Giberto
“In my earliest memories Venice colors were different.
The city was more obscure, dramatic, decayed and deeply romantic. The atmosphere was more dazzling perhaps, but less poetic.”
GIBERTO, the designer
“In my earliest memories, Venice had different colours.
It was darker, more dramatic, slightly decaying, and profoundly romantic. Just beautiful. Today, the light feels different, perhaps brighter, but less poetic.”
The life of Giberto Arrivabene Valenti Gonzaga is deeply intertwined with Venice.
His most vivid and treasured childhood memories are rooted in the grand halls of Palazzo Papadopoli, among the frescoes of Tiepolo and the warmth of family affection. The only son among two sisters, Giberto lost his father at the age of nine.
“A naval officer, a war hero” he recalls.
“He was awarded a silver medal, two bronze ones and three war crosses. But above all, he shaped my upbringing with the rigour of military life, combined with a deep sense of honour and justice.” Raised in a household of women, Giberto has always considered this a great privilege.
“From my mother, I inherited a deep aesthetic sensibility. I believe women possess a refined sense of taste that we men will never truly be able to match.” From there, his passion for beautiful things and the desire to give them new life began to take shape.
Even today, women remain the centre of his universe. Married to Bianca di Savoia Aosta, Giberto is the father of four daughters and one son – the youngest of the five. Yet it is he who still delights in the details of the home: fabrics, fragrances, atmosphere.
“It’s part of my maternal heritage,” he explains, “a beautiful gift that deeply shaped the way I see the world.”
Of an adolescence spent escaping from one boarding school to another, with school results not always brilliant, Giberto shows no hint of regret.
“I was young, I had fun. It was a wonderful time.”
After graduating, he set off for a long backpacking journey across America, a rite of passage before stepping into the world of work. The origins of Giberto – now a renowned Venetian brand – are layered and complex. They stem from an innate artistic inclination, an education in beauty, a lifetime of travel, but also from chance encounters and serendipitous moments.
Every journey has been a source of new inspiration. "Whenever I travel, I am always attentive to details. No one, for example, is as capable as the Russians at mixing rich materials like silver, vermeil, or precious stones with humble ones like wood or glass. The results are artistic objects of sublime beauty. But Morocco and India, too, have been constant sources of new ideas."
For Giberto, the creative element is always a joy, a discovery. Despite the responsibilities that come with age and family, he maintains an infectious sense of humor and a lightness of spirit that prevail over a naturally melancholic and somewhat nostalgic nature.
"Venice is right for me; it suits my character. It is the ideal place to live and to create."
Each Giberto creation today is born from an ongoing dialogue between designer and artisan, between tradition and innovation, between past and present. What remains constant is the study and the research, the respect for the balance of a world, the world of Murano glass, that must, above all, be preserved.