Valextra Meets Martina Lucatelli
The Milan-based set designer on her creative process and Valextra collaboration.
Flawlessly capturing Valextra’s inherent synchronicity with Milan and its iconic design legacy, the celebrated set designer Martina Lucatelli is one of our most attuned collaborators. Ahead of her latest installation for our Valextra 24/7 series, we asked her about her influences, her process and the Valextra icon that best defines her.
Valextra: Buongiorno Martina! What first attracted you to the world of set design?
Martina Lucatelli: It happened by chance. I met a person who introduced me to the world of publishing, a design magazine, and so it all began.
V: How would you describe your aesthetic and what influences it?
ML: I'm always very attracted to new products, designers, artists and interiors that I don't know, so my taste is constantly evolving, although I like a type of honest aesthetic, without too many decorations. Everything influences me, from art to landscape, travel, the people I meet in my life. If I have to quote someone, I’m very interested in the figure of Andrée Putman; her work and her point of view is very inspiring to me.
V: What are the skills and traits that are crucial for a set designer to have?
ML: I would say curiosity above everything else.
V: What are the key things to consider when approaching a project like Valextra 24/7?
ML: Valextra is certainly a brand closely linked to the world of design, so it pays very high and accurate attention to the selection of pieces in all settings. I always try to describe different moments that are fun but still linked to beauty and it's always a mutual exchange of interests.
V: How did you decide which iconic design items to create for each Valextra 24/7 scenario?
ML: Firstly, we started from the concept, then we selected the pieces. There is always a right product for the idea we have in mind.
V: What Valextra item do you feel best defines you?
ML: I really like Tric Trac, it has its own definition; rational but versatile and also ironic, iconic, and unisex. I love this masterpiece.
V: What percentage of your personal style signatures do you bring to your projects?
ML: Of course, my way of being is somehow reflected in the projects. It's always a balance between the taste of the brand and my vision.
V: What are the differences between creating ‘a moment’ and a permanent installation?
ML: There is nothing eternal, even in a permanent installation. We live on perceptions tied to the moment.
V: How did you juxtapose your own style with that of Valextra and how does that relate to our shared hometown of Milano?
ML: I approached this project naturally because Valextra is a modern brand and we share the same thoughts. I associate it with architecture and great Milanese design, certainly for its clean and geometric shapes and the idea of unostentatious luxury.
V: Where would you send a design enthusiast who came to Milan for the first time?
ML: The Palazzo dell'Arte and its Design Museum
V: And finally, what role does Milan play in your approach and appreciation of design?
ML: It is a place where everything happens, I couldn't live anywhere else.