furniture designer and entrepreneur, born 1955, office in Venice / Italy

 

The daughter of a photographer and an art director with German-Hungarian roots began her career as a fashion designer in Munich before establishing herself with her own fashion label in London. After years of successful work, she finally turned herback on that hectic metier and studied furniture design. The fact that fashion designer Issey Miyake bought one of her sofas on the spur of the moment at the presentation of her final project at London’s Royal College of Art gave her unexpected publicity. From the early 1990s on, Marcovicz worked freelance forrenowned furniture-makers. And many are surprised – given her professional beginnings – at the amount of attention she lavishes on the sophisticated technology of her furniture. They are by no means decorative furnishings only; rather, it is their versatility that makes them convincing. This is true of the complete garden furniture collection Dia (for ClassiCon) as well as for the Plug in sofa bed (for Wittmann) with its tubular steel frame and integrated floor lamp. Time and again, Marcovicz manages to combine timeless harmony with clever details. Finally, she founded the company Gioia. Under this label, the European designer, who has moved to Venice in the meantime, markets lamps and furniture like the glass folding table Tio. A unique mixture of convertibility, elegance and quotations from the history of domestic design marks her small collection of lamps. The model Primo, which is available as a floor, table or wallmounted version, is reminiscent of the 1950s with its long variable neck and plastic conical-shaped shade. The hanging lamp Bee, which sheds direct and indirect light with its five concentric shades that can be locked in place, is a bow to Danish designer Poul Henningsen. Her winged sofa Sigmund is almost a classic already, a resting place for modern souls that can be transformed in no time into a chaise longue or sleeping area.