5 Stops in Milano (5)

Who would have not heard of Fornasetti's.
We were granted access to the house, both the guest area and the personal living areas. The pictures will speak for everything. You will see his talent in his creations, and maybe even some craziness. Imagine living in this very house, for, let's say 1 week?? I don't know about others, but I might go crazy myself. It is a little toooo much. But then again, that's what makes it special.

"Musical Chairs"

My photoshop abilities have not reached the point where I can erase that hand and make it look natural at will, so I will leave it alone... for now.

"The Red Guest Room"

The work studio and the original prints done by hand with their matching screens for screen printing. The designs will never change but colors may be adjusted to certain needs under the approval of Fornasetti himself.

5 Stops in Milano (3-4)

Buccellati is another well known jeweler in Italy. They create some of the most extravagant pieces worthing of any king or queen. Many of their works are collector or private monumental pieces. Also, their techniques of engraving and carving are quite specialized, used only here at Buccellati. They would hire and train young goldsmith for a rough 15 years or so, after which they could work independently in coordination with the company in their own houses.
In the second photos you will see some old molds that they used before digitalization to record they styles and  design of their pieces.

This is a piece at work. In the center are diamonds of various muted colors, and you could tell that each pendant frame has been customized to match the exact shape of those diamonds. In their Buccelllati books, I found necklaces with raw diamonds the most attractive.

Father and son working for Buccellati.

This is just a nice angle I saw while visiting the malls next to the duomo. This is a display by Zara.

The Straf Hotel on Via San Raffaele is a wonderful example of a modern hotel incorporated with modern and contemporary art. The VIP dinning room is surrounds by uncovered cement walls with a color screen at one end. Unfortunately, despite how much I loved their rooms and designs, the food was less pleasing. One of us described it as cat food.... Well, it wasn't THAT bad, but you get the idea. They have room for improvement.

The rooms, basically the entire hotel's furnishing was designed by Vincenzo De Cotiis, with his own works on display at the entrance, on the balconies and with his great taste for vintage furniture, as those chairs you will see below. The hotel is very popular with the international crowd, so it is almost always full occupancy during international fairs and shows in Milan. The day that we were visiting, we were very lucky, they had 100% occupancy, and we had to wait till midday to confirm that lucky one of the guests has decided to check out.

5 Stops in Milano (1-2)

I got a feeling that this is going to be a very very long post....
5 days in Milan resulted in 5 visits to various hotels and jewelry firms.
First stop the Savoia Hotel.
The Savoia, let's just say it's not my type.The hall was well decorated, with a lounging area with a piece of chocolate cake costing 14 euros, but it all looked..."old". And my assumption was confirmed as we were led into the bar and suites.

The bar was renovated not long ago, as they would call in an American style. The most attractive decorations would be their grand chandelier ceiling covered by strands of glass tubes especially molded for this purpose. It expanded across the entire ceiling, with the more ancient fresco hidden behind its mask. The environment again was somewhat dull, the only impressive part was their collection of alcohol and liqueur; for an ex-bartender like myself, it was like a garden of roses. And a little side note, maybe you will find some reminiscence in that photo with my blog title background :)

First one the the standard suites. It used to host celebrities such as Madonna and the Beckhams. Perhaps from here on you will find a russian feeling towards the interior design and furnishings; this was confirmed by their manager. Everything, renovated or not, still represents a "czar's grandeur". Then there are no doubts why middle-east and russian clients are among their most frequented.

Next, the grand suite. The biggest and most luxurious in Savoia. Boasting its leopard chairs, green velvet walls and sofas, golden decorations and bedposts, red velvet dinning room, and most importantly, or most famously known: their very own pool in a frescoed room. As the suites, many renown people have stayed here, with their in-house kitchen and a 24-hour cook and everything else you might need. It eventually turned into a tale about how one guest called in for a hair-dresser for their dog at 4am in the morning.

I don't wish to give any inaccurate information, so I won't give the name of the celebrity or the price of this room since I don't have any written records, something around 3000 euros per night. However apparently, a place like this is seen as a home for some, one female celebrity known to stay a duration of 3 months here in this suites paying full price all the way. 

Second stop, Chantecler.

This is a jewelry of womanly fun. We meet the daughter of the founder, who has great charisma and is very lively. The name, meaning "rooster", was named after a co-founder, a friend of her father's, whose photo you could see at the bottom of this post. He was known for his flair and extravagant sense of style, obviously someone who doesn't think or dress in the box. Their jewelry are known to be fun. Chained charms which you could reorganize according to your preference on that day, however you like, and the rooster symbol is used very so often in their designs. They have some amazing pieces, and I especially love the set of that diamond encrusted right with matching earrings.

More of Hermes

Follow ups from the Hermes exhibition in Paris.