Bonaveri Magazine

feeling developed between Armani and my father.
When he found out that my father was a sculptor, he
asked him if he could show him a piece of artwork
he had recently purchased. He took us up to his topfloor
apartment in a building on via Borgonuovo. The
ambiance was of an essential beauty, minimalist
with no ornaments. I remember how he really cared
about showing us his marble statue from the
“Armani was very
important for
our growth. He
opened his first
stores with our
products and
he even went
in person to
arrange the
window displays”
Romanesque period, and how he spoke about it
with my father who was also passionate about that
type of art.
I also am thrilled to remember the meeting I had
several years ago with Monsieur de Givenchy,
another great name. We were in Switzerland at
the inauguration of the Audrey Hepburn exhibition,
(“Audrey Hepburn & Hubert de Givenchy” at the Expo
Fondation Bolle in Morges in 2017). The actress’s
family was present and Monsieur de Givenchy, who
was 90 years old, came over to me to congratulate
me. He said that our mannequins were the most
beautiful of all, and that only our Schläppi were able
to enhance his creations. If I think about it, I get all
choked up just saying this.
Other than Givenchy you were, and are, partners in
the exhibitions of numerous other fashion houses of
yesterday and today, I’m thinking of Pucci, Missoni, Gou
Pei and the Lanvin show that just ended in Shanghai, as
well as the New York fashion exhibitions par excellence
like those organised at the Metropolitan of New York by
Anna Wintour and curated by Andrew Bolton. In each of
these you have ceased being just a supplier and have
established partnerships and collaborations with them,
and a personal relationship based on mutual trust.
It is exactly this personal passion that has become a part of
professional life. Even since I was young, I was fascinated
by the exhibitions dedicated to telling about fashion, and I
went to see them every time I could. It was a way to give a
vaster context to our work and to find inspiration. My work
is my life, naturally also my family, but outside my family
I have my work. Why? Because I don’t know what I would
do otherwise. As time passes, I find it more interesting to
look at things regarding my work in my free time: fashion,
art, design, architecture. My relationship with museums
condenses all my passions into one single gesture.
What still makes your eyes light up after all these years of
work and so much experience under your belt?
My greatest joy is seeing my client satisfied at the end.
It’s not about the supply or have I ever awakened in the
morning thinking about money. What really motivates my
search for absolute quality is my desire to not only keep
the promises we make but also to try to surpass them so
as to leave the client surprised and fully satisfied with what
we made for them. This relationship is most evident in the
case of personalised creations, where we have to be able
to interpret the needs of a brand or the wishes of a fashion
designer, often creating things never before seen or done.
These challenges supply the emotional high that makes us
grow and continuously puts us to the test.
Over many years we have been able to meet all the big
names, from the fashion designers and latest brands
to the design studios, famous architects who build the
stores - another of my great passions - and institutions
we collaborate with such as the Victoria & Albert Museum
of London, the Metropolitan of New York or the MoMu of
Antwerp.
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