Duccio Mazzanti

Featherworker

As light as a feather

Duccio creates bespoke pieces for clients and has his own line, Nanà
He makes costumes for theatre, cinema and carnivals
He inherited the passion from his grandmother, Natalina Mazzanti

In 1935 his grandmother, Natalina Mazzanti, began her craft by transforming feathers and silk flowers into precious ornaments for hats and dresses. In 1997, Duccio Mazzanti, her nephew, gave the company a new look, focusing production on high fashion. In 2005, he created the brand Nanà Firenze (named after his grandmother Natalina), an expression of the experience and creativity of the firm Mazzanti. He started to create headbands and hair accessories with feathers and silk, real works of art in miniature form. Duccio continued the other activities linked to the workshop: today his collaboration is requested by designers involved in haute couture, art and culture. Everything is made by hand in an artisanal way. For Duccio, feathers are an absolutely magical and fascinating expression of lightness and sensuality.

Interview

How did you acquire your skills?: As children, in the evening my brother and I used to help dad in the company: I was about 9 years old and, after playing, I worked about two hours a day with him. Then, after I failed my exams at high school, my dad told me “tomorrow you’re doing eight hours in the firm”. That summer I worked 40 hours a week, and I learned how to follow and run production.
How is your craft linked to your hometown?: In the early 1900s, Florence was famous for straw hats .The lady’s hat was adorned with flowers in summer and feather trimmings in winter. At home, many women made silk flowers to attach to the hats. My grandmother was very good at assembling them and started her own business with help from my uncle.
What is special about your grandmother's story?: It was the 30s, my grandmother made flowers for summer hats and, to create them, she needed metal stamps that my grandfather, who was a turner, created in the night, after his work. He helped her preparing the flowers. I have been told that they were very beautiful together, but I never knew them: she unfortunately died young, in the 1960s.
What do you love the most about your job?: After a two-year experience in the US, I returned to the company. I like to work with my hands, I like the manipulation of the object. I like to wear an apron with dirty hands at work, even if I have to manage administrative part, too. And I’m very busy teaching all over the world. But deep down, I’m still the child who loves to play with the feathers.

Duccio Mazzanti is a master artisan: he began his career in 1990 and he started teaching in 2003