Marcel Wanders
Ambrogio Carati
Dutch-born Marcel Wanders is a leading light in international design. Charismatic and eclectic, he has captured the attention of the media, top brands and the world’s most important museums with his iconoclastic talent. A true outsider, he rose to fame in the 1990s with the conceptual movement Droog Design. After founding WAACS Design & Consultancy in 1992 and Wanders Wonders studio in Amsterdam in 1995, he gathered the best talents in 2001 to create Moooi, a sophisticated and innovative lifestyle & design brand for which Wanders also serves as art director. As a lecturer, designer and interior decorator, he has been involved in numerous successful collaborations with top international groups, including Fendi, Cappellini, Flos, Louis Vuitton, Magis, and Alessi. Highly published and multi-award-winning, his works are displayed at the MoMA in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Vitra Design Museum. His creations are of a consistently innovative, visionary, avant-garde nature, imbued with the concept of emotional connection, giving his products an enchanting human and emotional touch.
Ambrogio Carati, an exceptional bronzesmith, inherited the workshop opened in 1894 by his father and grandfather. Today, Ambrogio works with passion and professionalism alongside sons Ernesto and Francesco to combine expertise developed over more than a century in the business with modern techniques and cutting-edge equipment. Custom furniture pieces, Louis 14th-16th door handles, Napoleonic style wall lights, as well as accessories and brass and bronze fittings for classic furniture from 17th to 19th century, period-style beds, and chandeliers are just some of the atelier’s creations. The workshop also specialises in polishing, gilding, chrome plating, restoration and regular maintenance of brass items. The Caratis’ skill lies in their artisan reproduction of antique models, including furniture friezes, studs, knobs, handles, grips and any type of brass object, using the lost-wax casting technique or clay casting. The result is a historic, dearly cherished outpost of Milanese excellence.
