Auteur/autrice : Newsroom

Guglielmo Miani

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1

Among your passions, the one for speed seems particularly strong. When and how did the spark happen?

I’ve had a passion for speed since I was a kid. I had a very special godfather whose passion earned him the Offshore world championship title three times. He was a great car collector. He passed on his thirst for speed to me. Not by chance the 2023 edition of FuoriConcorso showcased cars best representing aerodynamics, i.e. the study of the interaction between the motion of a car and the air. [editor’s note].

I’ve had a passion for speed since I was a kid. I had a very special godfather whose passion earned him the Offshore world championship title three times.
2

Talking about style codes. What are the three must-have accessories for a gentleman while driving?

Certainly a pair of sports gloves, a tool kit in case of need and, of course, a pair of sunglasses.  

 

3

WEB EYEWEAR is Marcolin’s house brand with a dynamic and contemporary attitude. Why do you like wearing it?

Actually, this frame is perfect for me, it’s the ideal mix of a sleek silhouette and comfort, so that I can feel at ease in any condition. And it also protects my eyes perfectly, thanks to the dark lenses.

Italian passion 
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  Marcolin and FuoriConcorso: two stories of passion 
It was 1961 when Marcolin was born in the valley that would become the world’s largest eyewear district. A beginning shaped by the passion of its founder, Giovanni Marcolin, who had a vision and succeeded in transforming a small artisan factory into the multinational company it is today. This is a typical story of passion of which Italy is known, as is the one that gave rise to FuoriConcorso. Just as Fuorisalone exists for Milan’s Design Week, FuoriConcorso was born in 2019 at Como Lake, an event that takes place every year during the weekend of the world’s most prestigious classic cars show, Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance.
 
  Design as a creative engine 
Created by Guglielmo Miani, founder of the fashion brand Larusmiani and a great motoring enthusiast, FuoriConcorso takes place in the gardens of Villa del Grumello, Villa Sucota and Villa Olmo, historic residences overlooking Lake Como and connected by a botanical landscape and cultural route, the « Chilometro della Conoscenza. » An event over the course of two days sees the villas surrounded by historic cars and unique pieces of priceless value, photographers and creators, journalists, enthusiasts, and collectors from all over the world. To not only celebrate the cars, but also the Italian lifestyle, the culture of beauty and manufacturing excellence, through partners with the same core values.  
 
  Performance and style compared 
For the past two years Marcolin has been linked to the event, and on the weekend of May 20th and 21st it offered guests an immersive journey into its manufacturing process, with a corner dedicated to its house brand, WEB EYEWEAR, with the presentation of the new capsule collection created in collaboration with Alfa Romeo F1® Team, which Marcolin signed a multi-year partnership agreement in 2022. The presence of a race simulator completed the Marcolin experience of FuoriConcorso guests, who had the chance to get behind the wheel of a single-seater and drive at adrenaline-fueled speeds on an F1 circuit.  
See you at the next edition! 
 
 
Marcolin in Sorrento
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  Sorrento, just like a star, brightens up the fourth and last part of the peninsula – the final stretch of land of Campania overlooking the sea that owes its name to it. 
Renowned for its captivating charm, according to myth, Sorrento is the “queen” of the land where the legendary sirens were said to reside. Like sailors, attracted by the beauty of this stretch of coast, against the breathtaking backdrop of the Gulf of Naples, Around the World, Marcolin’s column that explores the world from the viewpoint of eyewear, lands on this beautiful location in Italy with Aya, better known as Milanpyramid, one of the most influential content creators globally. Aya – born in 1996 in Egypt but raised in Milan – gives voice to a generation of young women whose identity is otherwise little represented. 
      
