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The true story of

LUCA NICHETTO

Nouveautés

27 avril 2021

France – Italy – Sweden. A cosmopolitan triptych that shapes the creations of designer Luca Nichetto. Although he grew up on the island of Murano in the heart of the Venetian lagoon, he did not confine himself to art glassware and became one of the leaders of contemporary Italian design. Today, from Sweden, he signs the creations of La Manufacture, a French company that makes its design and fashion pieces in Italy. Two years ago, Luca imagined the brand’s Parisian setting: a place that is open, friendly and particularly human.

 

The artistic director of La Manufacture plays with the shackles off: this season he switches to the fashion side and imagines a line of clothes. Timeless, genderless and free, this graphic collection overturns the codes. Between three countries and two disciplines, Luca gives us his unclassifiable inspirations.

 

Luca Nichetto
© Marine Parquet

The genesis of La Manufacture in a few words?

 

 

“I met Robert Acouri, the founder of La Manufacture, over 3 years ago. At that time, Robert had a company called La Manufacture du  Design, and while it had many qualities, I felt like a lack of soul. As Robert comes from the fashion world, we imagined La Manufacture as a concept store combining fashion and design. This is what differentiates us as a brand today.”

 

La Manufacture, © Studioblanco

A few words to describe La Manufacture?

La Manufacture, © Studioblanco

“We imagined a place that was welcoming, open and sophisticated in terms of materials. I didn’t want to design a shop that people were afraid to enter, but I wanted to make sure that from the outside you could see enough of the interior to be attracted. I wanted to reinvent the retail experience and I imagined, for example, a large kitchen in the centre of the concept store, so that the customer feels at home.”

 

 

Boutique La Manufacture, 3 rue Edouard VII, Paris 9ème

Allié – Stool, La Manufacture, Luca Nichetto Design Collection

What color palette did you use?

 

 

“We worked on a global color range to define a common DNA for the concept store and the products we sell, both in the fashion and design areas.

 

Because La Manufacture is a French brand but all the products are made in Italy, we chose a color palette that recalls this bi-culture by taking inspiration from the colors found in Italian palaces and French castles.”

What materials did you use for this place?

 

 

La Manufacture, © Studioblanco

La Manufacture, © Studioblanco

“We chose materials that recall the two facets of La Manufacture: the artisan and the industrial. We used blue tiles that have the appearance of being handmade, a trowelled cement floor, textured wallpaper, a huge curtain made of aluminium plates with the La Manufacture logo, a special plaster for the walls that is nothing but a powder from the earth… There are also pieces of industrial machinery scattered throughout the concept store.”

 

One word to define your last fashion collection?

 

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

“There are so many of them… For me, it was very important to imagine a timeless and genderless collection, a collection that is completely different from the image we have of fashion. I tried to find a common identity for the brand and the collection.”

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

How did you come up with these timeless, gender-neutral designs?

 

 

“In a very simple way, I used the same approach as when I design pieces. When you design a sofa, a chair, a table, a lamp… the real challenge for a designer is to design a product that stays on the market as long as possible. Similarly, when I design a sofa, I don’t design it for a particular man or woman, but for both! So I wanted to apply this same approach to the fashion collection.”

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

How did you choose the designs for this collection?

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

“I was inspired by La Manufacture‘s furniture collection for the patterns. For example, a jacket features the geometric pattern of the Pyrite bookcase and a jumper features the Soufflé mirror…

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

Pyrite Bookcase, La Manufacture, Design Collection, Luca Nichetto

Like the scarves worn by supporters in a football stadium, which are brandished and form a sort of all-over pattern, I have designed a graphic collection.”

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

Soufflé mirror, La Manufacture, Design Collection, Luca Nichetto

What is your favorite piece from the collection?

 

Impossible to say, it would be like asking a parent who their favorite child is.”

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

What were your inspirations for this project?

 

 

“My goal was to create a community around La Manufacture. I was inspired by the atmosphere you find in a stadium with supporters of the same sports team or fans of a music band in a concert hall. These are people who share a common identity and wear distinctive elements: scarves, colors, uniforms… They inspired me greatly.

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

What would be the film of the collection?

 

 

“It could be Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amélie Poulain, both for the film and for the soundtrack La Valse d’Amélie Poulain by Yann Tiersen.” 

Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain

WATCH

How do you choose talents that work for La Manufacture? 

 

La Manufacture is a multicultural company: it is French, but the production is Italian. I used to talk about La Manufacture as a talent box.

I really enjoy working with a team of international designers with very different identities and styles: some have a more minimalist style while others have a more daring style. It is this eclecticism that creates the identity of La Manufacture.” 

 

La Manufacture furniture

Fashion or design?

 

 

“Both of them! Before the word designer came into common parlance, in Italian, a person who did projects was called a progettista. I consider myself to be more of a progettista and I love doing projects in both fashion and design.”  

Tima – Suspension Design, Luca Nichetto for La Manufacture

When did you realize that you wanted to be a designer?

 

 

“I never really decided to become a designer, it just happened naturally. I was lucky enough to be born and raised in Venice, on the island of Murano. My grandfather was a glassmaker, and my mother decorated it. As I was rather good at drawing, I went to study at the Art Institute in Venice. Then I decided to sell my drawings to various companies in Venice. One day I knocked on the door of Salviati, the art director looked at my drawings, and said to me « I see that you have talent, but you don’t understand the needs of our company« . So he explained everything to me, trained me and taught me a lot. I took up the challenge, and in the following months I designed a collection for Salviati. That’s when I became a designer. 

Sweden, France or Italy?

 

Because I have been in Sweden for a long time now and I miss my home country, I would say Italy. 

Venice

What do you like about being a stylist?

 

 

I have never considered myself a stylist. I don’t like the word style, because it has a very temporary connotation. But I don’t want to go in that direction, on the contrary, I create timelessness.

Melitea Chaires, La Manufacture, Design Collection, Luca Nichetto

Your dream project?

 

 

Designing the interior of a spaceship. The parameters are totally different, what we take for granted on Earth has to be reconsidered because of gravity: the way we eat, the way we interact with the object…

 

Olindias Stools, La Manufacture, Design Collection, Luca Nichetto

What are your future plans?

 

 

“I have a lot of very interesting projects coming up and they are all completely different, from lifestyle to the music industry.” 

What are you most proud of?

 

To have the freedom to design different typologies. 

 

La Manufacture, Fashion Collection, Luca Nichetto

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