan of Pucci". Bonaveri is the most famous factory of mannequins worldwide. They make mannequins for almost all the fashion brands.

in Florence, Palazzo Pucci hosted the visual experience where Emilio Pucci's heritage and future is told through Bonaveri's artisanal excellence and creative dephts. The exhibit subverted the role of the mannequin through a series of installations. The courtyard became an installation with over-dimensional mannequins wrapped in most iconic print, called Vivara. On the second floor the mannequins were a vision of Pucci's colour library was displayed on a spectrum of custom vevelt Bonaveri mannequins.

The colour story continues with an interpretation of Pucci's number one quest-the freedom of movement-told in a humorous installation featuring two fans blowing into meters of archived black and white Pucci Prints. They showed it also on Rai on the news. The report was made by Franco Fatone.

Surrounded by historic frescoes, the ground floor of the Palazzo, which previously housed the Emilio Pucci embroidery ateliers reveals the inner workings of Bonaveri's artisanal excellence. The journey ends with a visit to Emilio Pucci's studio wher some personal memorabilia were displayed, leading to the fitting room where a group of baby mannequins were watching over the archived pieces.

The project is the result of a conversation between Emma Davidge, creative direction of Chameleon Visual and Laudomia Pucci ( daughter of Emilio) who wanted to create an ironica and humorous encounteer between the two Maisons by projecting their rich history and savoir fair through a contemporary and innovative vision. Andrea Bonaveri said " It was an opportunity to turn the light on the talent and capital of artisanal skills that nurture the Made in Italy. The artistic craftmanship that dwells in companies like Pucci and Bonaveri expresses itself in the ability of men and women to build beauty".

On the top of that there was also on display the book published by Skira on Bonaveri that I contributed to write with Gianluca Bauzano few years ago.