  As a symbol of a cultural melting pot, she focuses on fashion as a key topic to share her experiences as a young Muslim woman in Italy 
Thanks to her great taste, which clearly nods to vintage inspirations, this meeting in Sorrento, the major city in the Sorrento Peninsula, steeply rising from the sea at 50 meters above sea level, is accompanied by a mood board with an all-Italian style. «The whole world recognizes the magnificent beauty of the Amalfi Coast but only few people have visited Sorrento. It’s a little jewel in the crown», says Aya.
 The best way to end the day is to relax on the beach at sunset
 
  With these geometric wraparound shapes and versatile materials – ranging from bold acetate to a lightweight metal frame that, with its tubular temples, conveys a dash of edginess – wearers are immersed into the atmosphere of Sorrento, day to night. 
At every corner, there’s something special and amazing: whether you’re taking a stroll downtown, through the little streets running around Piazza Tasso, the city’s outdoor salon, with its coffee shops and retro chairs – the ideal place for a short break, while sipping the peninsula’s typical lemon-based drink. Or whether you’re admiring the places devoted to the spirit – the Cloister of Saint Frances, which is the warm-tinted symbol of the spirit itself, or roaming around the local market stalls, picking their fresh produce. The ever-present color dotting the landscape, apart from the blue of the sea, is the green of its lush parks. In Villa Fiorentino, a great example of Italian Art Nouveau style, with its rose and camellia gardens pervaded by the dominant olfactory notes of a citrus grove, a colonial building is concealed, which once served as the residence of the caretaker and which contains mysterious frescoes of unknown origin.
 The whole world recognizes the magnificent beauty of the Amalfi Coast but only few people have visited Sorrento. It’s a little jewel in the crown
 
  There are many ways to end the day in Sorrento 
But Aya suggests one in particular, with a timeless charm. «The best way to end the day is to relax on the beach at sunset» she states. And the private beach of the Maya Beach Resort in Massa Lubrense, along that stretch of coast inhabited by the legendary sirens, is the ideal venue to fall under the spell of the waves, wearing extremely oversize lenses as a protection talisman.
Maria Frida
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  Just as Frida Kahlo 
One of the most influential female artists of the 20th century in many respects – from gender history to politics, from art to contemporary culture in the broadest sense – was born and lived in the same place, according to a single act of love, the creation of this collector’s item at Marcolin is the result of the particular symphony created between a client – a brand with a marked penchant for experimentation – and a creative team eager to surf the waves of inspiration. How did the union between a modern, revolutionary icon and a plant with equally nonconformist symbolism come about? The link was created by virtue of the creative input provided by GCDS: namely the client’s logo and marijuana leaves.
 Composed of 250 silkscreen-printed, hand-painted flowers. Flower by flower, they were positioned individually
 
  It is precisely this leaf that plays the starring role in a unique piece 
Created as an object of desire and to successfully parade down a major catwalk, later recreated as a prototype to enrich the Marcolin archive. The fact that it is a collector’s item is defined by the elaborate geometry of the details: the eyewear, with its generous volume and pastel colours, echoing the shapes and colours typical of the 1970s, is composed of 250 silkscreen-printed, hand-painted flowers. Flower by flower, they were positioned individually, following the common thread that would then create the visual effect to be achieved. Also contributing to the unique character of the piece was the special importance attached to the names by which the projects resulting from this collaboration are identified. In this case, uniting the collective imagination linked to Frida Kahlo with the leaf and its symbolism was the creative flair of a team well aware that even if we called a flower by any other name, its rebellious and revolutionary scent would remain.
 
 
 The fact that it is a collector’s item is defined by the elaborate geometry of the details
 
