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CORAL ISSUE - n° 19 - 2019 - € 10
The Art of Sailing
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The three Foglizzo brothers (from left, Paolo, Marco and Piero) have transformed the artisanal enterprise founded by their grandfather and his brother almost a hundred years ago into what they describe as a creative enterprise
A TAC T I L E EXPERIENCE Leather can never be imitated, and is now enjoying a resurgence in popularity. One exceptional interpreter is Foglizzo, a combination of atelier and company that has made bespoke production its speciality by Samuela Urbini - ph. Marco Zamponi
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eather Leather is a prestigious material with a long tradition and undeniable allure, and new technology has enabled it to take on
the new millennium with renewed vitality. One of the main players in this new renaissance is Foglizzo, a Turin-based company operating in the world of private jets, superyachts, residential property and special projects like boutique hotels and luxury cars. Foglizzo can boast a solid artisanal heritage and has also developed a dynamic corporate structure through which it can interact with clients from all over the world. Now approaching its one hundredth anniversary, it is still run by the same family. “This is the third generation�, says Marco Foglizzo, the youngest of the three brothers who have been at the helm for the past 14 years or thereabouts. “My grandfather and his brother emigrated to France, but when they came back to
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Italy they decided to set up in the leather business, in 1921”. At the time it was an import company targeting small artisanal concerns, but now the flow has been reversed, as 80% of production goes to foreign clients. “When my brothers and I took control we transformed a craft company into what we call a creative enterprise”, says Marco. “The bespoke concept is crucial in Foglizzo, it influences every stage of production, as well as corporate areas, including the two main business lines, leather, which recalls our origins, and Domus, the line of design objects in leather for interiors”. The Italian custom leather that Foglizzo is known for throughout the world is based on a blend of personalisation and artistic production carried out in the atelier. “In this workshop we have restorers who decorate and modify the leathers using artistic, manual techniques, as was done in Renaissance times. We keep knowledge and methods alive while creating new ones, supported by contemporary
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Foglizzo’s two main business lines are Leather, the artistic working of the material, and Domus, design objects in leather for interiors. The firm’s target is the exclusive luxury market, the world of private jets, superyachts, residences, boutique hotels and luxury cars. In these pictures some examples
technical solutions”. In this way the company
more ethical, sustainable way of producing
can fulfil demand from a refined, exclusive
meat – and let’s hope we do – this would
client base that has the support of the
enable us to go back to using leather
best designers. “On a 110-metre yacht, for
only when it’s really necessary, taking
example, the designer decided to panel
advantage of its unique technical features
the corridors with nautical charts from
like toughness and breathability. The price
the 1600s, so we bought some original
will rise and we will reposition in a much
17th-century maps from a famous Parisian
more upmarket segment, almost a return
collector. Our designers digitalised them
to our grandparents’ day. But as leather
and reproduced them on vegetable-tanned
is a recovered material – cattle breeding
leather. In the end, our atelier enhanced
originated as a means of producing meat, not
them with manual artistic work and applied
leather – the best thing we can do is increase
gold leaf details”.
the life cycle of a material whose production
The company is also sensitive to the
process has already had an impact on the
ethical aspects of production. “Leather is
environment, making it something unique
by definition an ecological material”, says
and precious.”
Marco Foglizzo. “If one day we discover a
www.foglizzo.com 143