“It’s not about us and our style, it’s about the customer’s.”

– Irene Garau

I’m late when I arrive at the AMG studio. A beautiful young woman pauses her phone conversation to welcome me. While I wait, I admire the store. It’s a small space, intimate, elegant. Honey-colored light filters in through tall windows. Handmade silver globes float as if suspended in air. Mellifluous textiles cascade from the ceiling. One fabric catches my attention in particular: a robin’s-egg-blue silk with gold highlights. Exquisite. The woman finishes her phone call and joins me in the front room.

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The next hour flies by as I listen to Irene Garau express her passion for design. I didn’t have the opportunity to interview the company’s namesake, Anna Maria Gariazzo, but if Irene is any reflection of her mother, I would love to have the opportunity to meet Anna Maria as well. Irene started out by talking to me about the luxury interior design services that AMG provides for clients all over the world, from Dubai to NYC. “It’s nice to do something that helps people in their everyday life, no? It’s like a hug, you receive a hug when you come home.” The things that stand out as she speaks is AMG’s relationship with their clients, acting as an advocate for the client’s own creative sensibilities. “You have to understand that people are building their story. It’s a luxury to go into someone’s house and have them trust you.” To help clarify how AMG’s philosophy differentiates them from other design firms, Irene tells me a story: A wealthy Roman customer who wanted to redesign her villa hired a very important design firm. They proceeded to tell her that she would need to move out of her house for 6 months, and that she needed to get rid of everything so they could start from a blank slate. “She was not happy about this,” Irene tells me. “It’s not about us and our style, it’s about the customer’s.”

AMG_drapes_sq2It’s impossible to miss the fact that Irene is a very passionate woman; but when she starts talking to me about custom fabric design, I can tell it is something she is especially excited about. It’s when she tells me about their exclusivity agreement that my vision of the AMG service crystalizes and I’m kind of blown away. When a client commissions a fabric to be made by AMG, that client is the only one with access to it. AMG will not produce that particular design for anyone else, ever. So really, it’s like a painting or sculpture commission. It’s an original work of art. The thing that gives a painting value, as compared to a poster or even a screen print, is that the painting is one of kind. Copy it and distribute it to the world and the value goes way down. Thanks to modern technology, the cost of creating custom-woven fabric is low enough so that this service can be offered to the private individual, but no doubt it’s still an investment. It’s a very special thing, like commissioning a painting by a master artist. That is what you’re getting when you work with AMG. I can’t help but think about the kinds of people in history who had custom fabrics woven for them, thread by thread. That was the domain of kings and queens, princesses and dukes. In fact, AMG’s fabrics are produced in San Leucio, a town created by King Charles VII of Naples as an ambitious social experiment dedicated solely to textile production. All the needs of the workers were provided for and they enjoyed high standing in society for as long as they continued to produce fine fabrics. Today various companies continue to use the facility for textile production. Some notable recipients of San Leucio textiles include Buckingham Palace, the White House, and the Quirinale Palace.

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Irene opens a drawer and shows me some samples. I didn’t think I could be so inspired by fabric. The rich colors of the thread seem to emanate their own light. I feel like I’m paging through samples cut from royal robes.

Assuming the service isn’t cheap, I ask Irene how much of a call there could be for custom fabric. She talks to me about AMG’s nonstop flow of business. I congratulate her and then I ask her when she gets a chance to take a vacation. She goes silent. I read her expression and answer for her, “You don’t.” She laughs and responds, “It’s about passion and that’s enough. Passion and sacrifice.”

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I ask Irene about her creative process. Like I’ve heard before from so many creatives, Irene’s door to revelation is always open. The artist knows that inspiration comes when it wants to come and you have to be ready to catch it when it arrives. She tells me a story about how she was working away, listening to music when she realized she was really enjoying the music. Following a thread of inspiration, she decided to research the music and discovered that it came from the art nouveau period. From there, she researched the art and fashion of that era, which ultimately inspired and informed her designs.
“When I design something, I try to understand how simple it can be. I don’t like to be too strong. You have to live with this fabric. You have to see it everyday. So it has to be simple.” She mentions her AMGluxuryfabrics&interiordesign_dssketchbooks and I become excited because I know how informative it can be to see that intimate part of the artist’s process. For a good example of this, look up Roy Lichtenstein’s works and compare them to his sketches. I ask if I can see Irene’s sketchbook and without hesitation she flatly turns me down. This just makes me even more curious. Laughing, I half-plead with her. Smiling, she says maybe she’ll show me someday… but not today.

AMG_libraryI ask Irene about her biggest influence in terms of creativity and design. She tells me it is her mother. Suddenly she becomes quite emotional. Her brow furrows, her eyes go soft, and she says, “I love her, my mom. It’s my life.” It’s heartwarming to see such a strong relationship between two people who are related and who also work together. I’ve heard many stories about how this type of arrangement does not work out well. Irene tells me that when she was young, maybe 13, she would plead with her mother for them to work together. I ask her, “So this is a dream come true for you then?”

She smiles. “Yes!”

 

 

AMG Luxury Fabrics & Interior Design
via della vite 48
tel. +39 06 679 4920
http://www.annamariagariazzo.com
https://www.facebook.com/annamariagariazzo/

 

About Kasper Kavalaris

Kasper Kavalaris fell in love with Italian culture while studying art in Florence. When his schooling was complete he moved back to his hometown of Chicago but could never stop thinking about Italy. Years later the stars aligned and Kasper was able to make the move to Rome. For more than 10 years Kasper has worked as a painter of portraits and other commissioned works as well as a freelance illustrator, and comic artist. More recently he has worked as a comic writer, storyboarding artist and finally, a journalist. Working in the comics industry allowed Kasper to blend his writing and drawing abilities, leading to the realization that his true passion is visual storytelling. At this point, while Kasper enjoys the opportunities that journalism presents in terms of meeting people and continuing to hone his writing, he is also converting two of his original comic scripts into screenplays that he plans to turn into feature films. You can find more of Kasper’s work at KasperArtist.com or @kasperkavalaris on Twitter and Instagram.