Tod's: Italian Stories Villa Al Palazzetto

Setting of the Tod’s Autumn-Winter 2024/2025 campaign, Villa Il Palazzetto tells a family story of friendship and tradition, of modernity and Italian lifestyle.

Italian history and traditions are found in the story of the Businaro family and in the architectural parts of their Villa Il Palazzetto in Monselice (Padova). A place that has handed down art and traditions to three brothers, Francesco, Federico, and Ferdinando, who still live there. Using the Villa as a grand backdrop setting for Tod’s, it becomes an example and beginning of Italian Stories, that through images and videos, illustrate the unique world of the Italian lifestyle.

"We don’t care about mediocrity, we know beauty, we go in search of the sublime". This is the common philosophy of Aldo Businaro, who led of the restoration of the villa, and modernist architect and friend, Carlo Scarpa.

The Businaro family have owned Villa Il Palazzetto for more than a century, it is an example of Italian architectural syncretism: built in 1627, it boasts works by Carlo and Tobia Scarpa, according to a project started by his father in the seventies and concluded by his son in 2006, "from father to son, from son to father", as Tobias himself remarked, demonstrating how art and architecture have always characterised the taste for beauty and experimentation in Italy. Testimony of a long story in which art and life, imagination and concreteness have met over time, creating a perfect example of an Italian history that has been built on traditions and love for beauty: the walls of the seventeenth century coexist alongside modern and contemporary works, inclusive of pieces of furniture signed by great names of the Italian and international tradition. Villa Il Palazzetto is also the testimony of a long story in which art and life, imagination, and concreteness have met over time, one of the most significant examples of Italian genius.

Aldo Businaro, entrepreneur, and ambassador of Italian design, moved to live in the Villa in the sixties. "The renovation took a long time. The first few years we all lived in one room, the only one where it didn’t rain inside," says Ferdinando. A house manifesto that seals a friendship between generations and families and that also represents the art of receiving, that so well sums up the Italian lifestyle.

From the outside, the detail of the concrete staircase, which guarantees access to the main floor, is particularly striking. Intervention that upsets and overwhelms the harmony of the ancient forms of the building. It was commissioned, in the seventies, by Aldo Businaro to his friend Carlo Scarpa, a modernist architect and at the time already famous internationally.

The staircase for the Villa remained unfinished for many years, until Ferdinando Businaro, Aldo’s third son, decided to ask Tobia, son of Carlo Scarpa, to finish the work. After five years, the designer and architect agreed to reinterpret and complete the project in the form in which it can be seen today: a result that synthesises the Italian architectural tradition, made of layers and mastery. The Villa is a "unique piece", a microcosm that over time has added beauty, embellishing art and Italian history. Moreover, the soul of the place is perfectly explained by the writing that is outside: To renew the culture over time and save the testimony, Aldo and Lucia Businaro, from the year 1965, with the brilliant contribution of Carlo and Tobia Scarpa, this place restored, to live and happily receive.

In the Philippines, Tod’s is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc., and is located at Greenbelt 4, Rustan’s Shangri-La, and online at Trunc.ph. Visit ssilife.com.ph or follow @ssilifeph on Instagram for more information.

About SSI Group, Inc.:

The SSI Group is the Philippines’ largest specialty retailer, with an established brand portfolio that includes some of the world’s most recognized international brands. We lead the country’s specialty retail market through the size and breadth of our brand portfolio and store network, with 94 brands and 593 stores. With our growing e-commerce presence, we are also the Philippine specialty retailer with the most diverse and extensive e-commerce offering. Our unique brand portfolio covers a wide range of specialty and lifestyle concepts, spanning the luxury, casual, and fast fashion, beauty, footwear, home, and restaurant categories.  Established in the 1980s, SSI has been at the forefront of the Philippine retail industry for more than 30 years. Throughout this time, we have sought to inspire and enhance the lifestyle values of our customers and to cater to the evolving tastes and aspirations of Filipino consumers. In response to the evolution of the retail industry, the company introduced "The Specialist," an At Home concierge service dedicated to serving its valued customers with their shopping needs. Customers may get in touch with SSI’s Customer Service team through any of the following channels to inquire about a particular brand or product:

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