My personal style signifier is the way I put things together – the care and time I dedicate to getting ready. Someone has described me as a dandy before. I’m not sure I like that word. A dandy doesn’t sound very cool. What I wear depends on the weather, my state of mind. One day I’ll wear green, another day grey or red. But I always like to be elegant.
The last thing I bought and loved was a wooden 1950s Borsani console with a glass top at auction that I will put in Casa Fornasetti, the family home and brand headquarters that I am renovating with my sweetheart, Sara. I like its elegant shape. Above it is a mirror with adjustable wings. I try to buy vintage Fornasetti – if it’s a good price, of course. But in this case the Borsani worked where I needed it. Borsani was a contemporary of my father, who founded Fornasetti in the 1940s. I think they knew each other.
The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a wooden giraffe. When I went on holiday to South Africa I fell in love with a small one but didn’t buy it. So when my girlfriend went to South Africa, I asked her to send me a giant-size one that I have in my house now. I love giraffes. They are the most elegant and beautiful animals.
The place that means a lot to me is Milan. As New York is for Woody Allen, Milan is for me. I was born here. My business is here. My love is here. Everything is here. I lived in Tuscany for eight to 10 years, so I also love it there, but Milan is my favourite. It’s the most European city in Italy, the most global and connected. Florence, Rome and Venice are more touristy. Milan is becoming more touristy, which for me is very strange because it’s not full of ancient attractions like the other cities. I love Milan because it’s full of small (but not always immediately visible) nice things. The façades of the buildings have styles from all periods, from Roman to modernism.
The best book I’ve read in the past year is Her Life as an American Madam by Nell Kimball. It’s an autobiography by a woman who grew up poor in the countryside and worked in brothels, first as a sex worker then as a madam in high-class brothels in cities such as St Louis, San Francisco and New Orleans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kimball describes the reality of her life and her experiences with clarity, often with irony or practicality, and addresses the social conditions of the time: poverty, limited opportunities for women, class differences and the moral hypocrisy of American society. Downton Abbey, which I watch every night in bed with my partner, has stolen a lot of my reading time recently.
This holiday season, I will try to be more optimistic. Even if it’s not easy: I don’t see many good things around in the world. But I try to be optimistic. Otherwise you can get desperate. I’m not someone who is particularly passionate about Christmas, but it’s a tradition, so you have to celebrate it. If I was good at school, my parents would give me a couple of animals at the end of each year. Once it was the dogs. Once it was a couple of peacocks. Another time it was a pair of turtles. Another time two ducks. When they grew too much, they were served for Christmas dinner. I cried a lot when I saw them. It was quite cruel of my parents.
I don’t listen to podcasts. I don’t use a computer. I want to stay like this. We need people who don’t use technology to bring a different perspective to the world. I am privileged that I have someone around me who can use a computer for me as I want to be preserved from these waves. It’s a question of creativity, having time to dedicate myself to my work. I see people spending too much time on the computer. I prefer going to my bookcase, to my archive and holding real things in my hands. The telephone is the only thing that I can’t avoid.
An object I would never part with is my leather pocket diary. I don’t know what the brand is because I got rid of the page where it’s printed. It’s bulky but I find it comforting to have it, with my pen inside. I am a scribe. I can note all the things I have to do on a given day. I have big hands, so when I type in appointments on my telephone I always make mistakes. WhatsApp and emails are tricky for me.
My style is inspired by The Rolling Stones – particularly the album covers of the 1960s. They’d wear nice jackets with stripes and skinny pants. And The Beatles in the “Let It Be” period. That very English way of wearing things in men’s fashion is important. During that period, Italian style was inspired by English style, but it later became Italian in its own way. An example is E Marinella, who made classic ties. They are one of the iconic brands for elegant Italian menswear, but the patterns are often inspired by classically British styles: stripes, checks and paisleys, as well as traditional florals. It’s funny this brand comes from Naples, which is so Mediterranean. Elegance is like that – there are no borders.
The best gift I’ve received recently is a brooch with a hand-painted miniature of an ear on porcelain that my father made me. Sara mounted it on a gold brooch surrounded by diamonds. I wear it often on my jacket.