Sabrina Paulon
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  1
  Marcolin has more than two thousand employees worldwide. 57% are women. What are your actions aiming towards in terms of inclusion? 
Marcolin has always supported company policies that promote work-life balance. This was already the case before I joined the company in 2014. Since its foundation, Marcolin has implemented policies aimed to support its female employees with nursery fees, for example, to prevent women in an area of the Belluno district lacking in services from abandoning their jobs and deciding to take care of their families, either by choice or out of necessity. There’s always been a willingness on the part of the company to encourage gender policies, in a broad sense, because at the time women made up more than 60% of company employees, especially in the production sector. Over time, Marcolin has grown into a managerial company, with an international dimension, and is no longer family owned. This new set-up has also affected human resources management. We’ve developed several policies to support not only female but also male employees, who also play a key role in family management. Again, in support of work-life balance, we have included several benefits, from parental leave also being extended to fathers to the development of in-company and digital focus groups on parenting pathways, addressing, for example, the challenge of the new world of teenagers. These are initiatives that focus on the wellbeing of the individual. With a balanced family life, people can bring more energy into the company and transfer the same balance to it. To promote inclusion, we decided to write a charter, which we have called the ‘Diversity and Inclusion Charter’, to be handed down as part of Marcolin’s DNA, enshrined in a second-level agreement, because one positive thing we have today, among others, is that we consider diversity an added value. But we did not stop there. The Charter will be followed by actions and projects that will emphasise Marcolin’s commitment within this sphere.
  2
  What company policies have been put in place to foster the professional growth of staff in the company? 
This is another important aspect of actions to support human resources in Marcolin. We have set up Leadership Academy pathways with the aim of nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. This year, for the first time, we have put on a session dedicated to female leadership, although the class will be inclusive and mixed. We will continue to actively support the ‘Empowering Optical Women Leadership’ project run by ANFAO – the Italian National Association of Optical Goods Manufacturers. In addition to addressing classic topics, such as soft skills and financial brand finals, we will focus on the typical value characteristics of female employees and how they interchange between the two genders. Without forgetting that this year we have been recognised as ‘Italy’s Best Employers for Women 2023’ in the eyewear industry, according to the report conducted by the German Quality and Finance Institute.
  3
  What are the three key words for successful human resources management? And in what way is Marcolin unique? 
 
 
When we talk about human resources, we are talking about people, not just employees or working relationships. It is important for us to be able to listen to the needs of new employees because we have realised that they have changed profoundly over time. We have moved from welfare-related requests, i.e. relating to services, such as rewards in terms of remuneration to be used for forms of recreation or welfare, to agile working, a policy that Marcolin had already envisaged for its employees before the pandemic precisely in order to help create a work-life balance. Today, there are those who wish to have more time at their disposal and those who wish to grow quickly within the company. That’s why we have facilitated agile working solutions even five times a week and professional growth pathways, through job protection policies and the Academy, but also with work challenges abroad, for those people who wish to prioritise their professional fulfilment. As far as I’m concerned, it’s important to deal with human resources with flexibility: this allows me to accommodate all employees and to be able to build an organisation that can reconcile all needs.
Longarone Valley
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  Is there any emotional landscape more engaging than a shot captured from above? 
It seems like an infinite amount of time has passed since, at the end of the 1970s, aerial photography by the Frenchman Yann-Arthus Bertrand began to show us the world through the quintessential imagery-filled point of view – according to many filmmakers, scriptwriters and, indeed, photographers – whatever, from a bird’s eye view, is able to capture textures of reality and bring to our attention secrets that the human eye, from a simple ‘American shot’, for example, would find hard to see. Today, drones have replaced helicopters, and for many artists they are the most appropriate tool for capturing the face of nature and cities from the right distance. Neither too close. Nor too far away. Around the world, the column that explores the world from the perspective of eyewear couldn’t help but begin its wanderings from where Marcolin’s story began: Longarone, in the heart of the Cadore region, an area known the world over as the eyewear district, the only one home to one of the very few museums dedicated to the kaleidoscopic historical evolution of eyewear. And what better vantage point than from above? What is evident, under this piece of sky, a stone’s throw from Belluno and destinations with a strong resonance – such as Cortina D’Ampezzo, the Tre Cime di Lavaredo or even the lakes, such as Misurina and Cadore, with their azure waters and Eden-like panoramas – is an emotional geography of a place, and its surroundings, whose freeze frame depicts the range of matching tones of the natural elements. Air, earth, water and fire, in which crackling echoes call to mind snowy scenarios during the quintessential season of these lands i.e. winter, are the most authentic face of a mountain community, united with five others, ideally located in the central southern area of the Belluno Dolomites National Park.
 
