Imma Sarnacchiaro and the inspiration behind Ricciocaprese's design
With her Ricciocaprese brand, Imma Sarnacchiaro creates handcrafted furniture items with Capri’s unmistakable style, blending bright colors and bold shapes inspired by Mediterranean nature.
Ricciocaprese’s design echoes a magical summer on Capri, one of Italy’s most glamorous islands, famous for its rugged landscape and caves, artistic history and refined lifestyle.
The Neapolitan designer-who founded the Ricciocaprese workshop with her husband Fabio Majello in 2007-creates original pieces that tell the story of hidden treasures, of the land and sea of the Mediterranean.
A regular brand at Maison et Objet, Ricciocaprese has received awards both in Italy and abroad.
- How would you describe
in a few words
Ricciocaprese?
“Ricciocaprese is the expression of nature embodied
in its shapes and colors.
It is an opportunity to hear and experience the tale
of Italian beauty.”
- How long has the brand existed and how has it evolved over this period?
“The name ‘Ricciocaprese’ comes from my everyday life: my husband and I often eat, right on Capri, spaghetti with urchin.”
“The brand took shape, then, from a desire to create handmade sculptures, relying on the craftsmanship of artisans from the Capodimonte school, but with a modern and elegant design.”
“There is never a shortage of inspiration and references to the natural spectacle to which, we Mediterraneans, are almost addicted: to our colors, our scents, our vegetation
land and sea.”
“Ricciocaprese traces its roots back to the late1800s, as the daughter of Majello 1867, a company famous for its Capodimonte porcelain, the kind with a thousand little leaves and microscopic flowers so beloved in those years. It is the skill of its artisans that made it possible to create so many sculptures.
In the first presentation of Ricciocaprese at Maison & Objet in Paris in 2007, several small urchins in the classic fishermen’s tacera and, on that occasion, their beauty caused them to be mistaken for real ones, to be eaten.”
- Where do you find
inspiration for
your creations?
“In general, I find inspiration from my surroundings
andfrom my everyday life.
Fortunately for me, I live “trapped” by the beauty
of my Naples and my islands, especially by the anarchy
of the thousands of colors existing in our city.”
- What is your favorite
item from Ricciocaprese
and why?
“Ricciocaprese was born with the hedgehog, but I am in love with the Fonteline and that world they belong to, I wish I could have lived those years.”
- What are the identifying colors of Ricciocaprese?
“The color sugar paper-between light blue, blue and light blue-is the color that represents Ricciocaprese: it is the color of the sea, of Naples and Capri.”
- How do you manage to combine beauty and well-being?
“Beauty is truly fascinating and memorable when it tells about you, when it is authentic, as well as well-being that cannot be objective but is dictated by your desires and what you like.”
“In the home you have to personalize your spaces with your favorite color, the shapes that most envelop you.
Ricciocaprese gives you the opportunity to choose your item in as many details as you choose your perfume from many.”
- Your design is so colorful and full of personality. Is your house like that, too? What advice would you give to those who are trying to create a similar Mediterranean style?
“My home has all earthy color palettes, in which I find my serenity and true beauty, because they bring me back to nature and the warmth I am always looking for.”
"I say the house should look like you and not look like architects or interior designers."
- How do you manage to combine beauty and well-being?
“The future is quality, comfort and customization. “
We will increasingly live in our homes, which inevitably….
…It will have to be designed to make us feel the best way possible.”