Luca Nichetto - From Murano to Stockholm, a journey from craft to the world of design

In this podcast, Yoko Choy, China editor of Wallpaper* and co-founder of Collective Contemporist, a creative consultancy with offices in China and Amsterdam that brings together designers from East and West for cross-cultural exchanges and collaborations, talks to internationally renowned Italian designer Luca Nichetto.

For a complete insight, please watch the full interview above or listen to it as a podcast.

Raised in Murano, a Venetian island famed for its glass-blowing industry, the young Luca was told by his art teacher that he had talent; he and his friends spent holidays selling their drawings to local factories before he started his design training at the Istituto Statale d'Arte di Venezia.

During this time, he met several illustrious names and learned from their different approaches to their work. While still studying, he produced his Millebolle collection of vases for the Italian Salviati glass company which is still in production. In 2006, Nichetto Studio was founded and Luca went on to gain fame as a highly versatile industrial designer. 

The chance to diversify further came when he moved to Stockholm, where he set up his second studio in 2011. This was an opportunity to discover a way of blending his artistic Latin temperament with the more pragmatic Scandinavian culture. “I am still a hundred per cent Italian, so am still adapting myself to different kind of scenarios and different behaviour. I think that my design, for sure, has achieved a good balance between the two different cultures,” he says.

His portfolio ranges from work for luxury brand Hermès (window displays in Venice and Hong Kong); conceptualising and producing items for France’s lifestyle brand La Manufacturer; rebranding the staid family business Studio Italia Design as Lodes and introducing the chic Easy Peasy rechargeable lamp; and a new look for Danish brand Wendelbo with its latest launch Cinder Block modular sofa collection.