作者: Redazione

Bauhaus Inspiration

Posted on by Redazione

What impulses lie behind the birth of a shape and a colour?

Elisa Lovatello, Senior Creative Designer & Cool Hunter at Marcolin, right from the start debunks a cliché. “There’s no such thing as a creative routine for a designer,” Elisa points out. “That’s precisely what makes it the best job in the world,” she continues. The beginning of this adventure winds along a path whose destination is the construction of a story, a solid but emotional one – like the one created through a pair of glasses – that is nourished, and grows, thanks to needs, be they latent or explicit. For a creative person, moving through the world of desires and fulfilling them means intercepting people’s needs through intuition. Research, at this point, is the indispensable scope that allows a creative person to measure themselves against the most important variable in the development of an idea: the historical moment in which people live and move. There are texts that addressed the fresh relevance of such a research method back in the day, which counted factors long neglected by traditional historians as decisive in identifying the totality of a civilisation: as early as the beginning of the 1930s, Johan Huizinga, the famous Dutch historian, claimed attention to dreams, illusions, fears and even colour sensitivities to define the character of an era.

These aspects mark the better-known history of mindsets which, even more so, has to come to terms with the scenarios that condition everyday life

“In the aftermath of the lockdown, we saw a drastic change in people’s needs,” says Elisa. “The quest for wellbeing, both physical and emotional, was an essential element at a time when there was a renewed impetus in the use of technology.” If communicating and going about one’s business from home, taking advantage of agile working options, have proved to be acts of resilience, in the realm of taste and aesthetics they have translated into canons reminiscent of the essence of the Bauhaus movement, officially established in Germany in 1919, which gave voice to rebellion by attributing functionalism to art and crafts.

Ovals and rectangles as solid and soothing emotional reality.

In the post-pandemic context, people’s needs have become equally divided between wellbeing and the functionality of technology, placed at the service of society

“Aesthetically, this trend, defined by people’s need for protection and a quest for stability, at such a delicate time in history, resulted, as it did for the Bauhaus school, in a return to geometric shapes and primary colours.” Traces of these influences, which since the 20th century have continued to intertwine with the style of our time – and for that to come, according to industry experts – are present in the new Marcolin collections and tell of a world of abundant volumes, shapes with enveloping and transparent masks, evoking tension towards a need for protection, represented through very bold, fluorescent colours, such as yellow and orange. And while for certain accessories, like shoes for example, we have seen the return to the catwalk of square heels, the quintessential symbol of stability, on the face certain shapes have proved more functional than others in recreating the same purpose. Ovals and rectangles as the manifestation of a solid and soothing emotional reality, in the exercise of an aesthetic that does not alter but rather enhances the value of the naturalness of a face.

Maria Frida

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Just as Frida Kahlo

One of the most influential female artists of the 20th century in many respects – from gender history to politics, from art to contemporary culture in the broadest sense – was born and lived in the same place, according to a single act of love, the creation of this collector’s item at Marcolin is the result of the particular symphony created between a client – a brand with a marked penchant for experimentation – and a creative team eager to surf the waves of inspiration. How did the union between a modern, revolutionary icon and a plant with equally nonconformist symbolism come about? The link was created by virtue of the creative input provided by GCDS: namely the client’s logo and marijuana leaves.

Composed of 250 silkscreen-printed, hand-painted flowers. Flower by flower, they were positioned individually

It is precisely this leaf that plays the starring role in a unique piece

Created as an object of desire and to successfully parade down a major catwalk, later recreated as a prototype to enrich the Marcolin archive. The fact that it is a collector’s item is defined by the elaborate geometry of the details: the eyewear, with its generous volume and pastel colours, echoing the shapes and colours typical of the 1970s, is composed of 250 silkscreen-printed, hand-painted flowers. Flower by flower, they were positioned individually, following the common thread that would then create the visual effect to be achieved. Also contributing to the unique character of the piece was the special importance attached to the names by which the projects resulting from this collaboration are identified. In this case, uniting the collective imagination linked to Frida Kahlo with the leaf and its symbolism was the creative flair of a team well aware that even if we called a flower by any other name, its rebellious and revolutionary scent would remain.

Sabrina Paulon

Posted on by Redazione
1

Marcolin has more than two thousand employees worldwide. 57% are women. What are your actions aiming towards in terms of inclusion?

Marcolin has always supported company policies that promote work-life balance. This was already the case before I joined the company in 2014. Since its foundation, Marcolin has implemented policies aimed to support its female employees with nursery fees, for example, to prevent women in an area of the Belluno district lacking in services from abandoning their jobs and deciding to take care of their families, either by choice or out of necessity. There’s always been a willingness on the part of the company to encourage gender policies, in a broad sense, because at the time women made up more than 60% of company employees, especially in the production sector. Over time, Marcolin has grown into a managerial company, with an international dimension, and is no longer family owned. This new set-up has also affected human resources management. We’ve developed several policies to support not only female but also male employees, who also play a key role in family management. Again, in support of work-life balance, we have included several benefits, from parental leave also being extended to fathers to the development of in-company and digital focus groups on parenting pathways, addressing, for example, the challenge of the new world of teenagers. These are initiatives that focus on the wellbeing of the individual. With a balanced family life, people can bring more energy into the company and transfer the same balance to it. To promote inclusion, we decided to write a charter, which we have called the ‘Diversity and Inclusion Charter’, to be handed down as part of Marcolin’s DNA, enshrined in a second-level agreement, because one positive thing we have today, among others, is that we consider diversity an added value. But we did not stop there. The Charter will be followed by actions and projects that will emphasise Marcolin’s commitment within this sphere.

