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Luca Nichetto is an acclaimed Italian designer with offices in Venice and Stockholm. His work is informed by his collaborative approach to design and deep respect for craft across all disciplines. For his furniture brand, ‘Nichetto’, he creates products with personality, distinction and versatility for residential and contract interiors. The pioneering yet classical forms highlight the unique characteristics of the premium materials and superior craft. Colour palettes inspired by nature are applied to the selection of fabrics, materials, and combinations. Recognisable on every continent, these warm, neutral and cold tones have enduring relevance, enhancing the timeless elegance of each product. Luxury modern woodworker, De La Espada is the manufacturing partner for the Nichetto brand, crafting each product to the highest standard at their own production facility in Northern Portugal.
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Hailing from the Venetian island of Murano, home of world-renowned glass makers, Luca Nichetto has a natural affinity for the art of craft and the power of colour. He draws inspiration from the textures and colours of nature and craft techniques from a range of disciplines including fashion, carpentry, and fine art.
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MOODBOARD
105 103 102 107 8
BLANCHE BERGERE LAUREL SIDE TABLE STANLEY SOFA VIVIEN DINING CHAIR
Reflected in each of the products is the influence of the great American architects of the 1950s, Scandinavian design, and Italian postmodernism, which translates into a classic aesthetic where luxury is revealed in the details.
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105 BLANCHE BERGERE 103 LAUREL SIDE TABLE
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102 STANLEY SOFA 101 ELYSIA LOUNGE CHAIR
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756 TRAY DESK 761T LIANOU STOOL 759L TRUNK TALL CABINET
Each product was developed alongside a special colour palette that is not tied to fashion, but rather intended to remain relevant for years to come.
105 BLANCHE BERGERE 103 LAUREL SIDE TABLE
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Nichetto designs intentionally highlight the expert craftsmanship of De La Espada through natural finishes, complex forms, exposed frames, and upholstery stitching influenced by traditional tailoring.
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106 HAROLD DESK 107 VIVIEN DINING CHAIR
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108RM MARLON ROUND DINING TABLE 107 VIVIEN DINING CHAIR
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109Q MITCH CABINET
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102 STANLEY SOFA
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110 DUBOIS BED
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Nichetto Studio devised a methodology whereby furniture and colour are not considered separately, but rather as two integral parts of a single unique project. The starting point for the definition of the colour palettes was the Herbarium, an extensive research project by Massimo Gardone on natural elements such as flowers and leaves. Thanks to the NCS Colourpin and the scientific method of Natural Colour System, the studio was able to extract a selection of colours from the Herbarium before dividing them into three tonalities: warm, cold, and neutral. Found on every continent and not influenced by a temporary fashion trend, the colour palettes have been applied to materials and finishes including fabric, wood, stone, and lacquer surfaces.
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NEUTRAL COLOURS
NCS S 6020-Y80R PANTONE 477 NCS S 3020-Y PANTONE 4515 NCS S 7500-N PANTONE 445
NCS S 1005-Y20R PANTONE WARM GREY 1 NCS S 2030-Y30R PANTONE 7509 NCS S 7005-Y80R PANTONE 412
NCS S 4502-G PANTONE 423 NCS S 2005-R PANTONE 406 NCS S 1020-Y30R PANTONE 148
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COLD COLOURS
NCS S 6030-R60B PANTONE 2695 NCS S 5540-R90B PANTONE 295 NCS S 0515-R20B PANTONE 698M
NCS S 2050-R50B PANTONE 2583M NCS S 0510-B PANTONE 5025 U NCS S 2030-B50G PANTONE 304C
NCS S 1050-G70Y PANTONE 584M NCS S 4040-G30Y PANTONE 364 NCS S 6030-G50Y PANTONE 5747
NCS S 6030-R20B PANTONE 229M
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WARM COLOURS
NCS S 2070-Y80R PANTONE 179 NCS S 0560-Y PANTONE 116
NCS S 0530-Y20R PANTONE 1345 NCS S 0515-Y30R PANTONE 7507 NCS S 2060-Y80R PANTONE 180
NCS S 1075-G90Y PANTONE 7509 NCS S 5030-R20B PANTONE 209 NCS S 7005-Y80R PANTONE 439 NCS S 3060-Y10R PANTONE 1245 NCS S 3010-Y80R PANTONE 5025C
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LUCA NICHETTO INTERVIEW LUCA NICHETTO, OWNER OF NICHETTO STUDIO, IN CONVERSATION WITH INGELA KOSKI-VÄHÄLÄ OF NCS COLOUR. Ingela Koski-Vähälä: Luca, your new collection for De La Espada features an extremely interesting set of colours. So first of all, I would like to know: how did your interest in colours start off? Luca Nichetto: I think we should go back to my childhood in Venice. I grew up on the little island of Murano, where the world-renowned glass is produced. As a kid, I used to spend a lot of time with my friends hanging around in the dumping ground where all the factories threw their scraps. And there was a mountain of discarded pieces in a thousand colours that were like diamonds to us. We would collect them and create some “ready-made” objects out of them. In Venice there is such a