Truthfully, don’t we all countdown from the last day of the year before until Art Basel-ness finally happens and we break the spell of “in Miami you never dress-up”?

My first dispatch comes from a private viewing of “Bisazza wears Emilio Pucci”.

No introductions needed: names larger than life that in the collective imaginary rhyme with craftsmanship, tradition, refined quality, unique audacity, minutiae, design, sophistication and playful colors. Two Italian family- rooted brands coupled to showcase what they do best: luxury.
“The collaboration with a fashion maison is the first of a kind for Bisazza”, Mrs. Rossella Bisazza is telling me while we roam through the showroom, “and it was an encounter of the two brands and their artisans.” Ultimately five prints were selected from the archives signed by Marquis Pucci that could be “translated” into mosaics and still maintaining the highest standards of craftsmanship.

Did I have a favorite? After the “Bisazza tutorial” I have to confess I fell in love with handmade (opus tessellatum) mosaic from the 1968 Fontana print and dream of it in my apartment. Each individual irregular tile reflects the light in its own way, reproducing various tones of the same color in a psychedelic effect similar to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
The partnership originated from two women, Mrs. Rossella Bisazza and Mrs. Laudomia Pucci, friends in real life, both daughters of two visionaries and artfully skilled fathers who lead gracefully what I can call #theItalianway, that mix of culture, art, fashion, history, family, quality, sophistication, aristocratic stance known and recognized as the Italian style.
How can curvaceous and softly flowing pints meet millions of miniature glass tiles and still look born to be married to each other?

Ancient techniques, modern technologies and creativity produced the unprecedented collaboration that I had the pleasure of previewing in a one-on-one session with Mrs. Rossella Bisazza, daughter of Mr. Renato Bisazza the founder of the luxury brand that she now proudly represents as Ambassador and Director of Communications.
We talked about family heritage, luxury, products versus brands and passion as the drive that catapulted her family business to international recognition. We talked how niche family businesses are an Italian prerogative - we must add French, but imagine two Italians talking, so cut us some slack here!

“When you decide to commission and purchase an item from a luxury brand, you partake the history, philosophy, principles, values of the brand itself, whether it’s a yacht, a bag, I am a bag lover” adds Mrs. Bisazza “or a mosaic panel that needs 200 hours of labor and 6 artisans to come alive.” In other words you don’t acquire any of the above to show them off or manifest some sort of social belonging, but to own them with pride.
Do I need to address the sophistication of the vernissage where Mrs. Bisazza was accompanied by Peter Dundas? Mrs. Laudomia Pucci was greatly missed, however well done Made in Italy, round 1!

Francesca