Inside track: The yacht interior design brands to know this season

A degree in architecture and a passion for fine art were the foundations of Chicago-based Suzanne Lovell Inc, which comprises a 20-strong team, and has been listed in Architectural Digest’s top-100 interior designers and architects. For more than 30 years, the company has built up an impressive portfolio of luxury residential projects, from superyachts to sprawling penthouses, Manhattan pied-à-terres and whimsical California beach houses.

Using a client’s personal taste as a launch pad, each project is undertaken via what Lovell calls the “Three-Dimensional Experience” — an all-round approach encompassing architecture, interior design and fine art, with an understanding that this trio are integral to the process. It’s an approach that echoes the practices of Ferrari and his contemporaries Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto and Giò Ponti. These giants of design were creative polymaths, often experimenting with art, furniture design, textiles, ceramics and glassware.

Craft is undeniably at the heart of Lovell’s hugely successful business. By collaborating with an array of niche design talent from her extensive network she ensures each finished project is a unique masterpiece. Art also takes a central role, with antiques and auction-sourcing an integral part of the process. “Sir John Soane inspired the creation of what he referred to as the ‘poetry of architecture’, where art can happen,” Lovell explains of her inspiration. “His words are telling: ‘Think and feel as a poet, combine and embellish as a painter and execute as a sculptor’. I believe this is what we do every day at Suzanne Lovell Inc.”

Visit suzannelovellinc.com

Italian style is no stranger to flamboyance so Bottega Veneta’s subtle and discreet Home Collection is perfect for the superyacht owner who prefers a more muted colour palette. Founded in Vicenza in 1966, Bottega Veneta began producing luxury leather goods in the master craftsman tradition. That approach, rather than trend-driven fashion, has remained the cornerstone of the brand.

In 2006, the year it opened a school dedicated to training the next generation of leather artisans, the company launched its Home Collection. Creative director Tomas Maier started it all in 2001, when he began commissioning bespoke furnishings for select retail stores. The pieces soon attracted the attention of discerning clients but, rather than selling them (as was often requested), Maier promised to make the customers their own versions instead.

Ten years later the Home Collection is now an integral part of Bottega Veneta. It favours modern, functional pieces that bear the trademark intrecciato leather braiding motif. Each item is elegant enough to work as a standalone accessory or as part of a set, and the look suits an onboard setting just as well as one on dry land.

Visit bottegaveneta.com

As part of luxury Italian linen house Pratesi’s ambitious five-year plan towards international expansion, it has launched a new range specifically for yachts. The collection of sumptuous bedding, table linens and towels is made to order, with customisation options including bespoke monogramming available.

Run by the fourth generation of the Pratesi family, the house is focused on delivering faultless craftsmanship, drawing on the skill of its team of designers, weavers and embroiderers, who create the linen in its Florence headquarters. COO and future CEO Simone Bocchio and president Federica Pratesi bring a personal insight into the yachting industry to the production of timeless, elegant linens.

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Architect, industrial designer, artist and publisher, Gio Ponti was a giant of 20th century Italian design. During his long and fruitful career, Ponti developed an all-encompassing approach to his work, creating not just the structure of a building but also conceiving its entire interior scheme, from furnishings to lighting fixtures. His finest achievements include the Pirelli Tower — Milan’s first modern skyscraper — and the distinctive, castle-like Denver Art Museum.

One of Ponti’s most enduringly popular designs, however, is something altogether closer to home. The 1957 Via Dezza chair is an angular, upholstered armchair built on a linear metal frame. It was created by Ponti along with the entire furnishings of his self-designed Milan home (pictured) from which it takes its name.

For those coveting a slice of Ponti’s creative genius, the armchair and select Via Dezza gems have been reissued in an exclusive collection by Molteni&C. One of Italy’s most renowned furniture manufacturers, Molteni is a natural platform to preserve and present Ponti’s talent. The company works with some of the world’s best designers on a variety of high-end real estate and marine projects. The Via Dezza chair adaptation, Armchair D.153.1, stays true to the original, is available in two Ponti-designed fabrics and is the perfect place to kick back and enjoy the waves.

