Mr. Cappellini, it's a great pleasure to meet you. Most people know the name Cappellini. Perhaps you could start by telling us what Cappellini stands for? It's a great pleasure to welcome you here, and it would be a pleasure if you would begin by telling us what the Cappellini brand means.
Well, first of all, I thank you for being here, because it's also a great pleasure for me to be here, and especially congratulations on this wonderful space that I just visited. It is also naturally a great pleasure to be here. It was beautiful to see this show, and I want to congratulate you for what you have achieved here. What does it mean to be Cappellini? Being Cappellini, whether for the Cappellini brand or for Flaminia or others for which I work as art director, means trying to work with great freedom. Cappellini is not only for the Cappellini brand, but also for Flaminia and also for other art works or for other people for whom I work as art director. What does freedom mean? It means searching the world, often for very young talents, very young designers at the beginning of their careers with a very different approach to design, from the more minimal to the more organic. Freedom has great meaning for me, and it is a great honor for me to have the opportunity to find young designers who have a different approach perhaps to design. My role as art director is precisely to try to create a kind of common thread that connects the very different design approaches of these different people. My role as art director consists of finding a certain common thread among these young people, so that we are able to bring the different approaches together and make them communicate with each other.
Yes, Morrison, Newson, Dixon, there are many names that are world-famous today, and you were among the very first to commission them. How did you recognize such talent so early? Morrison, Newson, Dixon and Nendo were recognized as rising stars of design. How did you recognize them?
But I must say that there is no system that I follow to try to understand if a young designer can become a star of international design. So I must say that I have no system to recognize whether these young designers will develop so far that they become an international star in the world of design. Sometimes it is enough for me to see a sketch, a prototype, or even just talk to a designer to understand if I find them interesting. I must say that it is a choice that comes especially from the heart. So sometimes it is enough to see a sketch or a prototype of a designer, or even to talk to that designer. And that is, let's say, sometimes a gut feeling to recognize whether it can go that far. And for me, the relationship with these people is fundamental. Only if there is the right feeling between me and them can we arrive at a good product, otherwise not. Very important is the relationship with these people. If you can find a good feeling, a good togetherness, then you can have a good collaboration. Why is this feeling important? Because many times from the initial idea to the final product there are many changes to be made, so either there is mutual trust or you go nowhere. And this feeling is really decisive, because the path from the original idea to the final product is quite long, and you have to go this path together, and if there is mutual trust, then you can achieve something, and that is extremely important, to have such a trust relationship.
You have been searching for and discovering young talents since the 1980s. Nowadays, talent scouting has changed a lot through social media and so on. What do you think, do young talents have it easier or harder today than back then? So, you have been doing this since the 80s, let's say from the 90s. Now over time the whole situation has changed. Many use these social media. What do you think? Has it become more difficult or easier to rely on these social media?
But I must say that yes, of course, social media are an important contemporary tool. We must not let ourselves be killed by social media. So I think yes, over time social media have become an important tool, but we must not let ourselves be subjugated by social media. Often I hear that this piece is beautiful because the product must be beautiful, useful, well-designed, well-made. So sometimes I hear 'oh, this piece is incredibly good because you can present it well on Instagram.' No, no, that's wrong. So a piece is good if it is beautiful, functional, well-conceived, and practical. The image is important, but it is not everything. There must also be a strong concept in the project. So that is very important, the appearance, but the underlying concept is also the most important.
What advice do you have for aspiring designers today?
For young people who are... But I must say the thing I always say is do few things but do them well. It is not the quantity of projects that matters, but the quality. So what I can give as advice is you can do few things, but they must be good. The most important thing is not quantity, but quality. Try to make projects that are beautiful and that last over time, and not projects that only follow the fashion of the moment. You should try to set up projects that are durable over the years. It should not be that these projects are like a chimera or a flash in the pan. But last but not least, follow the projects like children from the beginning, from the first idea, to the realization. Follow them, change things if necessary. You really have to follow the entire realization of the prototype of the project. It is not enough to make a nice drawing, no? From cradle to grave. So, you must also accompany these projects as a third piece of advice like a child from the cradle to the grave. So you simply have to, along the way, difficulties will arise, but you have to follow them all, be able to change things if necessary to complete the project.
I must say that precisely in the relationship with these young people, we try to defend the quality of Italian manufacturing, and then, as we also see in the pieces exhibited here, we work with designers who come from Japan, England, India, and many parts of the world. And what is also very important in our relationship with the new designers is that we place value on good quality, and often it comes from Italian industries and Italian manufacturing. But we also see that it is important to collaborate with designers who may come from Japan, Great Britain, or India.
