Italy, Emilia Romagna based neo-material: Riccardo Zaghini taps into the craft and culture of materials in a future world

BEE LIGHT will be exhibiting at HOMI FASHION&JEWELS EXHIBITION 11 - 14 March 2022
A dedication to sustainability, craftsmanship, design and manufacturing with the ultimate accuracy. HOMI FASHION&JEWELS EXHIBITION explores a cultural challenge, is sustainability an utopian fantasy or a possibility?

Do you have your own workshop, right?

Yes, I have a shop where there is also an atelier. Then with the website we can show and explain how our process is and what we create. It's  not always so easy because with such small things it takes a microscope sometimes to show them. 

You have studied architecture and then you decided to work with fashion

Yes, I attended the Aldo Rossi school of architecture, it is linked to the Bologna office but it is based in Cesena and therefore a little closer to Rimini so it gave me the possibility in short to go by car in the morning without going home. Let's say that the architecture part when I graduated didn't really give me the artistic expressiveness that I thought. So I saw that this type of business could intrigue me. I attended one year a jewelry school in Florence in which I was trained in different aspects. After that I opened my brand. In short, even in a not so easy period because 2015 has always been a bit shaky but I tried, and this line of jewelry and the technique I created is the main feature of our collections, the glitter that we apply around the stones.

All handcrafted

Yes, we go to get the raw materials from various importers so from silver to stones to natural pearls. Then the assemblies and we work  on the basis of the idea that comes to us, and the seasonality, so let’s say slightly thinner necklaces or charms are in, and then we think of the colors and combinations to complete that type of line we had in mind. 

Now, thanks to sustainability, we go back to giving a real price to artisanal works, it really became a luxury work  the “Made in Romagna” as well. Are there many artisans in your région? Do you feel supported?

I see that handcrafted things are very much appreciated by the customers. Probably because wearing one has the feeling of wearing something that is a little different from what you can find from many non-artisan but commercial brands on the market. So I really have this feeling and sometimes they also tell me that the same natural stone can be different from person to person so this already characterizes them a lot and from my customers, I do feel supported, and this makes me very happy.

From the government, do you feel supported? 

Not really, however, the brand has expanded a bit and over the years this has an impact because in any case it is true that perhaps artisan works have more large margins than industrial objects and jewels, however, for both let's say on the level of taxation, it is not really the ideal country to have a business of any kind in my opinion. 

It’s really sad, because Italy represented precisely this, craftsmanship culture. How was it when you studied in Florence?

It was a one-year course in which they took only a few students from all over the world so I was the only Italian, they were all students who came from America, Australia, China, Japan,… and we worked together on some projects and learned different techniques. In short, it makes us understand how much this thing can be appreciated.

How was their method? 

Contemporary jewelry, I could see a lot. It was very much about the years that I was living there, so it was more fashionable and modern. 

Is there a network of artisans in Romagna that you are connected with?

I know, let's say, other businesses that always deal with jewelry or even completely other things. There are many businesses that make shoes also, so craftsmanship is present. I do not have a connection network but I know that there are many realities such as mine of sometimes families but also of individual professionals who are born from scratch, let's say then they throw themselves into craftsmanship and begin their path.

You opened your studio six years ago

Yes and I have a colleague who by the way is my mother. She worked for other companies in the jewelry and accessories sector before. After that she set us up on her own and we decided to try to create our own brand and see how it went.

Tell us more more about your shop in Rimini

Yes, we have a shop in the center of Rimini and our atelier is attached and this idea is popular because one sees exactly where we do things by hand. We only have natural semi-precious stones from all over the world. In this way we are able to keep our prices a little lower because it is an intermediate range between high jewelry and low jewelry, so we are a range in the middle. And all this combined with natural pearls and coral.

What are your inspirations? Let’s talk more about Rimini and Romagna, which is a truly wonderful place

Thank you, I also recommend it to you to come on a holiday weekend to come to the sea. During the year it is a little more empty because only local people remain. No tourists and you live it a little more as if you were in Rimini. But yes, my ambition is to make people perceive both the craftsmanship of our things but also the work behind it because very often people only compare your prices without knowing the story behind the single jewel.

Is HOMI the first exhibition for you? 

So we had a test last September, it was our first time exhibiting at HOMI, and we were confirmed again for this edition. In addition to the physical store, we also have other retailers throughout Italy so we are growing but then with this fair we would like to gradually increase the number of stores that sell our brand to different audiences. 

How is selling online?

Surely in the shop it is easier because people see things live. So in my opinion having this feedback is easier to sell online. We have to explain well who we are with marketing campaigns. Then after some time that they have known you, maybe you can even think of selling something. What we want to promote is the fact that it's craftsmanship. However even if it is made using non-luxury materials, the fact that it is handcrafted it becomes a luxury product. So the price should be higher as well. For those who are after something special!

Where do you see your brand in 5 years?

I am happy that we are slowly growing so already the fact of being known and seeing your work appreciated is a satisfaction. I can say that if we go forward at this rate maybe in a while we will be more known, so even having more retailers and the possibility to sell in other cities. Very often it is easy to take a step too long then maybe many companies take a step too long they fail because they have perhaps invested a lot of money risking. So going forward even a little slower, maybe you have less sales, but if you are more solid as a company then in my opinion this is a good strategy. I take care of my company's photography and video too, so I am a bit of the artistic director of everything and let's say that we have the greatest advertising on social media, we can show behind the scenes of our atelier. People want to see the atelier, so it's nice that they are passionate about all the things you do. Seeing the work that has been done also really draws your passion into the studio.