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

“All projects start as dreams in the mind of an owner.” This is the philosophy of the Italian company that has designed the interiors of some of the world’s finest superyachts and most luxurious hotel suites and palatial private homes. FM Architettura d’Interni was founded by the architect Francesca Muzio and the interior designer Maria Silvia Orlandini in 2009, and in a few short years, has amassed an incredibly impressive portfolio of clients in all corners of the world.

The company made its name by creating yacht interiors that are effortlessly elegant, yet at the same time have an inviting, natural feel. As its reputation grew, it was commissioned for high-profile interior design projects such as the luxurious Presidential Suite of Shangri-La at The Shard, London - along with other Shangri-La properties in China and the Philippines — as well as premium residential properties stretching from Bahrain to Beverly Hills.

Despite the long list of people lining up to benefit from their expertise, Muzio and Orlandini never forget the views of the most important person in any project: the owner. Whether the commission is for a yacht or a penthouse, the pair consult at length with the client so his or her “uniquely personal wishes” can be fully reflected in the interior that FM Architettura d’Interni will go on to create.

Visit fm-arch.it

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

Tai Ping has been making and supplying one-of-a-kind carpets to discerning clients all over the world for 50 years. Its first-ever commission, from the Grauman’s Theatre in Los Angeles, was for a carpet so large it needed to be constructed in a tent erected outside the factory. Today, the Hong Kong-headquartered company has five distinct divisions and showrooms across Europe, North America and Asia.

New for 2016 is a collaboration with award-winning florist Jeff Leatham. The artistic director at Paris’s Four Seasons Hotel Georges V, Leatham is famed for creating stunning floral installations and bouquets for everyone from the Dalai Lama to Oprah Winfrey.

The Bloom collection comprises 14 handmade wool-and-silk rugs that were inspired by geometric shapes and the organic forms of solid, liquid and vapour. Each of the custom-made designs explodes with colour, with even Leatham admitting to feeling “chills” when he saw them realised for the first time.

Visit taipingcarpets.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

Stefano Ricci’s Luxury Yacht Division designs bespoke interiors for some of the most sophisticated vessels in the world. Catering to an elite clientele, its projects are characterised by an elegant finish and sumptuous details, and include the likes of glazed cabinets, handwoven textiles and intricate ornaments with calligraphic patterns. Ricci’s furniture is traditional and ornate, and it’s not immediately obvious that it has been developed for a yacht environment. A recent collaboration with Florence-based designer Luca Dini saw the interior of a mammoth 70 metre superyacht refitted to an almost palatial standard. Utilising the best materials, as is the company’s signature, the interior was furnished in Californian briarwood and Tuscan marble.

Its renowned Home line is similarly plush, represents the finest Italian craftsmanship and has a 100 per cent Made in Italy brief. Nowhere is this clearer than in its recently updated porcelain lines, which blur the boundaries between art and utility. The Lapis Lazuli line gives a contemporary twist to porcelain, featuring deep blue hues and playing up the opulence historically associated with blue by coupling it with 24ct gold detailing.

Visit stefanoricci.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

Bohemian crystal has been revered for centuries for its high quality and ground-breaking designs. Founded in 2007 to build on this tradition, Lasvit combines artisanal skill with cutting-edge technology to create modern light-sculptures and art installations.

One of its new bespoke creations, Cassia (above) by Petra Krausová offers a flexible approach to interior design. Intended to resemble flowers gently swaying in the wind, its low-hanging, hand-blown glass pendants can either be suspended as a single entity or dispersed individually around a room, to equally striking effect.

Lasvit’s 2016 line also includes the aptly named Candy Collection — a range of table lamps and chandeliers resplendent in playful rainbow stripes – that were designed in collaboration with brothers Fernando and Humberto Campana.

Visit lasvit.com

Baldi, founded in Florence in 1867, is dedicated to continuing the rich artistic heritage and tradition of craft that has long been integral to the city. The one-of-a-kind creations of its interior-design arm, Casa Baldi, are imbued with classic Italian style and hand-crafted using the very latest techniques. Its first foray into nautical design saw superyacht Alexander Again transformed into a spectacular floating palace.

Visit baldihomejewels.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.

Visit solidnature.com

Dudgeon creates bespoke sofas for the luxury residential market. Its relationship with the luxury boat industry was forged in 1992, when a yacht interior designer called into the Knightsbridge showroom on the hunt for Chesterfield sofas. Since then, its team of skilled British craftspeople has gone on to make upholstered sofas and chairs for 86 superyachts, including award-winners such as the 63 metre Benetti 11.11.

Visit dudgeonsofas.com