Rachel Mansur and Floriana Gavriel, the New York-based designers behind burgeoning luxury leather handbags and footwear label Mansur Gavriel, have done it again. Since debuting what Business of Fashion reported on as "the first post-recession it-bag" in 2013, starting with "two simple and iconic silhouettes," a bucket and a tote, the duo has continually leveraged art and fashion to inform their creative vision and propel these worlds into new, and unexpected, directions.
Embracing the accessories game as a platform for daydreaming, beauty, and self-expression, the co-founders have carved themselves a name by infusing their designs with globe-trotting references echoing the things they love most. Unveiled last week, the Mansur Gavriel General Store — a quirkily curated, stylish digital marketplace merging designer-approved home goods, groceries, handbags, wallets, shoes, and knitwear — brings that very idea to the fore in "a love letter to Italy, the home and birthplace of our products, and a great inspiration to us both," write the two. We're bookmarking this store as one of the best home décor websites to watch.
Postmodernist master Michael Graves's 9093 Kettle is one of Alessi's best-selling design items. Fun and aesthetic, it stands out for its mirror-like stainless steel, colorful plastic handle, rivet bottom detailing, and the iconic bird-shaped, 'tweeting' whistle that sings when your water boils.
Material: Stainless Steel, Metal Steel, Polyamide
Price: $195.00
Thanks to Floriana Gavriel's mother, a Veneto native, the brand has set up shop in the country from its inception, joining forces with local craftsmen on the production of uniquely crafted items. The project pays homage to the emotional connections behind the label and the storied artistry that turns its "dreamed-up" models into a reality. "Italian artisans love what they do and take pride in creating beauty," Mansur and Gavriel share in an Instagram post. "They are often multi-generational businesses, and they've learned from their grandparents the ways that things used to be done, without cutting corners."
From Cereria Introna's Spritz-inspired candle, spectacularly molded from paraffin wax in an Apulian family factory dating from 1840, and Loretta Caponi's timeless, bucolic printed bedding set, realized in a third-generation Florentine workshop, to Venetian glassmaker Casarialto's Iris candleholder, produced with the same technique used in Murano glass chandeliers, Artemide's atmospheric, mushroom-shaped Nessino Table Lamp, Gaetano Pesce's contagiously colorful, dancing vases, and Michael Graves's tweeting chrome kettle for Alessi, the inaugural Mansur Gavriel General Store drop is as eclectic as it is instantly iconic.
Nothing beats an elegantly crafted, beautiful wooden bowl. Whether purchased as a timeless addition to your dining table, or used as a decorative piece on display in your living room, this geometrically cut Manzoni Pietro's one won't go unseen.
Material: Wood
Price: $255.00
Uniting its disparate offerings, which also include strikingly tinted organic pasta and postcards, is an overarching sense of nostalgia that establishes a time-traveling continuum between Mansur Gavriel's forward-thinking understanding of fashion and Italy's unwavering dedication to heritage, quality, and tradition. Honoring those who "dedicate their lives to making these objects," the Mansur Gavriel General Store juxtaposes the designers' sculptural collections with playfully amusing, collectible works by some of Italy's foremost creative geniuses. Lensed in stunning still-life shots, this first line celebrates the country's vibrancy and what the house has achieved thanks to its long-term commitment to, and dialogue with, the Italian artisan community.
Whether you've set your eyes on one of mid-century modern furniture maker Enzo Mari's uplifting silkscreen prints or added one of Manzoni Pietro's playful, wooden functional designs to your cart, one thing is for sure: in bagging any of these finds, you'll take a piece of Italy home with you. Choose Luigi Ghirri's Paesaggi di Cartone ("Cardboard Landscapes"), an evocative visual series captured by the master of 20th-century Italian photography between 1970 and 1992, to make it a journey through time.
Mansur Gavriel General Store is shoppable exclusively via the brand's official website here
Material: Orange and Cream Soft Resin
Price: $250.00
Material: Paraffin Wax
Price: $45.00
Material: ABS Thermoplastic
Price: $350.00
Material: Mouth-Blown Glass
Price: $250.00
Price: $30.00
Price: $10.00
