Boat International – August 2019

FrancescaMuzio,FMArchitetturad’Interni,

andNiccolòPasquini,MacraDesign

FRANCESCA

“Niccolòisanincrediblestory.Imethim

yearsago,whenhewasthecaptainof

MrLoroPiana’ssailingyacht.Wegot

chattingandheshowedmealittlehand-

drawnsketchhe’ddone–assoonasIsawit,

Iknewhehadatalent.Isawapurityin

thelines;itlookedsomodern.

Hetoldmeitwashisdreamtobe

adesigner,andIsaidheneededtogo

touniversity–sohedid.Becausehewas

acaptain,hisapproachisverypractical–

heknowshowtorunaboat,andhe

knowswhatownerswanttoo.Thelast

35 metrehedidwasreallynice,andit’s

averysaleableproducttoo.WhatIlove

abouthimisthathewasbraveenoughto

followhispassion–toleavehisjob,with

aone-year-olddaughter,andtostartata

universitywherehe’dbemucholderthan

most.Sometimeshespendsnightsup

sketching–Iknowthatnow’stherighttime

forhimtoshine.”

NICCOLñ

“I’mnotthatyoung,I’minmyforties,so

becomingadesignerwasaharddecision

formetomake.Iwasworkingina

shipyardinFranceandIhadalotofpeople

surroundingme–architects,engineers,all

veryyoung.Ithought,iftheycandoit,so

canI.Iknowmorethanthem!

Engineeringschoolwasallabout

learningwhatyoucan’tdo,butIthink

myexperienceasacaptainmakesme

morecreative–Iknowwhat’spossible.

Myparentshadabeautifuloldboat,an

oldRoyalSquadron1896,soIhadthat

experiencefromchildhood.

IexchangesketcheswithFrancescaalot,

andshecanbequitetough,butIreally

appreciatethat.She’salwayspushingme

tofindmystyle,andtothinkabouthow

I’mpresentingmyideas.

Igraduatedfiveyearsago,andsincethen

I’velaunchedvarioussmalleryachtswith

shipyards,andworkedonotherprojects,

likeamechanicalwheelthatIdesigned.

NowI’mabouttoopenmyfirstoffice

withmyteaminItaly,andsoeverythingis

takingoff.Ireallybelievethatthere’sspace

fornewdesignersintheindustry–

ifyoureallywantit.”

FrancescawearsTibiblazer,£426,matchesfashion.

com,jeans,£115,ralphlauren.co.uk,Stella

McCartneyshirt,£450,farfetch.com,Bolérowatch

inpinkgold,£24,400,chaumet.com.Niccolòwears

jacket,£115,moss.co.uk,shirt,£130,lucafaloni.com

NEXT GEN^161

08 2019

“What I love about Niccolò is

that he was brave enough to

follow his passion – to leave

his job, with a one-year-old

daughter, and to start at

a university where he’d be

much older than most”