Letter From the Editor: Redesigning the Future with the Past

Today, many companies are thinking about sustainability, and consumers are tired of buying inexpensive items they soon throw away. While these companies and consumers look for alternatives, a timeless solution has already been around for hundreds of years—traditional craftsmanship and manufacturing.

In this issue, we turn our attention to family workshops passed down through the generations, creating heirloom products we love, cherish, and pass down to our children.

Our journey begins in a workshop in Venice established by the Bevilacqua family, whose legacy in making sumptuous velvet for palaces around the world spans 500 years. The rhythmic clacking ‘music’ of its 18th-century looms takes the visitor back to the Renaissance, a time when Venice was the epicentre of velvet manufacturing.

In France, we visit the only eyewear company to have earned the prestigious title of Maître D’Art given by the Parisian Minister of Culture. Maison Bonnet has passed its bespoke craftsmanship and know-how for four generations.

Over time, the atelier has made some of the world’s most iconic eyewear for fashion influencers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Jackie Onassis, and Audrey Hepburn.

In another fateful encounter, a young Bill Harlan was so inspired by France’s vineyards that he set out to establish a First Growth estate in Napa Valley, an unimaginable feat 40 years ago.

Aligned with the old ways of French winemaking, Harlan created a 200-year plan he’s been following ever since. His vineyard’s highly acclaimed premier wine, Harlan Estate, currently has a two-year waiting list.

Far away in the picturesque region of Konjic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Nikšić brothers launched their furniture brand Zanat. Collaborating with world-renowned designers, they incorporate traditional wood carving techniques into modern designs that call out to the human spirit.

There are many such inspiring stories in this issue, guiding us to live a joyful and beautiful life with generations-old wisdom that anchors us in the past while allowing us to grow and prosper into the future.