VISION:

Give new energy and life to the oldest family-owned Marsala brand in Sicily.

PATH:

Every now and then a serendipitous moment arises and you get to do the wonderfully unexpected. This is one of those times. It began with a phone call just a month before Helen was leaving for Europe asking whether Tardis would be interested in developing a Sicilian brand. The answer was of course YES! if the consultant, Michele Jordan, was also involved. Long story short, just six weeks later Helen found herself in Marsala, on the island of Sicily meeting with the Curatolo family and conducting a brand workshop (thankfully in English).

Their original Marsala range had been designed in the 1870’s, a time when Sicily was in the midst of an Art Nouveau craze, Palermo being one of the movement’s epicentres. A famous architect of the time developed the Marsala labels and crest. At the heart of this brand lies a strong foundation of family and heritage, so we chose to evolve the Curatolo Arini monogram into a contemporary iteration of itself. We also embraced the style of Art Nouveau, paying homage to the history of Sicily and Marsala – a land invaded and ruled by many foreign countries that each left their imprint on this rich, vibrant and diverse culture. The resulting brand is itself rich and contrasting – a blend of classic and contemporary design.