Bonaveri Magazine

What began as a simple professional
acquaintance, with Bonaveri supplying
mannequins for the brands that Davidge
designed the store windows for, little by little,
took on shape. With a constant characteristic:
every time Emma worked on a particularly
complex project conjuring up imaginary forms,
structures, positions and innovative stage
effects, there was nothing to do but turn to
Bonaveri to check the workability of those forms
and body compositions.
This is how in a playful sense of the word,
making the impossible possible came to be.
Those impossible visions that Emma designed
to tell the public about a fashion brand’s DNA
and projects, could only become reality in
Bonaveri’s sculpture atelier, his sewing shop
and in his workmanship.
This is why, if on one side there was a visionary
art director who was pushing her imagination
beyond customary frameworks, on the other
there was Andrea, an entrepreneur held in
thrall by challenges, impassioned by everything
capable of lowering the bar on the limit between
the ordinary and extraordinary.
How did you meet each other?
Emma Davidge: We had done a few projects for
Louis Vuitton where we needed some acrobat
mannequins; we worked on two window
campaigns, a Circus window and EPI Magic.
That was the first time I came to the factory. At
that time I was working as a consultant for LV
windows. When I was given the project of the
LV exhibition at the Louvre, I needed a bespoke
mannequin… And I don’t remember why, but I
chose articulated mannequins. I am trying to
remember why I chose them... Ah, because I
was looking for a variety of poses and things for
the mannequins to do. Rather than making 20
bespoke mannequins, I chose an articulated
mannequin which could be manipulated into
different poses…and the idea came from a
small maquette doll! So, I came here and I
showed Andrea the project – and [looking at
Andrea] your reaction was kind of cool.
Do you remember?
Andrea Bonaveri: No!
Emma: You can’t remember when I came here?!
Andrea: I remember you came here but I don’t
remember my reaction.
Emma: You were terrified, believe me. Especially when
we talked about the time frame. The thing was that the
mannequin didn’t exist anywhere. From a small doll
into a full-sized mannequin, we needed to understand
how to make it and how we could pose and maintain
This is how in a playful
sense of the word,
making the impossible
possible came to be.
its positions; including how we could change the heads.
We ended up with two versions: a fully articulated one
and one with fake articulated legs, because it was
impossible at that time to make the mannequin stand
up due to its weight.
She had a variety of different head types, made in
London by my sculptor: animals heads, a smoke head,
a balloon head, even a disco ball head. There were a
lot of crazy heads that were made for them. And then it
was the collaboration of bringing everybody together.
Marco the sculptor [Marco Furlani, Bonaveri’s sculptor,
see the article about the atelier] came to Paris and he
had to help us install them since they were brand new
and we didn’t even know how to put them together!
And which year was it?
Andrea: 2012.
Emma: So glad you remember [She laughs].
This was the most challenging project together?
Andrea: Also, the windows were quite difficult to realise
because every single mannequin was so special.
And then you invited Emma to collaborate on other
projects?
Andrea: I mean, I think at that time a friendship was
starting and we began to collaborate on other projects.
Emma: Then we made the Speedy mannequins,
with the magnetic bag heads. We did those when
LV opened the store on Bond Street in London.
They were for the Katie Grand exhibition that
was travelling the world.
Andrea: And then for Bally we did mannequins
on different types of bicycles.
Emma: I forgot about those! They were bespoke
mannequins riding bicycles for the presentation
of the collection, which then blurred into a huge
amount of projects. We made bespoke up and
down legs for Fendi, and many others, but
essentially everything is bespoke. Andrea is the
best in the world to work with, because he can
pretty much do anything.
Andrea: Don’t exaggerate! She is really the best
in the world.
Why Andrea do you think so?
Andrea: I don’t know. Actually I do know. When
she designs a new project, it’s really unique. Not
only for us, but also for other fashion designers.
What do you mean by unique?
Andrea: Unique for me means everything. Every
time she brings me a project I am wondering how
she does it, how she can conceive something
like that.
So how do you do it?
Emma: I don’t know! I’ll tell you how I work. I am
a visual storyteller and my job is to deliver a story
that brings some kind of emotion, whether it be
to a child or an adult. No matter what language
they speak and wherever they are in the world,
I would like to think they can look at the story I
am telling and understand it.
So it’s like being a silent actor on stage. That’s
how I view it.
And also the mannequin is a silent actor on
stage.
Emma: Yes, it is the main actor. Mannequins
are telling the whole story. The intention is for
anybody, regardless of language, culture or
age, to look at something and tell their own
fantasies, since that was how I got into window
dressing as a child.
On the weekend I used to stand outside shops with
my Dad, face pressed into the glass. When my Mum
would go in the shop I would be creating stories about
where the mannequin was going; what she wanted to
wear and I would create my own fantasies. So that’s
how I still work now.
Then did you go to a visual academy?
Emma: No, I didn’t. I left school at 16 and I got a job
with Joan Burstein at Browns store and she trained
me for three years and then the rest is history. So I
have always been in luxury.
Browns has always been ahead of its times.
Emma: Joan Burstein developed the first multi-brand
store, before anybody else did and I had the luxury of
working with her. I am really grateful she was the one
that trained me.
And after Browns? You were very young, not yet 20?
Emma: I was 16! After Browns I went to Selfridges and
I learnt about department store display, for maybe
three years, and then I moved to Italy, where I had a
lot of multi-brand customers like Romeo Gigli, Genny,
Moschino… I used to dress their windows freelancing,
travelling Europe the rest of the time.
Then I went back to London…and what did I do? [She
thinks] Ah, I went to work for Jigsaw, where I became
assistant to the Creative Director. Then, one day I just
left and started my own company. I created Chameleon
Visual in 2004.
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