Sapore Di Mare

A love letter to summer

There is something curious about summer.

It asks very little of us.

Somehow, we become different people without even noticing.

We wake up a little later.
We eat a little slower.
We walk barefoot whenever we can.
We stop looking at our watches quite so often.

And somewhere between the sea, the warmth of the sun and conversations that stretch long after dinner should have ended, we begin remembering what life feels like when it isn't measured by productivity.

Perhaps that is why I have always loved this season.

Not because of where it takes us.

But because of who it allows us to become.

When we created Sapore di Mare, I never thought of it as another collection.

To me, it felt more like writing a love letter to summer. 

Not to a destination. But to a feeling.
A feeling that can take us back on a journey, at any stage of life, to that happy feeling. 
A feeling I suspect many of us have experienced.

The sound of boats gently knocking against a harbour wall.
Salt drying on your skin after a swim.
The smell of lemons somewhere nearby.
A beach towel that never seems completely free of sand.

The book you've been trying to finish for three summers.
The walk home after sunset, carrying nothing more than what the day asked of you.
Those moments rarely appear extraordinary while we are living them.

Only afterwards do we realise they became the memories we return to.
Happy memories that we we'd like to be lost in. 

This summer, we wanted our campaign to tell that authentic story.
Not through advertising. But through my lens

Over the past weeks, we've shared small fragments of Mediterranean life.

A quiet coast.
The waves crashing through the shore.
The rhythm of sailing.
The stillness beneath a striped parasol.
The warm feeling of sand beneath our feet.
A drop of sweat dripping down one's neck.
A path through the pine trees that somehow always leads somewhere beautiful.

A reminder that perhaps luxury isn't found in having more.
Perhaps it is found in needing less.

Because the greatest luxury today might simply be having enough time to disappear for an afternoon.

Enough space to take the long way home.
Enough freedom to leave your phone in your Capri bag without wondering who might be looking for you.

People often ask where our mosaic patterns come from.

The answer is always history.
But history is only the beginning.

For this collection, I found myself once again wandering through the extraordinary mosaics of the Alhambra Palace in Granada in Spain.

Thousands of geometric forms repeating with impossible precision.
Mathematics transformed into beauty.

Architecture transformed into emotion.

Those patterns have inspired MARK / GIUSTI for many years, but this time they wanted to tell a different story.

Instead of stone walls and historic courtyards, they imagined sunlight reflecting across the Mediterranean.

The geometry remained.
The colours changed.

Deep navy horizons.
Turquoise water.
Soft sand.
Weathered limestone.
Warm caramel leather.
White sails moving gently across an endless blue horizon.

History didn't disappear.
It simply learnt how to spend a summer by the sea.

Every collection teaches me something.

Sapore di Mare reminded me that the objects we keep closest are rarely the most extravagant. They are the ones that quietly become part of our lives.

The CALA beach bag that follows you from breakfast to the beach and then somehow finds itself beside your chair at dinner.

The Eyes Wide Shut sunglasses case you stop thinking about because it's always exactly where you need it.

The Sorrento leather cross body and pouch that collect shells, receipts, postcards and little reminders of somewhere you once loved.

Luxury should never interrupt life. 
It should simply make life more beautiful.

Everything in this collection continues to be handcrafted in Italy by artisans whose knowledge has been passed down through generations.

Their work cannot be rushed.
Neither should the objects they create.

Perhaps that is why these accessories and leather goods feel so natural by the sea.

They were never designed simply to be admired.
They were designed to be used.
Folded into a suitcase.

Carried onto a boat.
Left beside a towel.

A Heathrow passport cover, Travelled with.
Lived with.

Returned home carrying a few more memories than when they first left.

Today, Sapore di Mare has become something much larger than a collection.

It has become a world.

A world of bags, accessories, textiles, cushions and objects inspired by one shared philosophy. A world shaped by craftsmanship.

By cultural heritage.
By Mediterranean living.

And above all, by the belief that beautiful objects should help us slow down rather than speed us up.

As summer slowly begins to drift towards autumn, I hope these pieces continue travelling with you.

Not because they are new.
But because one day they will no longer remind you of this collection.
They will remind you of your own summer.

The beach you found unexpectedly.
The people you laughed with.
The places you promised yourself you would return to.

After all, the best souvenirs are the ones we experience.
They are the memories we continue carrying long after the season has ended.

Sapore di Mare is now available online and at The House of MARK / GIUSTI in Via Malpighi 7,  in Milan. Alongside the collection, you'll also discover exclusive colours and material combinations available only in-store pieces created for those who still believe some discoveries are best made in person.

I look forward to welcoming you.

Love, light and kindness

Mark