Neri Torrigiani

I have loved xylography since childhood. I also experimented widely with the tools I found at home in my father's toolkit. He used to make models of ...

I have loved xylography since childhood. I also experimented widely with the tools I found at home in my father's toolkit. He used to make models of sailboats, and I carefully tried not to get hurt with the small sharp gouges which I now see in Mrs Leboroni's hands. The difference is that she is very good both at drawing and at turning drawings into “plates”, and also makes bespoke creations for every possible occasion, so that I wish no celebration may ever go by without any of her cards to send!

I worked in fashion for a long time and I often wear a tie. This is probably why I am so fascinated by Giuliana Di Agostino's work. In her atelier ...

I worked in fashion for a long time and I often wear a tie. This is probably why I am so fascinated by Giuliana Di Agostino's work. In her atelier near Milan she is creating her most beautiful ties for the most famous brands, but, being able to choose the textiles, sizes, – length and width according to your height and weight!– this is the highest luxury you could never give up.

Paola is a true artist, the daughter of a great ceramist and, like her sister, apparently not frightened at the idea of expressing her creativity ...

Paola is a true artist, the daughter of a great ceramist and, like her sister, apparently not frightened at the idea of expressing her creativity alongside a father who might have been considered as quite awkward by other people. A distinctive lightness characterises her creations, both in terms of materials and, even more, decoration. The colours are also special: her unique palette makes her objects unmistakably recognisable for their hues, lustre and transparency.

For nearly 25 years I have been hanging around the Banchi workshop, admirably run first by Lamberto, then by his son Duccio. He has just celebrated ...

For nearly 25 years I have been hanging around the Banchi workshop, admirably run first by Lamberto, then by his son Duccio. He has just celebrated the 60th anniversary of an unrelenting activity, started immediately after World War II, then crippled by the great Flood, and now based on the outskirts of San Frediano, the world's coolest neighbourhood, according to Lonely Planet! Duccio learnt everything from his father, as often happens in the great artisanal traditions, and is now integrating his own ideas, his own “trials” with traditional stylistic elements. The workshop is worth a visit and it is pretty much impossible to leave without buying something : their frames are so unique!

Luca and Amedeo are a recent discovery and I adore their miniature furniture! I am grateful to the Roman architect who introduced them to me because ...

Luca and Amedeo are a recent discovery and I adore their miniature furniture! I am grateful to the Roman architect who introduced them to me because I might never have met them in my life, not because I don't like Naples, but because “miniature furniture” evokes dolls' houses to me, not high cabinetmaking masterpieces like theirs. Both their knowledge of the history of furniture and their craftsmanship in replicating it in an appropriate scale are unbelievable, especially as they not only make the wooden parts, but also create castings featuring stone surfaces and antique marble.

For all of us from Artigianato and Palazzo, Vincenzo, Alessio's son, is like an old friend. I cannot even remember when he started faithfully taking ...

For all of us from Artigianato and Palazzo, Vincenzo, Alessio's son, is like an old friend. I cannot even remember when he started faithfully taking part in the Exhibition with us! To tell the truth, at first he used to come to Tuscany out of love (!), but now that he is happily married to Silvia, he is obviously coming to see us because he really likes our work, just as much as we like his products, whether wrought on a conch, on turquoise or coral. He is a man of taste and a tireless worker, captivating the public at Giardino Corsini with his precision tools.

Mario Bemer is a self-effacing man, unlike his late brother Stefano, but he is endowed with the same craftsmanship and with the ability to turn ...

Mario Bemer is a self-effacing man, unlike his late brother Stefano, but he is endowed with the same craftsmanship and with the ability to turn tradition into a contemporary style. Mario's shoes are actual "architectures": never commonplace, always special, and his new workshop in Florence's via Maggio looks like an interior design book.

Behind the brand "Flo and Flo" stands a young Albanian woman who came to Florence a few years ago. In Florence she had the great good fortune of ...

Behind the brand "Flo and Flo" stands a young Albanian woman who came to Florence a few years ago. In Florence she had the great good fortune of meeting Atusca Romoli, an old traditional shirtmaker, who, after a long apprenticeship, and before retiring, decided to bequeath her atelier to Flora. Flora did a great job and learnt all the trade secrets, inheriting and cultivating Atusca's most elegant clientele, who is still resorting to her for top quality fabrics and cuts fitting their own style.

No need to talk about Lorenzo Villoresi, everybody knows him! Yet, don't call him a "nose", he might resent it! Lorenzo is (also) a great ...

No need to talk about Lorenzo Villoresi, everybody knows him! Yet, don't call him a "nose", he might resent it! Lorenzo is (also) a great entrepreneur who has built a little empire over the years and has recently restored his family palace, making it the right place for his next challenge: an Academy to study and learn the art of perfumery. A visit to his palace is worth the whole journey!

I met Tommaso De Carlo at the "Conventino", an area on the outskirts of Oltrarno, where only a few real artisans continue pursuing their trades after ...

I met Tommaso De Carlo at the "Conventino", an area on the outskirts of Oltrarno, where only a few real artisans continue pursuing their trades after the awful restoration wanted by Florence's Municipality, which, a few years ago, wiped out a century-old history of work and traditions. Along with his wife and children, Tommaso creates beautiful objects, both elegant and very useful, besides being an excellent decorator. All the presents I bought from him have been greatly appreciated, among others by the Italian President Emeritus Giorgio Napolitano!

Everybody knows him, everybody has an anecdote to report, thanks to signora Raffaella, an amiable chatterbox – in the best sense of the word! - who ...

Everybody knows him, everybody has an anecdote to report, thanks to signora Raffaella, an amiable chatterbox – in the best sense of the word! - who can tastefully recommend restorations, refurbishments and ancient or modern silverware. The real genius, though, is her husband, quietly creating in the back-shop the artworks we all know and admire. And, with their daughter Stefania now definitively entered into full swing in the “bottega”, it is even more pleasant to exchange a few words and see the new pieces, featuring copper and brass along with silver.