JEDDAH, 20 November 2007 — Samuele Mazza is a visual designer and stylist of artistic interiors.
Mazza, based in Milan, Italy, who began his career as a fashion designer, is today recognized as an expert in interiors, including furnishings and furniture.
“Expertise in fashion designing helps in designing interiors,” said Mazza, a name to reckon with in the world of interior design. “Any interior and furniture design must reflect art and style to attract the connoisseurs and lovers of interior decoration,” Mazza told Arab News in an interview.
Samuele Mazza’s style matured in the 1980’s as a fashion designer and director of a publishing company dedicated to the most important ‘Made in Italy’ companies and designers.
It was his curiosity and passion for every kind of artistic expression that led him to organize important exhibitions in the principal museums of the world.
“Saudi Arabia has a taste for luxury products and so I liberally use leather and black that are a luxury in interior furnishing to suit this market,” he says.
Asked why he prefers Gothic designs, Mazza said: “The Gothic reflects a royal style. Saudi families love to live like royals in villas and palatial houses. They love European designs, the Gothic in particular.”
The average European woman does not know what she wants, whether in terms of product, quality, design or style.
“But that is not the case with Saudi women. They generally tend to select the most beautiful object that is of modern style and taste. What’s more, they like the most luxurious environment,” he says.
Asked what products impressed him the most during his visit to the Kingdom, Mazza said: “Carpets. The carpet that impressed me the most is one that combines wool and silk. That is a model carpet for me,” he said, adding that he longs to design Saudi carpets.
“I don’t want to bring European goods to the Kingdom. Rather, I would design classic carpets and export them to the West,” he said.
“I would like to offer custom made designs to the Kingdom. I know they have a preference for handmade and handcrafted carpets. I wish to offer unique products,” said Mazza.
Mazza is the brain behind the first ever Visionnaire showroom in Milan, a true temple to glamour in Milan, a gallery in which objects and furnishings created by Ipe Cavalli and tied to the concept of fashion design are on display. They are unique pieces, refined and unusual, inspired by surreal aesthetics as well as by contemporary kitsch raised to the level of pop art.
Visionnaire in Jeddah, which is managed by Abdul Rahman Bakhashwain, is the latest project of Mazza who is credited with bringing to life the Ipe Cavalli Visionnaire collection of furniture and furnishings. After all, Visionnaire is Mazza’s passion. He has always considered the world of interior design as his obsession.