A throng of tourists crowds every day at the gates of Santa Maria delle Grazie to see The Last Supper, the famous mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci. A few meters from the church hides a quiet street with residential buildings with palatial airs: whitish stone facades, balconies with stucco details, silent gardens. The famous architect Piero Portaluppi lived in one of these buildings, who in the thirties of the last century was in charge of rehabilitating the well-known Milanese temple. A bronze doorbell with the inscription “MM” now shines on the portal of the former home of Portaluppi. They are the initials of Martina Mondadori (Milan, 42 years old), founder of Cabana, a decoration and lifestyle brand that in four years has become one of the favorites among design and interior design connoisseurs. The editor and businesswoman saw this property at the end of 2019 and in the midst of a pandemic, when many Milanese were fleeing the city, she began to restore it. “It took me six months to decorate it, although two years later I’m still adding things,” she says, sitting on a sofa upholstered in a terracotta-colored fabric from the English firm Lewis & Wood. “It was very easy because Ashley helped me a lot,” she continues, referring to her partner, British interior designer and photographer Ashley Hicks, who can be heard working in an adjoining room. Behind Mondadori there is a wall lined with a hand-painted wallpaper by Hicks himself that recreates the pattern of a sumptuous Ottoman silk from 1590. The wall synthesizes the aesthetic vision of the owner of this house: more is more.
The apartment is familiar and is full of souvenirs and objects inherited or bought in antique shops and flea markets. Mondadori shares this home with Hicks and the three children she had with financier Peter Sartogo. The rooms are spacious, but cozy and motley. Everywhere are intricate prints, ikat weaves and bold mixes. The house exudes a tone between Italian and oriental. The bookcases are hidden behind fabrics inspired by a 15th-century Florentine velvet. Some Egyptian curtains by Goya Gallagher embroidered in the Cairo souk serve to separate some rooms. In a small room painted in Indian yellow hangs a collection of old caftans from Uzbekistan.
His passion for the Middle East and Asia was inherited from his father, Leonardo Mondadori, who for decades was president of the Italian publishing house that bears his last name. “We traveled a lot to Turkey, Morocco, Israel, Egypt… He liked everything old and his house revolved around his travels and collections,” he explains. From her mother, Paola Zanussi, daughter of the founder of the Zanussi appliance company, she received much of her knowledge about decoration. She “She was an awesome hostess, hard to beat. She made everyone feel at home. She always had visitors, she was always giving a dinner or a party, ”she recalls. “She was very eclectic when it came to setting the table. There was never anything white, except the flowers. The crockery, the table linen, everything was full of color and patterns. That festive atmosphere influenced me a lot. That is why the tables are a central part of my business.”
The businesswoman studied Philosophy and worked for many years as a communication consultant for luxury brands. She does not have formal decoration studies, but she had the best teachers. The legendary Renzo Mongiardino, her family’s head decorator, was one of her mentors. “He was very quiet and lived modestly. His apartment was not large or luxurious. He could sometimes be a bit snooty with his clients, but he always kept his feet on the ground,” she recalls.
Mongiardino adorned his clients’ estates with opulent Indian and Persian fabrics, Old Master artwork, and stunningly realistic trompe l’oeil. His style is difficult to imitate, but Mondadori has succeeded. One of the rooms on the floor is decorated with a surround trompe l’oeil Made by Ashley Hicks, inspired by Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s drawings of the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Paestum. “Although she may not look like it, as a child she longed for a minimalist white house. She couldn’t stand all those rich bosses that were in my mother’s house, ”she admits. She now joyfully embraces the maximalist aesthetic.
His aesthetic references also include Cy Twombly’s Roman apartment, the gardens of the philosopher Umberto Pasti and the photographs of François Halard. The floor reflects all those influences and is also a perfect showcase for his brand, Cabana. In 2014, Mondadori founded a biannual design publication of that name to celebrate the renaissance of the craft. The magazine, whose covers are designed by luxury firms such as Fendi, Gucci, Loewe, Loro Piana, Pierre Frey and Liberty, has become an object of desire for designers, interior designers and architects from all over the world. In the last issue, published in April, a report is devoted to Andalusia. “We are bombarded by digital images. If you’re going to print something, you have to be different and special. Our magazine is like a book. It is bought, read, saved and collected. We offer a visual experience, but also a tactile one”, he explains.
In 2019, he expanded the Cabana universe by launching Casa Cabana, a lifestyle and decoration line steeped in his style. Vibrant colors and intricate patterns run through all the collections of plates, glasses, tablecloths, napkins, lamps, cushions, and chairs offered by the brand. “The home line went on the market when the pandemic broke out. Sales plummeted. I thought: ‘It’s the end, I’m going to have to close.’ That was in March 2020. In April, people started getting used to staying at home. In May the orders skyrocketed, ”he says. “We all stop buying clothes to buy items for the home.”
Mondadori believes that the decoration boom is not a passing thing. “Wealthier people are buying new properties and people with less money are renovating their homes. We have learned to enjoy the art of receiving at home ”, she points out. Now Cabana is expanding in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. The brand has already made limited editions with large firms such as Carolina Herrera or Etro.
A few months ago, the Zara Home team offered her a collaboration and invited her to visit the company’s headquarters in A Coruña. “I have always bought at Zara Home. I admire many of the people they collaborate with, like Vincent Van Duysen. When I got to their offices I saw that many designers had Cabana pages on their inspiration boards. That captivated me,” she admits. A meeting with Marta Ortega, president of Inditex, was enough to seal the agreement. “Marta is a young woman at the helm of a large company and for me that is inspiring,” she says.
Mondadori sees this collaboration with the Galician textile giant as an opportunity to reach new audiences. “Many of the things we do at Cabana are expensive, limited editions. This is a way to make them more accessible”, he points out. He believes that the DNA of his brand fits with the identity of Spain. “Italians and Spaniards like to have fun. We share that joy of living ”, he concludes. In a few weeks he will launch a capsule collection of dresses with the Spanish brand Valeria Cotoner and is already exploring new alliances. For her, more is always more.
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