It’s hard to believe that MEPRA’s sophisticated technicolor collection FANTASIA is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year because its incandescent chromatic complexion is as fresh today as its 1989 debut.
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The brilliantly-hued fantasia comes from the Italian silversmiths Mepra, post-war business founded in 1947 by the Prandelli family, four generations fashioning flatware in the industrial Lumezzane Valley, about 90 minutes east of Milan. (The name Mepra is an acronym for Metallurgica Prandelli.) Today, the multi-generational operation, known for its innovative technologies, is a global supplier, exporting Italian-made products to 50 countries’ retail and hospitality channels around the world.
Fantasia is one of Mepra’s best global sellers. Its universal appeal is traced to its range of rainbow colors and pleasing balance. Launched in 1989, Fantasia was initially available in four colors: fuchsia, forest green, cobalt blue, and mustard. Managing director Luca Prandelli represents the fourth generation at the helm: “The designer was my cousin and business partner, Luigi Prandelli, who, back then, had just joined the family business, so Fantasia was one of the first of his creations.” Luigi recalls the inspiration and design process vividly. “Fantasia comes from the studies of the golden ratio,” says Luigi. [Editor’s note: without segueing to a lesson on Euclidean geometry, the golden ratio is, essentially, a ratio that creates aesthetically pleasing symmetry.]
Luigi continues: “The geometrical proportions of the stainless steel 18/10 handle, the length, the cup, the resin inserts – all these elements are designed to follow the golden ratio guideline.” It wasn’t a design that was easy to achieve, taking the better part of two years of R&D. “We had to develop a technology that didn’t exist to create a new resin that didn’t exist, as well as find a new way of attaching the resin to the stainless with the purpose of creating the first and only colored flatware which has a lifetime warranty on the handle, even for commercial dishwashers,” Luigi says.
The main challenge, according to Luca, and one of the keys to Fantasia’s success, was creating the colored handle, which is durable, dishwasher-safe, and suitable for restaurants and hotels as well as home use. “This outstanding resistance and durability was the result of years of research and improvements,” he says. “This quality is achieved thanks to the raw material we use, a proprietary formula for a resin, which is much more resistant than the plastic usually utilized to make handles. The other secret is that the two shelves which make the handle are melted and molded together to become a solid piece around the stainless skeleton which makes it virtually impossible to break apart.” When that AHA moment struck naming the design was practically a no-brainer. Notes Luca: “Fantasia was chosen for the simple reason that when we talk about a color range in Italy we use the expression fantasia di colori (fantasy of colors). So it’s a very simple word which, at the same time, has a very strong emotional impact because it opens the doors of each person’s imaginary world.”
................................ Produced in Italy, the Fantasia collection offers casual style and vibrant color on a premium, heavy-gauge 18/10 stainless steel finished with glass-infused resin handles that retain their brightness for years to come.
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Luca was just ten when Fantasia debuted, but he has a clear memory related to the design. “When I was 11, in 1990, I went with my mother and my sister to Florence, where my father was at a trade show,” Luca begins. “The booth was so busy that customers were in line waiting to place orders, mainly for the new Fantasia flatware. My father gave me an order pad and told me to write an order for a store. That was my first PO! I convinced the lady to add more colors and I tripled the amount of her order. I still remember the colors. She was ordering light blue, and I suggested cobalt and porcelain which would fit the same color theme because the store was near the beach.” That anecdote was the presage of business to come. Luca joined the company a decade or so later, but, essentially, he has grown up alongside Fantasia. “Every year we have a summer meeting with our sales force in Italy to analyze the latest trends in furniture and fashion and decide if we need to add a color or discontinue one. I still remember one of these meetings, in 1996. I was doing my summer job at Mepra after school ended, and my father invited me to attend the meeting. That’s why reaching the 35th anniversary of Fantasia is very exciting and unexpected for me. But the strength of Fantasia is it’s a timeless shape, an instant design classic, and, at the same time, always new, because colors keep changing and adapting to the contemporary trends.”
Today there are 31 colors including the bestselling turtle dove, light blue, sage, porcelain, cobalt blue, and forest green; the latter two in the collection from the start. Three colors recently joined the fold: sesame, rust, and mustard (yes, that was an original color which was brought back following the trend in fashion and furniture.) “Usually new colors do very well because they’re carefully chosen to follow the main trends in fashion,” says Luca. “Sometimes they last long, sometimes just a couple of seasons. We don’t foresee adding colors for the first quarter of 2024 as the latest introductions are still in trend.” Five-piece place settings retail for $99.50; a luxury version with the stainless coated with a brushed gold PVD retails for $210. Fantasia’s creator, Luigi, is bemused by the design’s longevity. “You never know how good your creation can be until it goes to market,” he says. “But we could never have expected such a long-lasting worldwide success. It’s a very nice surprise.”