December 2019: Nicolò Gavazzi, a young entrepreneur who is very familiar with design (his father Roberto has been the CEO of Boffi since 1989), launches Up To You Anthology, a collection of handbags, each different from all the others: because they are made by starting with the ideas of internationally acclaimed designers. Begun as an ‘online only’ experiment, in March the venture opened a temporary store in Milan. And another one – permanent this time – is already in the offing. Here’s the story.
For starters: how did Up To You Anthology get started?
I was working in the world of investment banking, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, and I went to New York for an MBA at Columbia University. Back in Italy, after an experience with Hermès, I entered Boffi, where I learned about the company, and then I set off for Shanghai, where I stayed for three years, working on the part of the world that extends from India to New Zealand. I learned a lot. In 2015 I was back in Italy, and in 2019 I decided to leap into this new adventure. In Asia I had a chance to meet designers and architects on an incredible level, though they are not very famous for the general public. I thought it would be interesting to liberate their creative energy in a larger sector, like that of fashion. I asked them to design a bag also because it is an item that does not require too much technical expertise, unlike a dress or footwear.
What about the name?
It is a true anthology, because the creative talents involved have total freedom. Their thinking generates a different, personal aesthetic. Far from fashions, far from marketing decisions. Omi Tahara comes to mind: he says European women often carry fruit around with them, so he has created a bag that can contain two oranges. Or Nendo, who designed a flat bag to assemble at home like an origami, making it less expensive to ship. The only requirement, for everyone, was to conserve the quality and thinking of the project.
Was it a fast process?
I began working on it in February 2019, and I asked GraphX (the graphic design division of the studio of Piero Lissoni, ed.) to help me with the coordinated image. Then I gradually contacted the various designers. Putting the collection together was a race, and it was outside my previous experience. But today we can rely on a network of artisans of the highest quality, who also work for other brands, mostly in Lombardy and Tuscany.
Who was the first designer to say yes?
The first, apart from Lissoni (who still hasn’t done his bag, but will do it sooner or later), was Naoto Fukasawa, who I met at the Salone del Mobile. Then I took a trip to Japan and added Nendo and others. After that came contacts in America and England. It is not easy to keep everything under control, you have to chase people a bit. Also because they are often involved in gigantic projects, like designing skyscrapers. Then there is the addition of Candela Pelizza, an influencer, a very communicative personality.
The website also has a ‘design your own bag’ section: how does that work?
There are so many beautiful projects in the minds of people in the world, which for a thousand reasons never see the light. It would be great to give the best of those ideas a chance to exist. We have recently begun to work with Istituto Marangoni on a contest. I want to continue, hopefully to open up the project even more. Today we are focusing on distribution: we have a temporary store in Milan, in the Brera district, in the run-op to the opening of a store on Corso Venezia, which should open at the start of April.
Any previews?
We have an in-house art direction team, and we are evaluating the paths we can take. In June, for the Salone, we will create a special event to present two bags designed by Marcel Wanders.
Do you have a special dream project?
I would like to widen our search for talent beyond the boundaries of age: teens, children – my daughter is six and she’s already designing bags – have amazing creativity. They should be given room to grow.
