The business was born of serendipity in the early 1990s. Costanza, who trained in art and graphic design before raising her family, had taken on a small studio to draw and paint. Then inspiration struck. ‘I was looking for a set of plates, but all the dinner services I found looked overdone, so I decided to paint one,’ Costanza recalls. ‘Little by little, I became passionate about it.’ The path, however, wasn’t easy. ‘I had to learn everything from scratch; it took two years of trial and error before I reached a level I was happy with,’ she adds, revealing how her own dining table became the testing ground.
A colourful selection of hand-painted plates, each one decorated at the biscuit stage before glazing.
Giulio Ghirardi
The home she shares with her husband is on the top floor of an ancient palazzo just a few streets from the workshop. Designed by Italian architect Marco Zanuso in the 1940s, the apartment has an easy, lived-in grace. ‘We wanted this place to reflect us completely,’ Costanza says, describing how she decorated the flat by mixing family furniture and artworks with flea market finds and the occasional new design piece. ‘It’s more of a cosy nest than a place to entertain,’ she continues with a radiant smile. ‘At the weekends, we usually escape to the countryside, but this is where I truly feel at home.’
Colour sets the mood throughout, with Costanza embracing the idea that stronger hues ‘work best in small rooms, while in larger spaces it’s better to go for lighter and neutral tones.’ She designed the diminutive kitchen herself, giving it a country feel with cabinetry painted in a creamy white and rich mustard yellow. A more vibrant tone provides a joyful backdrop in the nearby dining room for a collection of 18th-century family plates and portraits in pastel. ‘I wanted this space to feel warm and welcoming, not minimal,’ she notes.
Costanza’s daughter, Margherita, joined the family business after working in the fashion industry.
Giulio Ghirardi
Costanza with her daughters Benedetta and Margherita. ‘I’m at the heart of creative process,’ she says, ‘but their combined talents have allowed the business to evolve in ways I couldn’t have imagined alone.’
Giulio Ghirardi