Launching my book ‘Crafting Excellence’ over the Chianti vineyards.
A charming event to celebrate the launch of my book 'Crafting Excellence, Florence'.
Photos by Ludovica Barone.
On Thursday 11 July 2024, in the sublime setting of the Poggio Casciano Estate in Chianti, my book 'Crafting Excellence' was officially launched.
A decorative volume, a photographic essay, whose cover features the pattern of French lilies decorating the ‘Lilies Room’ in Palazzo Vecchio. A tribute to Florence and its ability over the centuries to cultivate talents and forge unparalleled Beauty and Excellence.
This dream is shared with the extraordinary team at FUL Magazine and supported by one of Italy's quintessential wine excellences, Ruffino 1877, which has fully embraced our mission of becoming an ambassador of true Excellence. An immense thanks to a long time friend and exeptional photographer Francesca Basili, whose images have made this volume even more valuable, and to our publisher, Edifir Edizioni Firenze, for printing and distributing the book in national bookstores!
With Marco Provinciali & Francesco Sacchini, Ful Magazine
FEATURING A SELECTION OF EXCELLENT FLORENTINE MAKERS
Ruffino 1877, Antico Setificio Fiorentino, Loretta Caponi, Mazzanti Piume, Cornici Maselli, Fratelli Traversari, Paris Andrews, Ippogrifo Stampe d’Arte, Zouganista, Paolo Penko, Leonardo Firenze, Federica Tessari, Aquaflor, Brandimarte, Fornace Masini, Liverano & Liverano, Vivian Saskia Wittmer, Elena Matei x The St. Regis Florence, AtelierGK.
A heartwarming collection of happy, relaxed, and proud gazes - captured moments, crystallised emotions, shared memories that I will cherish forever.
Enveloped in a thousand emotions, we gathered with the friends, partners, and craftspeople who have made 'Crafting Excellence' possible; we enjoyed the magical summer sunset over the vineyards, sipping Ruffino 1877 wine and leafing through the freshly printed pages. Seeing all the craftspeople and partners all gathered together to celebrate this shared milestone was an indescribable joy, well worth all the long and intense work. The voices of cicadas and the summer breeze mingled with the clink of glasses toasting in front of the enchanting Chianti hills.
A private & sublime location:
Tenuta Poggio Casciano by Ruffino 1877, Chianti
An enchanted, lush garden, immersed in the picturesque landscape of the Tuscan Chianti vineyards, at the gates of Florence, is the beating heart of Ruffino 1877: a place that evokes Renaissance reminiscences, blending them with contemporary design and impeccable hospitality.
As the main partner of 'Crafting Excellence' , Ruffino 1877 has undertaken an unprecedented transformation to become an absolute benchmark of high-prestige Tuscan wines and craftsmanship.
This commitment is expressed in the pursuit of quality without compromise, in the attention to sustainability, both environmental and cultural, and in the ability to keep innovating, in the footsteps of Tuscan identity and the unparalleled Italian know-how.
I couldn’t think of any other location than the Estate's lush Italian garden and porch of ‘Le Tre Rane’ Estate’s restaurant as the ideal frames for welcoming our guests and celebrating this milestone together.
We talked a lot about Beauty and Excellence, about how to embrace them, how to protect them, and how to renew them over time: our Muses, who live through the hands of these extraordinary craftspeople. It was an indescribable joy to see their eyes linger on the pages, knowing that their work was properly celebrated.
Words were not enough to describe what this achievement has meant for me and for this precious community.
Through a mosaic of experiences, memories, quotations, and reflections, I have attempted to recount a real, tangible, and exquisitely contemporary world in which enlightened masters and artisans, still capable of feeling and inspiring wonder, create Beauty through gentle gestures and creative thought, as true protagonists of a market at the top of the luxury pyramid.
Who better than them, contemporary craftsmen in Florence, the new Renaissance forge, which historically has made Excellence a competitive advantage and a political strategy, can provide a concrete example of what factors make it recognisable?
A selection of cardinal values, collected in a sort of codex, are flanked by reflections, experiences, memories and tales of Beauty..
..which are interwoven with the stories of men and women of exceptional talent and rare kindness; excellent creators who have answered the call of Beauty with pride and a spirit of responsibility.
In the chapters of 'Crafting Excellence', I wanted to give back to them the enrichment they have gifted me over years of mutual support, and share this precious knowledge with readers around the world; in the hope that new synergies, awareness, and opportunities to celebrate together this inviolable treasure of ours that we call 'Excellence' may arise from an inspiring reading.
FROM ‘CRAFTING EXCELLENCE”
Chapter XXIV - Excellence is Future
“Each of us is called upon to play our part in transferring into the future that exquisitely human ability to shape Beauty, avoiding the dispersion of the immense heritage that is preserved and protected by the minds and hands of today's Masters. It is our responsibility to reinvigorate that vision so that our country can (re)assert itself as a Renaissance forge.”
As the sun went down..
we moved under the ‘Le Tre Rane’ porch
and embraced by the dim moonlight, we enjoyed an exquisite light dinner. In the most relaxed and carefree atmosphere, the toasts continued with an exclusive Riserva Ducale Oro by Ruffino, and the low lights did not stop us from continuing to capture such magical moments to cherish forever.
FROM ‘CRAFTING EXCELLENCE”
Chapter XXV - Excellence is Beauty
“Beauty has the precise function of elevating us, morally or spiritually, towards our highest self-fulfillment, of consoling us from difficulties, and of satisfying our need for harmouny; it is an irrepressible necessity of the human being, whether we are aware of it or not. Thus Beauty becomes not only the motor of curiosity, but also the cardinal principle of knowledge, which is the foundation of progress.”
I was wearing...
‘Lulu’ by Loretta Caponi
A dress that was a cloud to wear; handmade of the finest Italian cotton and precious archive lace, according to the tailoring method of Loretta Caponi - masters of embroidery and icon of Florentine style, and one of the protagonists of ‘Crafting Excellence, Florence’.
