Willy Rizzo never set out to be a designer. Having built a career as an acclaimed photographer of society and its stars, he happened upon furniture design in the 1960s, going on to shape the interiors style of the 1970s – especially among artists, actors and aristocrats. His primary furniture oeuvre may only span the course of a decade – 1968 to 1978 – but Rizzo, who died in 2013, created an elegant and glamorous aesthetic that continues to attract followers far and wide.
Born in Naples in 1928, Rizzo grew up in Paris and turned to photojournalism in the 1940s, capturing everything from the Nuremberg Trials to budding movie stars. In the 1950s and 60s, he photographed some of the most important figures influencing culture, from Le Corbusier to Marilyn Monroe and Coco Chanel.
Then, in 1966, he moved to Rome with his first wife. Snapping up an unfurnished former shirt factory, he set about transforming it into an attractive apartment – but was distinctly uninspired by the furniture available to buy. ‘The only thing around at that time… reminded me of the kind of furniture you find in a doctor’s waiting room. I wanted something more exciting,’ he was quoted as saying.
The solution for the multi-talented creative was to design it all himself. Collaborating with local artisans, he crafted elegant sofas, coffee tables and consoles as well as an interior scheme featuring gold walls and black floors. Soon his famous friends, admiring the new apartment, commissioned Rizzo to produce furniture and interiors, and by 1968 his design studio was launched. Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot and gossip columnist Count Igor Cassini – who coined the term ‘jet set’ – were all clients.
Indeed, it was this era’s elite group of jet-setters who became Rizzo’s customer base, embracing his modernist yet luxurious aesthetic, with its sculptural furniture and sleek, geometric lamps. Materials were high-quality, including marble, brass, sequoia and lacquer. His metal-and-leather backgammon tables (1973) catered to the trend of games parties; his revolving ‘TRG’ coffee table (1969) had an integrated ‘champagne bucket’; his ‘Love Lamps’ (1968–70) sought to produce romantic lighting. It was work that spoke to a lifestyle of decadence.
Rizzo returned his focus to photography in 1978. But in 2009, aware of the enduring appeal of his furniture designs, he opened a studio in Paris with his second wife, where he exhibited and refined original designs as well as creating new ones. Now, more than a decade after his death, Studio Willy Rizzo continues to preserve his legacy and celebrate the work of the man who described himself as ‘a photographer who makes furniture’. Only he infused this deceptively simple identity with excitement, glamour and stylish allure.
