Bonaveri Magazine

Guido: The clay we use in the sculptures is the
same that my father, Romano, used to go get
from the bed of Reno river, a river that traverses
the city and has given its name to many little
towns nearby, hence the town of Renazzo where
we have our headquarters, or other places in
the vicinity such as Reno Centese, Corporeno,
Casalecchio di Reno…
How is work organized inside the atelier?
Marco: There are 3 really capable young women
here with me. They also create new models but
utilizing a different technique. They don’t start
with clay but from already existing epoxy resin
or plastic mannequins. In accordance with
the clients’ requests, they modify the size, the
face or the posture and in this way, make new
“bespoke” prototypes.
How does the creative process work?
Marco: We always start from a mood board
that we put on the wall. Some poses are more
inspiration and dramatic in effect, while other
are easier to interpret. In this case, the mood
board Emma Davidge prepared is quite detailed
and enables us to proceed with great precision.
Starting from this, we go to the image archives and
choose those poses, those forms and features that will
allow us to define the aesthetics of the mannequin.
Clients might ask for different sizes, faces, maybe
more feminine or masculine looks, and so on. How
do you go about interpreting these requests?
Marco: A personalized mannequin must be able to
express the brand identity and respect it in its form,
posture and aesthetics of its image. Before starting to
work we do an in-depth study of the client’s universe
particularly the windows, the product and how they
communicate and what they want to transmit. We try
to enter into symbiosis with it since what we will create
is bespoke exactly in the same way a tailor makes a
suit. It’s not enough for it to be beautiful or well made,
it has also to be the “right product” for that brand so
the client sees their image in it.
The face and its features. Sometimes they are always
the same whereas in others change slightly.
Sometimes it is an aesthetic choice connected to
the concept of the collection as is the case of Tribe
for instance, where each mannequin had to have its
own identity. Other times it’s random, like for
Obsession. When we made the first Obsession
figure we fell in love right away with its face.
We had no doubts because in the originality
of that face the DNA of our Schläppi collection
from the ‘60s was present and we wanted to
preserve it in Obsession. We looked at it and
were Obsessed, hence we decided to use it for
all the poses.
Any anecdotes? A project that was particularly
challenging, and therefore satisfying?
Marco: I remember the mannequins from a
window project Emma Davidge created for Louis
Vuitton on a circus theme. I made mannequins
to look like trapeze artists flying through the
air. There were tight deadlines but the result
was striking [and Guido confirms this task and
almost in sync with Marco starts talking about
the first ever articulated mannequin].
But actually my greatest satisfaction was when
I made the first female articulated mannequin
for the exhibition, “Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs”
at the Louvre under the artistic direction of
Emma who curated the creative concept. It was quite
a complex work with a deadline that allowed for no
mistakes but I can proudly say that the result was
impeccable.
Guido, thanks also to these abilities and Bonaveri
unique know-how, today your company’s name is
recognized worldwide.
Guido: Our objective was never to become famous
but to do our work well. What happened after was a
consequence of a way of seeing life and our craft. We
are a family and each of us contributes to foment this
story. First our parents, then it was myself and Andrea
with our energy and competence, and tomorrow it will
be our children contributing to the story. My son, Alex,
has been at my side for the past two years bringing
freshness and his generation’s modern touch to
nourish our company. The heredity we received was
never an immobile capital but a resource through
which to develop new ideas.
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