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RUBELLI, TO BE FRAMED
For further information: RUBELLI SPA, Via della Pila 47, 30175 Marghera, Venezia, Tel +39 041 25 84 411 Fax +39 041 25 84 401, E-mail: info@rubelli.com Web site: www.rubelli.com |
Rubelli is a Venetian family firm whose roots go back to the
sixteenth century. There are archival documents describing the
sale of red fabrics for boat sails, which is the origin of the
name "Rubellus". This then became "Rubelli", which remains the
name of the family. The family known as "Rubellus" four hundred
years ago and which wove, dyed and sold fabrics, has certainly
come a long way. Today, the Rubelli company is a major concern
even though it is still family-run, managed by the current head of
the family, Alessandro Favaretto Rubelli (a lawyer) and his three sons.
Lorenzo Rubelli talks to us about his great-great-grandfather, who
was a diplomat in the Middle East and a merchant dealing in
textiles, carpets and silks. He bought out G.B. Trampolin, a
weaving mill in Venice (formerly the Giacomo Panciera firm,
founded in 1730). His great-grandfather opened 12 commercial
outlets in Italy. Today, the firm's activity mainly involves
working with architects in shipyards, hotels, on cruise ships and
on super-yachts, carrying on the centuries-old Rubelli tradition
of producing fabrics for ships and sailing. In the beautiful
Palazzo Corner-Spinelli, in Venice, Alessandro Favaretto Rubelli
has kept up the much-admired showroom. His office and his
invaluable collection of antique fabrics are equally appreciated.
The firm's splendid salons feature artistic displays of the four
lines which Rubelli currently offers: "Contract", on the market
since 1987, fireproof, and used for the interior furnishings of
prestigious hotel chains and cruise ships; "Lisio", a typical
Florentine brand; "Bises", a Roman brand dating back to the
nineteenth century; and finally, the extremely modern minimalist
line by the French designer, Dominique Kieffer. Last September,
during the Decocontrac Trade Fair in Brussels, Rubelli was awarded
the Trevira CS Award 2005 for its latest "Contract" collection,
also designed by Dominique Kieffer. If one is overcome by so much
modernity, all one need do is return to Palazzo Corner-Spinelli,
where authentic, exquisite, antique Rubelli fabrics can be admired,
those fabulous fabrics which, handmade on looms, made the firm
famous around the world. They are as beautiful as ever, like the
special touches on a painting by Giorgione. Would you like to
purchase some of them, as many people from abroad do, and hang
them on the walls of a house or on a boat? It is possible to
order them, with costs ranging from ?1500 to ?3500, for a piece
60-cm high and 1-m wide. Rubelli now has a creative studio where
10 young people work on new ideas and proposals. It is located in
Marghera, where the offices and warehouses, wherefrom the fabrics
are shipped, are located. The firm, whose production unit is in
Cucciago (CO), has become so versatile that it creates exclusive
fabrics for its customers. Its recent work includes the refacing
of all of the original textile decorations in Vienna's Albertina
Museum and the numerous donations of fabrics such as those used to
restore the Apollinee lounges in the La Fenice Theatre in Venice
and the La Scala Museum in Milan.
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