“It has never been about maximalism.”

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So says Martina Mondadori of Cabana, the brand and bi-annual magazine that’s spawned collections of heirloom-worthy tableware and gloriously patterned fabrics. Rather, what speaks to the Milanese aesthete is coziness—whether achieved through a curation of beautifully crafted objects or an assured clash of prints. “Cabana is a layered world of objects and places with a soul,” explains the co-founder and editor-in-chief.

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Gathering such spaces, be they remarkable rooms, private homes, museums, or hotels, led to the inauguration of Cabana magazine back in 2014. The highly distinctive editions (owing to each one’s fabric-bound cover) are the ultimate coffee table adornment.

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“Cabana is an ecosystem. It’s that moment when you gather friends and loved ones around the table and build memories. It’s cooking something delicious and enjoying great wine that leads to great conversations." —Martina Mondadori

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The brand is rooted in Martina’s extraordinary childhood home in Milan’s historic center. Decorated in the 1970s for her mother, Paola Zanussi, by eminent Italian designer Renzo Mongiardino (also Elsa Peretti and Lee Radziwill’s decorator), the apartment boasts richly adorned walls, museum-worthy craftsmanship, and touches of unapologetic splendor.

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Following Paola’s death in 2021, it became affectionately called Casa Cabana and acts as a brand embassy. “When we design a new collection, the first thing we do is bring it into the home and see how it fits in,” says Martina, who curated a Showroom edit for The Expert in celebration of the iconic Milanese home centered around an elegant vintage mix, along with her own fabric and tableware collections.

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A publication focused on ornate but functional tableware is an unusual proposition. “It’s an ecosystem,” explains Martina, for whom crockery is as much a vessel for bringing people together over food as it is a practicality. “It’s that moment when you gather friends and loved ones around the table and build memories. It’s cooking something delicious and enjoying great wine that leads to great conversations,” she says.

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The dining table has the added bonus of being a fleeting gateway for exploring one’s decor style—good news for those lacking Martina’s confidence when it comes to print-clashing. “You can set it differently three times a day, and so it’s a great way to experiment with all sorts of patterns,” she says. Her current favorites are the Iris tablecloth in pure French linen and the Martina plates produced by the esteemed porcelain-maker Ginori 1735: “I use them all the time at home.”

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Martina’s instinctive approach to decorating always involves vintage: “It lends patina and authenticity, and you can use it as a springboard,” she muses. “Whereas bespoke pieces rarely work elsewhere than the place they were intended for, something vintage always just fits.” For those new to mixing in preloved pieces, she recommends starting with cabinets or lighting.

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When it comes to soft furnishings, Martina advises grounding clashing patterns through a shared color theme: “At any given moment, one specific palette will trigger your imagination.” It doesn't mean everything has to be the exact same color, but there should be some connection between each element. “I take a very layered approach—I love collecting antique fabrics from flea markets, and I used to get stressed about the end use, but I’ve learned that you’d better snap up something you love immediately, because it will become useful.”

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For this year’s Salone del Mobile, Casa Cabana was open to the public. American curator and editor Deborah Needleman, a close Cabana collaborator, commissioned seven artists to create objects and furniture in dialogue with Mongiardino’s legacy for an exhibition entitled Speak, Memory: A Conversation across Time.

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The city’s annual design festival also saw the launch of the 23rd edition of Cabana. Martina describes it as “an ode to craft” with a new section entitled The Atlas of Craftsmanship that celebrates extraordinary objects from San Francisco to Kenya. Armchair travelers can expect to discover captivating homes and gardens in Venezuela, Luxor, Belgium, and France.

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To think—and decorate—like Martina, refer back to her simple ‘ingredients’: “vintage and pattern, always,” she says. If the result is any indication, it’s a recipe worth following.

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