The Florentine entrepreneur who has been able to reinvent and relaunch his family business revealed that the brand is planning a big event: “I can’t say where, but this time it won’t be in Florence”. Art, design and craftsmanship are always in high demand when it comes to Made in Italy products. The world-renowned tableware brand Mario Luca Giusti is a testimony of this. Owned and run by the namesake Florentine entrepreneur, the company has undergone a constant growth ever since its foundation in 2007.

Its creations represent the perfect balance determined by the harmonious contrast of classic and elegant styles of its designs, combined with the constant research of the contemporary materials and colour tonalities employed. Mario Luca Giusti revolutionized the family’s successful footwear business, and he identify in the tableware world a high potential that was still unexplored. With his products in synthetic crystal, polycarbonates and melamine, Giusti bridged a gap that existed between what the market offered and what people were looking for to decorate their dinner tables. One collection after the other, the Mario Luca Giusti’s practical and creative collections conquered the Italian market first, and consequently the rest of the world. We had the pleasure of interviewing Mario Luca Giusti and tried to unveil the secrets behind his success and the company’s upcoming goals.

Q: Your products have become “must have” designer pieces to decorate homes, terraces, gardens, pools or yachts. How did you manage to achieve such an ambitious result?
A: With lots of passion for everything that encompasses home décor, especially tableware. To gather around a dinner table means to share very important moments. Therefore, everything must be perfect, from the food to how the table is set.

Q: How did you even begin to think about recreating classical designs using such an innovative material?
A: I always loved classical designs. I felt that creating products employing a contemporary material such as synthetic crystal, used to give life to designs inspired by objects from bygone times, harnesses a truly charming balance, and is perfect to satisfy different tastes and needs.

Q: Colors represent a cornerstone element of Mario Luca Giusti’s style. How do you go by choosing the color palettes for your products, and for your collections in general?
A: We have certain baseline colors, such as clear, blue, green, red and white. And then we have colors that we showcase during the Paris and Milan fairs. We try to find out how our clients react to them. If they like them, then we produce them. If they do not, then we remove them from our color palette.

Q: Mario Luca Giusti’s distribution now has a global reach. How do you keep yourselves this active on the market?
A: By presenting novelty designs at Maison et Objet in Paris and at Homi in Milan, both in September and in January, where we showcase products ranging from tableware to home décor in a wide array of colors and tonalities. Nowadays, people live at home more than ever; therefore, they are constantly in need of something new and colorful. And we offer them the opportunity of choice.

Q: Have you ever thought of celebrating your brand by organizing a special event? And, if so, what kind of event would you want to realize?
A: We like to connect the brand to our city, Florence. In the past, we organized two events that yielded an amazing success. First in Piazza Goldoni, right by our flagship store in via della Vigna Nuova, when we filled a “flowerbed” with our Palla pitchers, one of our staple products, for the Vogue Fashion Night, and then in Piazza Strozzi during Pitti Uomo, with our reinterpretation of the “Italian Garden,” which we also created using the Palla pitchers. Art and the art of the table: a perfect combination.

Q: Have you ever thought of creating Mario Luca Giusti collections specifically tailored for events?
A: No, not specifically. However, our products are oftentimes used during very important events. The most recent one was the G7 for Culture, which was held here in Florence. And before that even at events held at the Italian Embassies in Paris and Bern.

Q: Home décor provides services and products aimed at a young clientele. How do you keep your products so fresh and innovative?
A: We travel a lot, and we look at what people want and like, albeit many objects we produce originate from our personal desires. If it is impossible to find a glass that we like, then we create one according to our taste, just as we would want it to be.

Q: We know that your daughter, Federica, follows the company very closely. What advice would you give to a young entrepreneur?
A: To always put lots of passion in what they do, and to have enough will not to stop at once they encounter their first difficulties. I believe that it is very important to work your way up the ladder. My daughter, Federica, in fact, began working at our store in via della Vigna Nuova, and now she is responsible for the retail channel consisting of our two stores in Florence and those of Milan, Rome, Forte dei Marmi, Arezzo, Marina di Campo, Portoferraio and Saint Tropez.