VIP is a craft company that makes custom and highly customized furniture and especially armchairs in central Naples. Founder Vittorio Pappalardo, a craftsman with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, has created a workshop where a team of specialized artisans make custom creations under his direction not only in relation to the design of the armchairs, to ensure the best ergonomics and comfort for his clients, but also in terms of creativity, choice and assembly of fabrics, customization of decorative elements that are embroidered on the fabrics or directly applied to the structure of the furniture.
Vittoria, the founder’s daughter, follows in her father’s footsteps and contributes to the family business with her design and communication skills, devising special projects such as armchairs designed and made specifically for the female clientele. The workshop can also boast a special environmental awareness: all the woods used come from sustainably felled forests, and the staining of the woods is done by water, without the use of solvents and synthetic chemical agents.
Butega Rebelle is the creature of Antonello Arminu, a carpenter who one day decided to give a home to the rebelles – rebels, in Sardinian dialect – in his Pattada, in the province of Sassari.
Who are the rebelles? First of all, the rebel is Antonello himself, who has chosen not to leave his homeland and instead to be the promoter of a project of non-traditional artistic craftsmanship. Rebel is Sardinia, a land whose identity never ceases to be stubbornly island-like. Rebel, however, is also wood, a living and dynamic material that opposes its irregular shapes and leathery material to any attempt at trivialisation, at reduction to a functional standard. The knots, veins, imperfections of the wood – mainly local – used by Antonello become personality traits of his objects, sculptures and furniture, making each piece unique.
There is nothing nostalgic about Butega Rebelle’s artefacts, which instead often integrate or complement a technological soul: lamps, computer stands, music speakers. The creations are widely customisable and are often contaminated and enriched through collaborations with other local craftsmen, giving rise to a world of objects shaped in a borderline territory between unique piece and design, between passion and functionality.
Coltelli Artigianali Manca, in Pattada, is the place where owner Massimo Manca handcrafts sa rezolsa, the traditional Sardinian switchblade knife, which finds one of its main production centres in the small town in the province of Sassari.
Known throughout the world for their excellence – so much so that they are also called pattadesi – the knives from this territory have achieved such fame among enthusiasts that Massimo, by now a recognised master, has been able to collaborate with important brands – such as Ferrari and Ducati – for the creation of special sets, as well as entering with his creations into some of the most prestigious international private collections.
The production of the knives is strictly manual and requires the mastery of various traditional techniques: from the forging of the razor-sharp metal blades to the carving of the finest woods or materials such as ox horn, mutton and mouflon. Massimo carries out all these processes in his atelier in Pattada, combining tradition, passion and a meticulous search for perfection.
After graduating in electronic engineering and working in the industrial sector for 15 years, Nicola Tessari decided to follow his real passion: artisanal solid wood processing.
Nicola designs and produces each piece on his own, occasionally collaborating with architects and designers. In his workshop in Schio, amidst the valleys surrounding Vicenza, he works with tools and techniques from traditional joinery, refining forms by hand, only guided by his own creative sensibility.
His inspiring concept is building soulful objects, far from the dynamics of the global market – objects conceived with love and commitment, being able to last and make a difference. Their surfaces, still bearing traces of the imperfect work of a human hand, narrate the genesis and the authentic meaning of each product.
Arte & Mestieri is an upholstery workshop with over 20 years of experience, specialising in the preservation and restoration of wooden furniture with precious padding.
They offer treatments with high-quality materials and techniques, fitting the style and age of the products, with a view to reclaiming and enhancing their value, as well as ensuring resistance and durability. Also, Arte & Mestieri offer bespoke redesign of padding elements, performs gilding and mothproofing treatments, create and install fabric-taut wall upholstery.
The firm’s catalogue includes headboards, curtains, table covers, bedspreads, cushions, sofas, armchairs and foot-stools also with removable covers, while a sample collection of high-end fabrics and hides produced by outstanding Italian and European firms is available in the Arte & Mestieri showroom.