Visit molteni.itv

As one might guess from a furniture company with a name that evokes adventure, Summit’s speciality is extremely high-quality furniture specifically made for the outdoors. Crafted in sustainable, plantation-grown teak, which is water-resistant and strong, its chairs, tables and loungers are as ideal for the deck of a superyacht as for a domestic garden.

The Californian firm collaborates with leading designers like Linley, with which it created a clean-lined, curved collection (lounge chair, above, €5,487), inspired by the interiors of the top classic yachts. It is made to be stacked or stowed — perfect for sailing purposes.

Visit summitfurniture.com

Designer Giorgio Armani will shortly open a four-storey Armani/Casa flagship boutique in Milan — the new home of his interiors collection, which launched in 2000. This season, as previously, he has once more looked to the natural world for inspiration. As well as the 50-piece numbered and signed limited-edition bar cabinet, “Club”, which features on its doors a hand-lacquered ocean motif inspired by Japanese artist Hokusai’s The Great Wave, there is a screen featuring a Japanese-style landscape print. The same image adorns an upholstered chaise longue, and there are blankets decorated with images of lions and leopards, leopard stone marquetry, and a crystal-encrusted flower to elevate a table setting.

“All my designs for the home collection are intended to promote an atmosphere of calm relaxation,” says Armani. “One way to do this is to reference Mother Nature, as the natural world is nurturing and beautiful.” Those who enjoy life at sea will certainly appreciate that sentiment.

Visit armanicasa.com

William Morris famously said one should have nothing in the house one “doesn’t know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”. Someone who knows more than most about exquisite fine art for your superyacht is antique dealer and gallery owner Adrian Sassoon.

For more than two decades, Sassoon has been honing his craft as a specialist in contemporary decorative art and French 18th century Vincenne and Sèvres porcelain. Whether the delightful, conch-like sculptures of Shochiku Tanabe, from Japan’s foremost bamboo-art family, or the fine, Chinese-style porcelain vases by the Australian ceramicist Robin Best (above, €71,100), a piece from Sassoon is both a shrewd investment and a marker of taste.

Visit adriansassoon.com

Back in 2012, when Frank Pollaro was commissioned to create a desk for Brad Pitt’s château in the South of France, little did he know a new partnership was about to be forged. On delivering the piece, he noticed the actor’s sketchbook was full of furniture sketches and suggested they make them a reality.

The Pitt-Pollaro Collection is designed by Pitt and crafted by Pollaro. It demonstrates the attention to detail the likes of Robert De Niro have sought out and majors in art deco-inspired pieces in opulent materials, such as the decadent Statuario Venato marble Toi et Moi bath (above, in a limited edition of three), which can accommodate two well-heeled people. Should you require further credentials, Pollaro has designed yacht furniture for tech giant Larry Ellison, and Pitt-Pollaro was one to the top luxury and interiors brands at the Monaco Yacht Show.

Visit pitt-pollaro.com

Stunning stone doesn’t begin and end with marble. Solid Nature sources the finest alternatives from across the world for the ultimate in bespoke floors and walls.

Its semi-precious line is perhaps the most extraordinary, comprising as it does those not usually available in large slabs — rose quartz, lapis lazuli, amethyst, malachite and petrified wood, among others. Onyx options, meanwhile, range from a honey hue with white veins to caramel clouds and speckled Maldivian azure, while matte travertine comes in neutral taupe, rusty ochre and gold. If you simply must have marble, there’s an array of colours, from gold-streaked smoky-grey Portoro to yellow moonstone and even zebra stripes.

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Championing an aristocratic flair in its furniture, Visionnaire works closely with key players in the yachting industry, and draws on high-end fashion and culture for reference. However, while its history is steeped in Italian craftsmanship techniques, the company is also surprisingly innovative. It has continually invested in sustainable materials, modernising many of its product lines accordingly. Its latest development comes in the form of an “eco-leather” called Materiko, which was the catalyst for a range of outdoor designs, including the Sunny chair (pictured) by Alessandro La Spada. Materiko’s hard-wearing characteristics make it a prime choice for nautical environments as it is both impermeable and UV-resistant.

Visit visionnaire-home.com