The last song I liked on the radio was “Kiyakiya (Why Do You Run Away)” by Babatunde Olatunji. It’s a song with African rhythms. It makes me want to dance.
In my fridge you’ll always find apple juice. I love to collect different kinds – usually organic apple and ginger juices from NaturaSì. But when I have the chance, I buy juices made from the various types of apples from South Tyrol (there are about 30 varieties). Also, orange marmalade. It must be very, very bitter. And kefir, which I mix with fruits in the morning. It’s good for my intestines. Cheese, too – sheep more than cow. And I love goat’s cheese.
I’ve recently discovered that, even though I am turning 75 this year, I am still capable of diving into the sea to free an anchor that had been trapped in stones. It was 5m or 6m down. My ears weren’t very good afterwards.
I have many doubts as to whether there is life after death, but I will be sure to send some signals from the afterlife if I end up there. My family was not religious at all. Out of custom, I was baptised and they made me do communion as a boy. But they didn’t oblige me to do anything else. My mother had her doubts about religion. My father was totally not a believer. I define myself as a spiritual artist. I believe in the spiritual power of humans beyond something like God. God is just an expression of culture.
The thing I couldn’t do without is Sara. We’ve been together for about three years now. She’s much younger than me, unfortunately. But that’s the way love is. It’s blind. She will kill me if I talk about our relationship. She’s very reserved. It’s politically incorrect but something I also could never forgo is a cigarette after a coffee. I don’t smoke a lot, maybe three or four cigarettes a day. The one after a coffee is essential. I don’t want to advertise smoking, but I smoke an organic tobacco cigarette without any additives.
I collect waistcoats. So when I see one I like, I buy it. I have maybe 15 or so. My latest buy is multicoloured. They are all either patterned or embroidered. I buy them in vintage shops, never online. With clothes you have to wear them, touch them before you buy.
The beauty staple I’m never without is Immaginazione, a fragrance by Fornasetti. It’s my favourite of the three we made. It’s woody and not sweet, quite masculine but also unisex. I wear it every day. We worked a lot on the bottle and packaging, which is why it’s quite expensive. Fornasetti Extrait de Parfum Immaginazione, £480 for 100ml
In another life, I would have been a musician or a cat. I like music. I DJ sometimes. My parents tried to make me learn piano but I didn’t want to because I was a little rebel and was against having such an imposition in my life. I’ve regretted that as I’ve grown up. And a cat because I love cats.
My biggest pet peeve in a hotel is cheap toilet paper. Also, bad design. It’s difficult to find well-designed hotels. I designed the interiors of the Mandarin Oriental in Milan and I want to do more. Rooms should all be different, not standardised. There are too many regulations in hotels, so it’s not easy. But with suites it’s more possible.
The one artist whose work I would collect if I could is Kandinsky. He’s one of my favourites for many reasons, but particularly his colours. I love his abstract works. Sadly they cost too much.
The works of art that changed everything for me were Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by Pablo Picasso and Lucio Fontana’s Cuts. They both revolutionised the world of art. My father was always talking about and showing me works of art. And for my father, Fontana was very important. He taught me the essentiality of the cut, a simple gesture that is incredibly powerful.
Playful design is all about a brilliant representation of the obvious. It’s important to approach even simple objects with irony. Make them beautiful but not obvious; add something unexpected.
My favourite building is the Villa Barbaro in Maser. I love the architect Andrea Palladio’s Palladian Villas, and Barbaro is the one I love the most. I like the shape and elegance. When I was a child, my parents gave me two Pekinese dogs and they came from a lady who lived at this villa. So I first went there to get two dogs.
An easy way to inject fun into your home is to Fornasetti-fy it. Philippe Starck said that if you have a simple interior, if you put a Fornasetti teapot or a tray in the middle of it, the design is immediately stronger; it adds personality.
When I need to feel inspired, I immerse myself in my father’s archives. He used to take cutouts from books and magazines, finding images of everything and then putting them into paper files, divided by themes – hands, faces, architecture, flowers, animals. Everything. When I need to create something new, I dive into those files.
The best bit of advice I ever received is also my best secret.
