As a fashion designer, Erika Cavallini knows a thing or two about tailoring a look, and her home in Modena, Italy, is an ensemble that looks just right. Situated in the historic center of the city, not far from the famous Ghirlandina bell tower, Cavallini’s three-level apartment is an artful yet unassumingly composed affair. At 1,829 square feet, it is spacious but not sprawling, roomy yet comfortably contained. There’s a wonderful clarity to these interiors, a sense of proportion that is neither rigidly mathematical nor strikingly showy. Her possessions abide here.
In recent years, Cavallini has exercised a growing interest in interior design. Collaborating with the Milanese architecture office Studiopepe, she created a collection of marble and brass vases that debuted at the Salone del Mobile in 2019, and she has since taken on interior projects for commercial and residential clients. “I search constantly for furnishings and accessories, from vintage to contemporary, and have become a collector of Italian design icons, particularly of the 1960s,” describes Cavallini.
Cavallini’s taste is manifest in her own residence, where the living room is outfitted with a Mario Bellini Camaleonda sofa and a 1960s sideboard by Edmondo Palutari. The reception area of the unit is set with a pistachio green chest of drawers by George Nelson, freestanding rosewood bookcases by Palutari and a pair of rattan chairs of the 60s attributed to Bonacina, the renowned furniture company founded in 1889. The office where she meets with clients is populated with Danish designs. One of the most singular pieces in the home is a 1950s aluminum sunshade designed by Jean Prouvé. Once attached to the façade of a school in Béziers, France, it now serves as a wall in the primary bathroom. Throughout the apartment, semi-industrial elements and finishes – terrazzo flooring, painted brick and a staircase of cantilevered concrete slabs – complement Cavallini’s carefully selected furniture.
“My favorite piece in the home is the T92 Table, the ingenious work of Eugenio Gerli and Mario Cristiani, done for Tecno in the 1960s,” shares Cavallini. A simple square piece, the table’s surface opens like the flaps of four envelopes and rotates. “It’s a majestic work of engineering and beauty,” suggests Cavallini, “which I found thanks to the interior design store Capperi di Casa.”
As wonderfully individual as each of these pieces is, Cavallini revels most in the subtle play of color in her home. “I love the powder pink of the Camaleonda sofa, the gray of the floor, the glossy enamel coffee color of the ceiling, the touches of pistachio green in the Gio Ponti Leggera chairs in the kitchen. And the various rosewood pieces warm everything.”
Dressed, but not done, Cavallini’s home exudes a distinct authenticity, a point of view. Her possessions may have a pedigree, but her interiors are all her own. A kind of natural understatement is the order of the day here.
Photography by Alessandra Ianniello.
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