  A natural World Heritage 
 Suspended over 470 metres above sea level, nestled in the largest province of the Veneto region – Belluno – Longarone is considered an open door to an interregnum separating two worlds, with paths traced to rise from the earth, the peaks of its mountains, the Dolomites, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009. It is precisely the peaks of these landscapes that establish an indispensable and undoubtedly emotional bond with the local area and the element of rock. A passion for these mountains that has inspired artists, explorers, such as Vittorino Cazzetta, to whom we owe the discovery of the famous Mondeval hunter, who helped to give an identity to the Mesolithic era in these areas, or writers such as Dino Buzzati, born in this great province of Belluno. The icy influence of the Dolomites flows in the same way in Marcolin, a company with deep ties to the emotional geography of its homeland.
  The profile of the mountains as a style detail 
While on the summit of Monte Rite stands the Museum in the Clouds, the highest in all of Europe, paying homage to the mountain as the custodian of a heritage that encompasses the essence of mountain life, with its glass and steel domes on the foundations of a former fort, a remnant of World War I, profiling the most striking glimpse of the Monti Pallidi – the other name by which an ancient legend defines the Dolomites – and to the east of the Cadore region, Marcolin allows this passion to be expressed by the brand that is representative of its DNA, Web Eyewear, which embodies the adventurous spirit and love for the beauty of these places in a contemporary and essential style. And it is precisely the profile of the Dolomites, with its reflections, that is imprinted on the brand’s iconic eyewear: ascending the shades of these peaks recreated along the temples, until reaching the heart of the frame, as if on the summit of a mountain, wearing the most ethereal of elements: air, floating and light.  
Marcolin and Timberland Forest
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  International Earth Day: Marcolin and Treedom respond to the call 
 Each year, a month and a day after the spring equinox, the world rallies around the Earth to celebrate it on an international day that has been held on 22 April for more than 50 years: it is one of the most significant calls to action in terms of global participation and focuses on safeguarding the planet. Because Marcolin is conscious of the issue, it responds to the call and, since 2021, has chosen to participate in the development of sustainable projects in collaboration with Treedom, the digital platform that allows people to donate and choose native trees to be planted at a distance, learn about their history and give them a name. Following its development, via a ‘Tree Diary’ that chronicles its growth through photos and periodic reports, from the comfort of their own home, is part of the process. What lies behind it, however, is more than just a note of colour: that green, which does not appear on the Treedom world map, denotes the concrete tension towards an ideal. 
 
  3.5 million trees have been planted 
For the benefit of the environment – since 2010, thanks to Treedom, 3.5 million trees have been planted, involving more than 75,000 farmers in 17 countries around the world, which means offsetting the level of CO2 emissions, protecting the biodiversity of the environment and taking concrete action to combat soil erosion and the consequences of deforestation. The other side of this story speaks the language of local communities whose return is measured in terms of increased social welfare and security. 
 
  50 million trees worldwide by 2025 
 Marcolin’s project – in partnership with Treedom and Timberland Eyewear, a brand in its portfolio since 2003 – sponsors the planting of 10,000 trees, geolocated by ID codes, for three years, through Treedom, enabling each supporter to follow the evolution and the related project in the different continents of the world involved. 14,985 trees, with unusual names – such as the Grevillea shrub that grows in Kenya, reaches a height of 10-12 metres and produces the characteristic yellow flowers whose nectar, attracting bees, promotes vital plant pollination – have been planted in ten countries, but also thanks to the previous agreement between Treedom and Timberland, committed to planting 50 million trees worldwide by 2025, we can witness the growth of a veritable widespread forest, one tree at a time, under the care of their respective custodians.