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‘The smallest things are always the most

precious,’ says Marco Zanini. He is used to

thinking big, engineering a string of

successful brand relaunches, but in late 2016,

Zanini downsized to design for artisanal

shoemaker Santoni.

On a sunless winter day, he arrives at

Milan’s Casa degli Atellani – a Renaissance-

era city landmark where Leonardo lived while

painting The Last Supper – and opens the door

MARCO ZANINI WITH JOURNALIST AND

PROJECT CURATOR ANGELO FLACCAVENTO

AT PIERO PORTALUPPI’S HOME IN MILAN

to the whimsically deco apartment of the late

architect Piero Portaluppi, which served as

the inspiration for Zanini’s newest collection.

Portaluppi was a key figure of early 20th-

century Milan, and his style became part of

the city’s fabric in buildings such as Palazzo

Crespi, Villa Necchi and the Liberty-

influenced renovation of Casa degli Atellani.

Zanini, a remarkably tall man, passes

through Portaluppi’s foyer, a room frescoed

like an arboretum with fan palms, laurel,

ivy and cactus, and takes a seat in the living

room. ‘Small means precise. Small means

agile,’ he continues, bending his knees sharply

to perch on a petite ivory couch. ‘Small was

the very idea that gave birth to this project.’ »

Little wonder

Santoni‘s Marco Zanini on plotting a small revolution at Piero Portaluppi’s home in Milan

PHOTOGRAPHY: GIULIO GHIRARDI WRITER: LAURA RYSMAN ∑ 087

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