special light, and you know how important light is when it comes to the perception of colours. IKV: Of course the way we perceive colour depends on the light as well as a lot of other factors, such as shape, for example. LN: Ettore Sottsass tells an interesting story about the relationship between colour and form: imagine you have three different forms in three different colours. When you see the pieces separately, there’s a black sphere, a black pyramid and a red cube. But when you combine them, the colour you perceive is very different. This is quite instinctively understood. Think for example of the small things that we experience in every day life: people dress in black to look skinnier. IKV: Colours also convey an emotional quality, which comes from experience. What’s the main colour in your memories? LN: Venice is painted in pastel colours, therefore these are the hues I feel most connected to. I think the surroundings you grow up in create a certain familiarity, and you will always feel good with that. 28
And that in turn is connected with the natural environment, because each place has its own local colours that come from the materials you can source in the area. Think for example of a simple thing such as a brick: you’ll find red ones in Italy, brown in England and green in China. IKV: Well yes. And it’s interesting that for your project you have been sourcing the colours directly from nature. LN: This came about almost by chance, but it was the perfect ending because our planet is the best designer. What I wanted to achieve as a starting point was to be able to build a system of colours that was not susceptible to the whims of fashion. If you choose colours just because they are cool, they become passé within a short time. Instead, my ambition was to create a design process whereby the furniture and the colour palette are considered not separately but rather as two integral parts of a single project. IKV: So where did you start from exactly? LN: I asked myself: “How do I want to communicate my product in terms of images?” I mean – think of social media – we are living in a world that is visually driven, and I couldn’t leave this aspect to chance. So I asked a friend of mine, photographer Massimo Gardone, to help me out with that, on the basis of a brief I sent him. And the crucial point was to find a palette that would last potentially forever, as well as thinking about which kind of colour combinations could work best within this palette. IKV: How did he respond? LN: He brought me his Herbarium – a book basically – where for 25 years he had been collecting flowers and leaves, classified according to their provenance. As you can imagine, this impressed me a lot. It contained the best associations of colours you could ever imagine. And these colours, coming from nature, have a universal quality that can work all over the world. 29
IKV: So, that’s when you came to us. LN: At that point I needed to source the colours from the Herbarium, and we could only do that with the NCS scan, which let us pick a selection of colours. We divided them into three different categories that can always be combined together: warm, cold and neutral. And so we started to apply this palette to the materials – like wood, fabric and marble – trying to get as close as possible to the sample colours. The result was impressive. It looked exactly like the initial rendering from the computer simulation: and now it was becoming reality. We had gotten what we wanted using a theory of colours, and this was the goal of the whole process. IKV: This happened because you embraced a systematic process. LN: I am really fascinated by this process because you can work on a scientific basis. It was satisfying to set out from an instinct, an intuition, and end up working on a systematic process. So both creativity and science are fully expressed. And this is what happens with design itself: you start from a whimsical idea, but very soon you have to deal with the technical side of it. But let me ask you something, do you think there are colour combinations that might be “forbidden”? IKV: You can obviously argue that this is a matter of personal opinion. But systematics are at work in all the colours humans can see. And you can certainly say that some colours have similarities: you can tell how dark or strong they are. So you can work systematically to find colours that completely match because they have something in common. LN: In fact, one of the advantages of using this system is that you can bypass the cultural gap. But you know, most of the time designers prefer to go for a neutral palette of colours – whites, greys and beiges. I would say that’s the easy way out. I think there are a lot of fallacies around colour. For example, 30
you will often hear people say that if you live in a small place you should paint it white, or it’s going to feel claustrophobic. IKV: Yes there are a lot of misconceptions. But psychology demonstrates that colours actually affect you in a good way. LN: They are connected with the soul. IKV: Ultimately, colours are always a part of who we are. There are colours everywhere, they influence a huge part of our life, and we don’t even think about them.
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ELYSIA
COMBINATIONS OF WOOD AND TEXTILES
headrest
cushions shell
NEUTRAL
COLD
Danish oiled walnut upholstered with Uniform Chalk on the shell and headrest, and Uniform Clay on the cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 4502-G.
