By Stephanie Avery
Martina Mondadori Sartogo was born into a sincere appreciation for interior design and culture. As the daughter of a major Italian publisher, she had a close relationship with Renzo Mongiardino through her mother who was a good friend of his.
Mongiardino was widely celebrated for his architecture, interior designs and set designs. He even designed the interior of Sartogo’s childhood home. The unique role he played in her life allowed her to cultivate a love for interior design.
Founder of Cabana Magazine, Sartogo has become a force herself. Her new book, “The Interiors and Architecture of Renzo Mongiardino: A Painterly Vision” focuses on the work of Mongiardino, which has left a lasting imprint on her own.
“Renzo Mongiardino was one of the most important Italian designers [and] interior designers in the 21st century,” Sartogo stated. “He wasn’t only an Italian designer over his career – he designed and decorated a lot of houses in London, Paris, and a lot of houses in New York as well.”
At a time when modernism was on the rise, Mongiardino drew on Renaissance’s inspiration. That earned him a lot of attention when it came to set designs for movies. He worked with Franco Zeffirelli on a lot of his films and multiple stage productions throughout Europe. His older Renaissance style of decorating attracted the attention from a lot of high societal fixtures such as Elsa Peretti, Lee Radziwill, Jackie Onassis, Valentino, Gianni Versace, Jill Sanders and many more.
“His inspiration was never predictable, but they always had a very deep and profound cultural reference,” Sartogo says, which is evident of the nostalgic quality his designs have that makes people feel like they are in another time. “One thing that I love about him is that he detested the term “decorator.” He hated being called a decorator and preferred to call himself a creator of ambiance,” said Chuck Chewning, notable SCAD alum.
Sartogo continues to weave the inspiration she draws from Mongiardino into her magazine, Cabana Magazine, which only comes out only twice a year. The magazine is a culmination of elegant homes and written work, all bound inside a cover made from fabric or wallpaper, making just about every issue of Cabana Magazine a collector’s item.
