Superyachting’s global fusion

Andrea Gambacorti & Angela Burlizzi

Superyachting’s global fusion

Andrea Gambacorti & Angela Burlizzi

Craft

Superyachting’s global fusion

When two Italian interior designers met by chance in Australia, they joined forces to fuse the best of Europe with the best of Australia while drawing on sustainable materials.

By Charlotte Thomas | 10 June 2022

If there’s one thing that can be said for the yachting industry, it’s that it’s a truly global endeavour. It carries owners, their guests and charterers to some of the most beautiful corners of the world, and its positive social and economic impacts also resonate into those corners. It should be no surprise then to land in Sydney, Australia, and hear two mellifluous Italian voices talking about interior design, sustainable materials, and the fusion of fashion and design sensibilities that bridges half a planet and fuses two cultures.

Angela Burlizzi had her beginnings in the fashion industry, working for Gianni Versace, before landing in Australia and setting up design studio Analu. The studio’s co-director Andrea Gambacorti comes from an architecture background, although with a long family history in yachting. After meeting half a world away from their home country, the two joined forces and Analu has quickly grown to become a leader in yacht and residence interior design.

Superyachting’s global fusion

Flying Manta

Superyachting’s global fusion

Flying Manta

“Both Andrea and I are Italian,” begins Burlizzi. “I always had a very strong interest since I was little in textiles and beautiful things – my grandparents manufactured leather goods and we embroidered at night, so it was really part of my DNA and identity from day one. It naturally evolved – I graduated university and joined the fashion industry, and when I eventually came to Australia I brought this passion with me.”

When she met Gambacorti, he was already operating in the yachting industry and, as Burlizzi says, it was just a natural evolution to join forces and really take the business to the next level. “There wasn’t much of an offering here when we started in 2005,” she offers. “It was definitely a different look back then. We came in with a totally different flair, a very different look – and although it’s been a long journey the Australians have embraced this new styling. Australians are big travellers,” she adds, “so while what we were offering was new in Australia, when they went to Europe and saw that style in beautiful hotels and on boats at boat shows they understood where we were coming from and what we’re trying to do.”

Superyachting’s global fusion

Angela Burlizzi

Superyachting’s global fusion

Angela Burlizzi

Analu’s raison d’être is design exquisite Italian bespoke interiors, but in fact – alongside influences from both land and sea – both Burlizzi and Gambacorti point out that there is an element of fusion in their design that reflects elements of Australia too. “There is a component that is you leave your own country and you take what you hope is the best of it, and you come into a different culture, learn from that culture and then hopefully combine the two,” Burlizzi enthuses. In a curious twist of fate, Analu is now receiving enquiries from owners and yards in Europe – effectively, having exported Italian design into Australia they are now importing Australian infused Italian design back to Europe. “We’re finding ourselves being able to offer something back to Europe because the beauty of Australia is how approachable it is,” Burlizzi confirms. “You might say Europeans or Italians have more style, but Australians know how to live – they are very easy-going and very embracing and it’s a great and beautiful country.”

After extensive lockdowns and pandemic-related travel restrictions, Burlizzi and Gambacorti have been travelling again and have returned to Australia bursting with new ideas inspired by monuments, churches and art in Paris and Milan, among others. There are plans for a new showroom in Sydney, and new collections from linens to floor and wall finishes, lighting and fabrics, as well as limited, handpicked and one-off items. Key among their criteria though is a sustainable approach to design luxury.

Superyachting’s global fusion
Superyachting’s global fusion

“I have a very strong view in that regard,” says Burlizzi. “We started this business 17 years ago, and at that point people in Australia were exposed to polycotton sheets. From day one I said ‘I can help you’ – we based our business from day one on very natural, very eco-sustainable fibres, and we will stick to that. It’s become very fashionable across the world, but for us coming from our own soul and identity it was one of the unshakeable values from day one – natural products that are sustainable.

“It’s a respect for Mother Nature,” she continues, “because you give to Mother Nature and she will give back; similarlty, you respect your body, you sleep in natural fibres and you sleep well. The body respects you if you respect it, and this is where we stand.”

Superyachting’s global fusion

Andrea Gambacorti

Superyachting’s global fusion

Andrea Gambacorti

Gambacorti also points out that they do more than just pay lip service to this ethos. “We are fairly careful,” he explains. “For instance, all our natural fibres are cottons, linens and silks, and they are all treated and certified in a particular way under very strict terms. Also our leathers – because we work a lot with leather – are certified in such a way that we are certain that we are not going outside what we think is the very minimum for the very best standard of finish.”

From Italy to Australia and back around the world again, Analu – and the infectious passion and enthusiasm of Burlizzi and Gambacorti – is a prime example of yachting’s true luxury with a conscience, where sustainable sensibilities combine with cultural cross-fertilisation to create extraordinary but approachable design. And it’s clear, too, that individuality still lies at the centre of it all.

“It’s often the case that no two owners will use two similar boats in the same way,” concludes Gambacorti. “People are very personal about what they expect of the fit-out of their boats, and that’s probably to most interesting part of the journey – to embrace what the owners expect and put it all together. It’s one of the most satisfying parts of the business.”

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