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Le Lin Forest on the shell and seat cushion and Trinidad Absinthe on the back cushion and headrest. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 6030-G50Y.
WARM
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Diso Rame. Stitching is red thread, NCS S S2070-Y80R.
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BLANCHE
COMBINATIONS OF WOOD AND TEXTILES
shell
armrest cushions
NEUTRAL
COLD
Danish oiled walnut upholstered with Collobrieres Crème on the shell, armrest and seat cushion, and Trinidad Lin on the back cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 0907-Y50R.
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Shabby Quetsche on the shell and armrest, and Pitch Charm on the cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 6030-R20B.
WARM
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Venezia Oro. Stitching is brown thread, NCS S 6020-Y80R.
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STANLEY
COMBINATIONS OF WOOD AND TEXTILES
cushions
cushions
NEUTRAL
COLD
Danish oiled walnut upholstered with Elmotique 93021. Stitching is brown thread, NCS S 6020-Y80R OR Danish oiled walnut upholstered with Acapulco Ecru. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS 0907-Y50R
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Coda2 722 on the shell, and Collobrieres Céleste on the cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 0510-B
WARM
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Clara2 423 on the shell, and Uniform Banana on the cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 3060-Y10R. 34
shell
shell
DUBOIS
COMBINATION OF WOOD AND TEXTILES
NEUTRAL
WARM
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Acapulco Mastic. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS 0907-Y50R.
Danish oiled ash upholstered with Venezia Oro. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 3060 Y10R.
COLD
Danish oiled walnut upholstered with Clara2 544 on the shell, and Canvas 614 on the cushions. Stitching is tone on tone, NCS S 2060-Y80R. 35
TIMBER Nichetto products are available in a choice of American Black Walnut, American White Oak, or European Ash. The timber we use is from sustainable farms. The trees on the farms are pruned regularly to allow for consistent grain patterns and fewer knots, ensuring exceptionally strong planks of the highest quality. Our oil finishes embrace the inherent colour and grain variations in the timber, whilst providing a renewable surface for enduring beauty. Stains are sealed with a clear matte lacquer to maintain the colour whilst preserving the tactility of the surface. Our painted timber is wire brushed before the application of the paint to create a textured surface.
DANISH OILED AMERICAN BLACK WALNUT
BROWN STAINED EUROPEAN ASH
DANISH OILED AMERICAN WHITE OAK
BLACK STAINED EUROPEAN ASH
WHITE OILED AMERICAN WHITE OAK
BROWN PAINTED RAL 8019 EUROPEAN ASH - BRUSHED
DANISH OILED EUROPEAN ASH
BLACK PAINTED RAL 8022 EUROPEAN ASH - BRUSHED
WHITE OILED EUROPEAN ASH
WHITE PAINTED RAL 9010 EUROPEAN ASH - BRUSHED
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INSPIRING BOOKS Luca Nichetto finds inspiration in numerous places, including fine art, architecture, fashion, theatre, craft, and the written word. He is drawn to authenticity, humour, considered artistry, and the human experience.
INVENTARIO
Chinati: The Vision of Donald Judd
A Streetcar Named Desire
Saarinen’s Quest: A Memoir
Bruno Munari: Design as Art
Tapio Virkkala: Eye, Hand and Thought
Henry Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment
Lino Tagliapietra: From Murano to Studio Glass Works 1954-2011
James Turrell by Miwon Kwon
The Vignelli Canon By Massimo Vignelli
Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change
Issey Miyake by Nicholas Callaway
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“My idea was really simple, to work really deeply with details and the handcrafted quality of what De La Espada do.” - Luca Nichetto
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PRODUCTS
107 VIVIEN DINING CHAIR
101 ELYSIA LOUNGE CHAIR
105 BLANCHE BERGERE
102M STANLEY 2 SEATER SOFA
102L STANLEY 3 SEATER SOFA
103S LAUREL SIDE TABLE
103SM LAUREL SIDE TABLE - MARBLE
103L LAUREL COFFEE TABLE
103LM LAUREL COFFEE TABLE - MARBLE
108 MARLON TABLE
106 HAROLD DESK
109 MITCH CABINET
110 DUBOIS BED - TALL WITH BEDSIDES
111 DUBOIS BED - TALL WITHOUT BEDSIDES 39
SALES@DELAESPADA.COM DELAESPADA.COM
P. 3 Lera Moiseeva P. 24 Marta Galli
photography & text credit