MANUELA FEDERICA
"In my walks through the different neighborhoods of New York, I have been fortunate to meet people from so many different cultures from around the world in one place. The connection between cultures and eras seems to me to be part of the beauty of the human experience that we can all share over time"
(manuela federica)
BIOGRAPHY
Manuela Federica is known for her product design and her own stylistic language that have a particular harmony in their expressiveness. Within her agency iSHONi Design, the Swiss creative director and art director creates and produces rugs as well as individual corporate accessories for various clients, as well as for national and international luxury brands.
"Art can touch souls and transmit infinite areas
of knowledge that transcends time
in many dimensions"
(manuela federica)
Manuela has been fascinated by creating harmonies and balan-ces between shapes and colours since the early childhood. Design and Inspiration have always been a very important part of her life. She grew up in an environment full of art and culture from allover the world.
Early contacts with people like Hadj Moussa Ag Akhamouk, the late Amenokal of the Kel Ahaggar who lived with the family in 1968 to write the book "Touareg-Nomades du Sahara" (Edition Mondo) with her parents, showed her that "it is harmony and goodness that unites people".
When Manuela was only 6 years old her parents separated. She grew up with her father and her siblings in Thun (Switzerland) in a cultural environment that from generation to generation had friendly contacts with artists, authors and scientists. Early on, Manuela developed a certain admiration for the lives of people that was based on a deep passion for what seemed so important to them. She sensed that such dedication could lead to a true meaning of life.
Manuela was 16 years old when her mother Federica de Cesco (Swiss author) received in her home at the lake of Geneva Parisian Dominican priest Raymond Leopold Bruckberger to whom she showed drawings that her daughter had offered her at one of their rare but inspiring encounters. Raymond Bruckberger decided to present these ornamental and floral designs to Leïla Menchari, the famous creative director and decorator of HERMES in Paris.
Leïla Menchari has been so impressed that she sent two letters to Manuela praising the subtle balance of her designs and encouraging her to pursue her art: "Continue to be enthusiastic about beauty despite external challenges, because that is what remains and what nourishes your quest for beauty". (Leïla Menchari in a letter to Manuela Federica in 1996)
"At the end of the day we're all the same.
And it is the Good in each one of us and what connects us, that interests me"
(manuela federica)
Manuela Federica with Hadj Moussa Ag Akhamouk in 1970 (left), and with her mother Federica De Cesco and her stepfather
Manuela attended art school and trained for five years as an art book designer with Ted Scapa (Benteli Verlag). When she became a mother at 23, she continued on her creative path and soon founded her agency iSHONi Design. Therewith, she turned her passion into her profession, which allowed her to take on responsibilities and at the same time provide her child with a happy and emotionally stable childhood. She lives near Geneva.
WORK
Manuela founded her agency iSHONi in 1996 under the slogan "iSHONi - The world, reflected in decorative design".
The word "iSHONi" meaningfully stands for the word "together" in Japanese, as it represents her attitude of letting the client directly participate to the creative process. iSHONi designs and produces for various companies in Switzerland and abroad customer gifts that cover the range from everyday to exclusif. Her clients include small and medium sized companies from various professions, worldwide known jewellery and watch brands and luxury hotels like the Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne Switzerland for whom she developed various VIP Gifts.
She has been working under Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis for the Acropolis Museum in Athens / Greece and created Designs for most renowned porcelain manufacturers such as Rosenthal Porcelain and Hutschenreuther, exhibited on a regular base at Ambiente Fair.
Multinationals and famous department stores as well as international sports associations and world championships turn to her, as well as the World Economic Forum and CH-Precision for whom she developed the internationally successful HIFI Shape, an absolute world-class DAC.
But also custom designed silk accessories such as foulards, scarves, neckties, rugs, beach towel collections, high quality porcelain items and collections for design rugs for mtm Munich have been part of her main segments for thirty years.
From 2008 to 2012, Manuela lived in New York and designed exclusive rug collections for ABC Carpet & Home New York that were published several times in American Design Magazines such as Interior Design Magazine, Hali Modern and Modern Carpets and Textiles Interiors. Her collections became known worldwide and have been regularly exhibited at the major carpet shows in Hannover (Domotex in Germany and Atlanta / USA).
Paul Chapman, Vice Chairmen & President ABC Carpet & Home New York states:
“Her dedication to the Rug Design industry is bar none.
Manuela Federica’s design work is known worldwide,
and she holds the highest respect among her peers".
PUBLICATIONS
Thanks to her broad professional knowledge she is commissioned on a regular base for special projects with international distribution. Her years of experience in various execution techniques, as well as her ability to understand and visually translate client needs are crucial
to her success.
Her work has been recognized by Yoko Ono and published several times including in Paris Match (France), ELLE (Switzerland), Meyer's (Switzerland), Tsujiori (Japan), Freundin (Germany), Success! (Switzerland), Rug News (New York), Femina (Switzerland), Dentrocasa (Italy), Le Temps (Switzerland), Zhi Hu (China), Berner Zeitung (Switzerland), LDP Interior Textiles (New York), twdreamlife (Taiwan), Galatea (Italie), Schweizer Familie (Switzerland), annabelle (Switzerland, Prestige Magazine (Hong Kong), Home Style (Taiwan), Society Marbella Magazine (Spain), Tableware International (England) , Home Deco (Germany), and Home Textiles Today (New York).