Back to the roots of luxury.
A Short History of True Luxury
Once, luxury was the breath of a single artisan’s soul—a one‑off creation born from years of silent apprenticeship, from hands that knew every grain of wood or strand of silk. These objects weren’t churned out by machines; they were whispered into existence by human devotion, each piece a fingerprint of creativity and care.
Then came the age of conglomerates. Families sold their ateliers to faceless corporations whose mission was growth, not grace. Generations of craftsmanship were flattened into quarterly reports. What had been rare and alive became a formula: produce more, sell more, trim costs—and watch the spark of wonder flicker out. Luxury lost its definition when “exclusive” came to mean “everywhere.” If you see the same logo on millions of wrists, that’s not rarity—that’s replication. And when design is driven by sales targets instead of standards of perfection, you feel it in every corner cut, every seam rushed, every detail sacrificed. The human thread that once wove maker to object has been severed—and with it, the soul of luxury.
Then came the age of conglomerates. Families sold their ateliers to faceless corporations whose mission was growth, not grace. Generations of craftsmanship were flattened into quarterly reports. What had been rare and alive became a formula: produce more, sell more, trim costs—and watch the spark of wonder flicker out. Luxury lost its definition when “exclusive” came to mean “everywhere.” If you see the same logo on millions of wrists, that’s not rarity—that’s replication. And when design is driven by sales targets instead of standards of perfection, you feel it in every corner cut, every seam rushed, every detail sacrificed. The human thread that once wove maker to object has been severed—and with it, the soul of luxury.
Our Story: Reclaiming the Human Thread
In the late 2010s, Mario Gagliardi watched a great family workshop swallowed by a corporate giant. Overnight, master craftsmen were out of work, looms fell silent, and a proud local tradition vanished under fluorescent factory lights. He understood then that real luxury could not survive as a line item on a balance sheet.
So Mario bet on people over profit. He decamped to India, not to set up an assembly line, but to seek out the last living masters of rug‑weaving, wood‑carving, and metal‑shaping. In remote villages and hidden ateliers, he found artisans whose hands still spoke the language of centuries—craftspeople who measure success not in units produced, but in the quiet perfection of a single knot, a single plane of wood, a single curve of metal. That was the spark for Mario & Casa.
So Mario bet on people over profit. He decamped to India, not to set up an assembly line, but to seek out the last living masters of rug‑weaving, wood‑carving, and metal‑shaping. In remote villages and hidden ateliers, he found artisans whose hands still spoke the language of centuries—craftspeople who measure success not in units produced, but in the quiet perfection of a single knot, a single plane of wood, a single curve of metal. That was the spark for Mario & Casa.
Back to the Roots: The Soul in Every Object
Mario & Casa exists to restore that vanished spark. Each rug, each chair, each table is born of heritage techniques and ethically sourced, noble materials—New Zealand wool that whispers underfoot, hand‑spun silk that shimmers like memory, brass and silver that catch the light of intention, and ash and birch shaped by patient hands.
Here, there are no assembly lines—only ateliers where a master’s signature is in every detail. A rug is not “made”; it is composed, like music in warp and weft. A table is not “built”; it is revealed, as the grain surrenders its hidden landscape to a carver’s tools. This is furniture as living narrative, each piece a vessel of culture, each line a sentence in an unfolding story.
By choosing Mario & Casa, you do more than select an object—you rekindle a human connection. You partner with artisans who pour their lineage into every creation. You invite into your space not a mass‑market commodity, but a rare dialogue between past and future, form and feeling.
Here, there are no assembly lines—only ateliers where a master’s signature is in every detail. A rug is not “made”; it is composed, like music in warp and weft. A table is not “built”; it is revealed, as the grain surrenders its hidden landscape to a carver’s tools. This is furniture as living narrative, each piece a vessel of culture, each line a sentence in an unfolding story.
By choosing Mario & Casa, you do more than select an object—you rekindle a human connection. You partner with artisans who pour their lineage into every creation. You invite into your space not a mass‑market commodity, but a rare dialogue between past and future, form and feeling.
For professionals working with contract and residential projects, we offer the Mario & Casa Exclusive Trade Program.
A life of design
For Mario & Casa founder Mario Gagliardi, design is a universal language to connect people with values and narratives. After his studies under legendary designers Alessandro Mendini and Richard Sapper, he designed luxury accessories for Bergdorf Goodman in the US and Takashimaya in Japan. As chief designer at LG in South Korea he was the creative force behind one of Asia's most successful luxury cosmetics series, The History of Whoo. He also was design consultant for Samsung, CEO at Qatar Foundation, and taught as design professor in Korea and Denmark. Next to Mario & Casa, he now runs his own design studio.
