Eva Armchair - Antonio Marras

Designer and artist Antonio Marras was born in 1961 in Alghero, Sardinia. In 1987, he designed his first fashion collection, and in 1991 he was selected to show at Alta Moda in Rome. The following year, he presented his Le nuvole collection in Paris before making his debut in Milan in 1999 with his first ready-to-wear collection. In 2003, he was appointed Artistic Director of Kenzo, where he remained until 2011. Beginning with his first experiences in fashion, Marras stood out for his experimentation and interaction with the art world. In fact, alongside his fashion creations and presentations, he created and participated in numerous art exhibits.

At the invitation of Francesco Moschini, he exhibited fifty drawings at the Istituto Europeo di Design in 1997 in Rome; in 2003, he designed the exhibit "lI Racconto della Forma" in a former soap factory in Sassari. Later in Alghero, he launched the "Trama Doppia" project, a series of exhibitions in which Marras worked with such artists as Maria Lai and Claudia Losi. In 2006, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin hosted the photography exhibit, "Antonio Marras, dieci anni dopo". He participated in the 2011 Venice Biennale with an installation in the Italian Pavilion entitled "Archivio Provvisorio". In 2016 at the Milan Triennale, he was the subject of the solo show, "Antonio Marras: Nulla die sine linea", curated by Francesca Alfano Miglietti. In 2018, he authored sixteen works for the "laculturasifastrada" project, promoted by Zanichelli. In 2019, "Trama doppia. Maria Lai, Antonio Marras" exhibited over three hundred works in an idealised dialogue between the two Sardinian artists.
Marras created costumes for Luca Ronconi's 2009 play, "Sogno di una notte di mezza estate", and in 2018, he made his directorial debut with the play "Mio cuore sto soffrendo, cosa posso fare per te?". In 2014, he began a fruitful collaboration with Wall&Decò, creating a dreamlike collection of wallpapers characterised by drawings, collages, photographs, illustrations, trompe-l'oeil and quotations.

In 2013, he founded the Nonostantemarras space in Milan; the showroom, gallery, concept store and cultural space became one of the most visited places during Milan Design Week. In 2017, he presented a light installation resulting from the designer's long-standing research into the relationship among art, fashion, light, and space - fruit of his fortunate encounter with Fernando and Humberto Campana. In 2018 and 2019, he presented an extensive ceramics collection in collaboration with Kiasmo and on those same occasions, he exhibited a line of chairs and sofas designed for Saba Italia. In 2017, in partnership with the Fondazione Dioguardi, he created a fashion show in the restoration site of the Teatro Lirico in Milan. The following year, he installed a large canvas designed for the scaffolding facade of the same theatre, measuring over six hundred square metres. In 2001, he received the Francesca Alinovi Prize, now the Alinovi Daolio Prize. In 2013, he was awarded an Honorary Degree in Visual Arts from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts.