You don’t enter this shop in Borgo Palazzo to make a purchase but to experience beauty.
Paintings, sculptures and design objects as well as armchairs, rugs, curtains, antique and theatre chairs, lamps, frames and cushions. Everything inside has its place. Everything gives a sense of perfect harmony and everything leads back to the passion and competence of someone who invests a lot of love there.
Together with the Urban District of Commerce we met Massimo Colleoni, owner of the shop, to let us tell the story of his business.
Massimo, 66, is the son of Alberto, who between 1953 and 1954 opened his first upholstery shop in the city. It was in this shop, that Massimo himself started to work as a child, helping his father during the summer months.
“For me, beauty is everything. Art is my passion and my disease!’ he tells us. ‘I was working, it’s true, but not only… Dad also sent me on holiday to Valbondione!’
Love for beauty is the common thread of Massimo’s life. It is what he wanted to transmit to his children Alberto and Federica. It is what has marked his relationship with Maria Antonietta, known as Toni, from the beginning.
‘When we got engaged in 1974, the first gift I gave her was a small Russian image!’
Alberto, 33 years old, sitting next to his father, smiles, rolls his eyes and adds, ironically: “Today I’m happy to have been infected by my father’s love for art, but when I was a teenager I was the only one of my friends not to have posters in their room but only pure abstract works!’.
For Alberto, it is absurd to visit new cities without entering museums. He says he is often having to battle with friends who would prefer to go to the beach. ‘I would so like to see on television, among the various reality shows, that they invented a new one, focused entirely on art: from Masterchef to Masterpiece! It would be fantastic!’. Only a child who was lucky enough to sleep in a Munari bed during his childhood can talk like this!
And this, even if only unconsciously, remains in you so much that it becomes part of you and your being in the world.
‘At Federica’s wedding, who is now an architect, the reception tables had the names of the greatest architects in the world’ adds Massimo with a satisfied air.
A common thread, we said, which also has results and impacts on the artisan business. It is impossible for Massimo to think of making a quote without having entered the house, office or building concerned. It is also impossible not to talk for a long time with customers to better understand them and create something that is tailored to each one. Planning time is precious, the added value of the city’s retailers, who also study the details in a sartorial way. “Here the sofas are not only two different sizes, we also make them 2 metres and 17 centimetres if it is necessary in order to make them more beautiful!’.
Beauty also educates about kindness, generosity and philanthropy.
Massimo does not shy away from supporting every form of art: an exhibition, a restoration or the purchase of a work that can be shared by everyone. “In my life, I was lucky enough to meet painter Paolo Ghilardi – who became my mentor – and to frequent the Fumagalli Gallery often. They were enchanting places for me.’
‘In our work today we put in everything we are: not only professional skills, from the choice of materials, to continuous checks on them, but also what our eyes have learned over time.’
The artistic and creative part is always supported by a team of workers and technicians with whom Alberto is also proudly doing an apprenticeship but – he adds – ‘Mum is the real backbone of this endeavor, without her, her meticulous work and organisation, it would be really difficult to do everything!’.
We conclude this intense chat by talking about Nonno Alberto, who was a ‘true artisan’. One of those who nowadays, is difficult to find, one of those who made Italy famous throughout the world for its work.
‘One year we were doing a big job abroad, together with a German company. When the teams arrived, the Germans’ team consisted of five people, ours one. We have always been unique in our work thanks to our creativity and the art of being able to make do!’
And still now, nothing is learned forever. For them every day is always new and the challenge is to continue solving problems with strokes of beauty.