132 THE SCANDINAVIAN MYTH
A touch of Sweden in Milan: two floors, exposed beams, light filtered by white curtains, space inhabited by objects that speak a foreign language: «Your home should reflect what you love, in every detail» says Marco Zanini. «This is where I express my love for the great North», he continues, «almost everything you see comes from up there: the sofa, armchairs, knick knacks». A design enthusiast, Zanini works in another creative sphere: fashion. After the Academy, he took his first steps in fashion design with Lawrence Steel, then moved on to Dolce & Gabbana; after which he was with Versace for nine years. Following a spell in New York, he went to Paris: five years as art director with Rochas and one with Schiapparelli. Now he’s on a sabbatical. A pause for thought after twenty years of working non-stop. He’s taken advantage of this to set up home in Milan, one of the two cities after his own heart. The other is Stockholm, where he’s been hundreds of times, particularly for summer holidays in the archipelago. Swedish on his mother’s side, Zanini has an aesthetic and sentimental bond with Scandinavia: «I love its romantic spirit, its exotic sky and open spaces; its sophisticated simplicity, which appeals to my personal idea of elegance». He hired Milan’s Studio 02 to help him restore his house. Matteo Bermani, the architect who oversaw the project, explains that the customised furniture, bookcase and vestibule were inspired by the type of wood, colours and forms of Swedish furniture of the Fifties. «Of very sober line: in those years decoration was out. All we did was introduce a little movement». Also customdesigned are the radiator covers, copies of period models. To put everything else in place, Zanini took his time. «I wanted each item to be just right – even if I had to wait, hunt down, compete at an auction in order to have it. As I said, I’m a romantic». And a bit of a control freak: even now that it all looks perfect, he’s not a hundred percent satisfied. «Just as one’s taste is constantly developing, so is one’s home. When it seems finished, you unexpectedly find an object that you didn’t know you wanted». It could be pottery from Gustavsberg, the cradle of «master potters». Or a piglet-shaped leather pouf produced by an English manufacturer. Or, again, a carpet from the workshop of Märta Måås-Fjetterström, an influential twentieth-century weaver and colourist. It’s important for each thing to have a mind of its own: «In my house, each object can stay where it wants» says Zanini: «I simply help it find its own place». One wall in the living room is entirely dedicated to photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe, a personal myth of Zanini’s. «I react very strongly to all things visual – apart from fashion – cinema, design and art are the forms of expression that have the most immediate impact on my imagination. If possible, I like to have the works of artists I’ve met. I consider myself a potential, keen, future collector».
Art director and ‘potential collector’, Marco Zanini has built himself a little Sweden in Milan – very slowly. Every object must be just so boiserie,