2

What company policies have been put in place to foster the professional growth of staff in the company?

We have set up Leadership Academy pathways with the aim of nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. This year, for the first time, we have put on a session dedicated to female leadership, although the class will be inclusive and mixed. We will continue to actively support the ‘Empowering Optical Women Leadership’ project run by ANFAO – the Italian National Association of Optical Goods Manufacturers. In addition to addressing classic topics, such as soft skills and financial brand finals, we will focus on the typical value characteristics of female employees and how they interchange between the two genders. Without forgetting that this year we have been recognised as ‘Italy’s Best Employers for Women 2023’ in the eyewear industry, according to the report conducted by the German Quality and Finance Institute.

3

What are the three key words for successful human resources management? And in what way is Marcolin unique?

When we talk about human resources, we are talking about people, not just employees or working relationships. It is important for us to be able to listen to the needs of new employees because we have realised that they have changed profoundly over time. We have moved from welfare-related requests, i.e. relating to services, such as rewards in terms of remuneration to be used for forms of recreation or welfare, to agile working, a policy that Marcolin had already envisaged for its employees before the pandemic precisely in order to help create a work-life balance. Today, there are those who wish to have more time at their disposal and those who wish to grow quickly within the company. That’s why we have facilitated agile working solutions even five times a week and professional growth pathways, through job protection policies and the Academy, but also with work challenges abroad, for those people who wish to prioritise their professional fulfilment. As far as I’m concerned, it’s important to deal with human resources with flexibility: this allows me to accommodate all employees and to be able to build an organisation that can reconcile all needs.

Duro Olowu

Posted on by Redazione
1

People, Places, Colour, titolo della sua esclusiva Capsule Collection, sembrano identificare tre componenti essenziali del suo viaggio ideale. Ha dei luoghi del cuore in cui questi tre ideali si incontrano e fluiscono insieme?

Per me le persone e i luoghi sono collegati dal colore. La mia capsule collection per MAX&Co. è proprio espressione di questo. Ci si ricorda dei luoghi che abbiamo visitato, soprattutto in vacanza, per i colori della città, del terreno, del mare, oppure per i modi particolarmente suggestivi con cui le persone di un luogo specifico si vestono e mescolano colori vivaci. Questa collezione è proprio espressione di quel mix gioioso e stile fantastico. Mi sono basato sulla mia ben nota passione e conoscenza dell’arte contemporanea. La mia Capsule Collection per MAX&Co. si è ispirata al lavoro dell’artista italiano Luigi Ghirri, le cui fotografie poetiche, colorate e dal gusto cinematografico, meravigliosamente composte e contrapposte al paesaggio italiano degli anni ’70 e ’80 evocavano la bellezza e l’emozione di un viaggio tranquillo verso luoghi familiari. Immagino l’artista che prolunga i suoi viaggi verso altre parti del mondo, come Bamako in Mali, utilizzando la sua macchina fotografica per catturare lo stesso tipo di momenti e sfumature in technicolor.  

La collezione rappresenta quella che io immagino sia la donna MAX&Co: giovane e libera da pregiudizi con un approccio fresco nel modo di vestire
2

In che modo si è sviluppato il processo di collaborazione? Come è stato lavorare con il team MAX&Co. e con il team Marcolin?

Tutta la mia esperienza di lavoro su questa collezione è stata molto creativa e divertente. Sono uno stilista molto pratico sotto ogni punto di vista e il team è rimasto entusiasta e incoraggiato da questo aspetto del mio processo creativo. A questo va aggiunto l’accesso che ho avuto ai loro incredibili archivi. Una combinazione di qualità, innovazione e standard elevati che è sempre molto importante per me e il mio lavoro. 

3

Che tipo di donna ha immaginato quando ha creato People, Places, Colour?

La collezione rappresenta quella che io immagino sia la donna MAX&Co. Giovane e libera da pregiudizi con un approccio fresco e interessante verso il modo di vestire. Una donna che pensa meno all’abbigliamento casual o formale, da giorno o da sera e mescola silhouette classiche (con dettagli inaspettati) in colori uniformi e vividi con fantasie ricche e audaci, in modo interessante. È una donna intelligente e consapevole del mondo in cui vive e dei luoghi che visita. Non è facilmente influenzabile e compie le proprie scelte riguardanti l’abbigliamento in maniera spontanea ma consapevole.