第一次見到Simone Taddei是2016年的春天。當時正值春假,我在翡冷翠的聖母百花教堂周邊遊蕩。從教堂一側的咖啡館往南走,鑽入做遊客生意的商業店面背後,隨便揀了一條小巷往深處走去。遊客的喧嚷漸漸被落在身後,夾著窄巷的牆面不再像主街的那樣規整和粉飾,由大小不一的石磚累成斑駁的樣子,緊閉的深胡桃木色大門阻擋好奇的目光。快走到一個小廣場的時候,右手邊見到一面玻璃櫥窗,對著窗戶的是一方小桌,上面零散擺著幾個皮製物件。不同於商業街上塞滿待售商品的皮具鋪子,眼前這些小物件有些是首飾盒,有些像是雪茄盒,有些讓人猜測不著用途···· 它們是如此與眾不同——無論是皮具上內斂的色澤還是精心打磨後披上的那一層光暈,靜靜流淌著一種不奉迎的尊嚴感,讓我隔著玻璃忘得出神。

店內空間不大,靠外幾處陳列皮具作品的地方,裡面都用來做工作室。工坊主人Simone穿了一件湖藍色的工作衫,灰色的頭髮,眼睛和嘴角顯出一種力度。最初我的進入沒有得到什麼關注,他專注在工作台後面忙碌,直到我因為一款托斯卡納特色的Paco零錢包和他攀談起來····
那是我長久以來第一次和一位初次相識的人聊了整整一小時的天,這一方面來自意大利人健談的個性,更讓我驚嘆的是Taddei先生的博聞強識。直到現在,我還依稀記得那天店裡依稀來了兩三撥客人,他有時在工作台後面打磨產品,興致來時停下手上的活侃侃而談:
蘇格蘭的格拉斯哥至今任飽受工業污染帶來的健康危害,有許多人20多歲得肺病;
西班牙某區正在鬧分裂,當地人不說西班牙語而堅持說當地話,所以外地人根本無法和他們交流,這麼不團結對當地經濟多有危害,實在愚蠢;
意大利政府可不會像中國政府那樣扶持小公司,他們想著法子加稅在我們頭上;
佛羅倫薩,這裡的街道已經被商業店鋪佔領了,人們為什麼要買那些醜東西····
當我談到王爾德,錯誤地說他來自英格蘭;Taddei先生立刻毫不留情的糾正。我反而愈發高興起來,興奮地和他就文學,就手工藝的傳承,就我們該如何生活談論起來。談到興頭上,他突然有一個詞想不起來用英文如何表達,誰知竟轉身從工作台上那一堆雜亂中翻找出一本有年頭的,暗紅色硬殼兒的意大利語-英語字典熟練地翻找起來,很快就找到了他想使用的那個詞彙。他很高興,又重複兩遍那個單詞,還用鉛筆在那個詞的意大利語意下面劃上了標註。
那次意大利之行我多數時間陪著家人,但那一次單獨行動讓我印象深刻,走出Taddei先生的工坊後,我久久難以平靜興奮的感覺。很想為他做些什麼讓他被更多人知道的那種心情一直存在著。於是同年12月,在接近聖誕節的日子,我獨自一人從倫敦飛去翡冷翠,再一次見到了Simone,也在那座城市過了一次一個人的聖誕夜······


排斥出名的匠人
第二次拜訪Taddei先生時他的頭髮似乎比初次見面時更灰了一點。我早已知道,他是一個睿智的人,但也是一個心灰意冷的47歲(2016)中年人。對於商業化,對於被更多的人知道,他似乎一點也不感興趣,更確切地說,他是排斥的:
“日本的NHK來拍過我,美國的媒體也找到過我····我如果更加有名,就會收到更多的訂單,那我更必須日以繼夜的工作了。我現在已經早上8點過來工作,一直工作到晚上8點回家去,即使如此我的訂單簿上還有很多美國客人在等著我做的東西呢,我還要更忙嗎?不不不。我也有我的生活,我喜歡划船,去海灘游泳,我也喜歡讀書!而不是這樣日做夜做。”
這些話我總是記得很清楚,因為深深理解Taddei先生的無力感。不是因為嘗試了又失敗而無力,而是明白對於一個擁有生活的人來說,追求名利所犧牲的真實生活是無價的。誰又能勸服一個擁有生活的人為了更好的生活而放棄眼前的生活呢?
終於我承諾他,我要為他做一個網站。至少,讓更多人能從網站上找到他的店鋪地址,這也是他聽到我要為他製作官方網站時唯一的期待。回倫敦後,正值學期末考試的當口,我還是生生空出一周時間完成了對Simone的承諾。

Taddei Firenze 是一家位於佛羅倫薩的珍稀皮具店鋪,產品包括各種尺寸的皮質珠寶盒,雪茄盒,筆套,眼睛套,零錢包等等,皆由Taddei先生以全手工完成。不用一針一線,Taddei Firenze的作品全部由木質的模具開始並且,按照家族內世代沿襲的工藝步驟,以精心挑選的皮革層層包裹住模具而成型。 根據皮具大小和復雜程度,少則需要一周,多則需要二十天才能完成一個被Taddei先生認為是完美的作品。僅僅是一個中等大小的珠寶盒,也需要花費至少32道工藝方可完成。
Taddei Firenze is a fine leather brand from Florence, Italy, that specialised in the handmade leather jewellery box (with varies sizes), cigar holder, pen case, eyewear case, picture frame, coin purse (aka Tacco in Italian), and more. All the product of Taddei Firenze is handmade by Mr Simone Taddei without the use of needle and thread. Following the inherited technics, the production process all begins with a wooden mould, then covered with carefully selected leather layer by layer. The making process of Taddei’s products is extremely time consuming and skill demanding: According to the type of product, the making process will cost between one week to 20 days to achieve the level of completion and satisfaction proved by Mr Taddei. For a medium-sized jewellery box, it can require 32 steps of work to complete.


Taddei 先生認為,讓每個使用者的雙手感受皮具的表面,以及開關盒蓋的契合感,甚至用眼睛欣賞皮質產生的光澤變化的時候產生愉悅的心情,就是他工作的意義。接觸Taddei Firenze的皮具,那種皮具表面的光澤會讓人忍不住聯想到米開朗基羅雕塑的聖母憐子像(Le Pieta)。為了使聖像綻放美的光彩,米開朗基羅對大理石材料進行了無比細緻的打磨拋光,連最微細的角落也使用絲絨布打磨光亮。這種對極致之美的追求,反應在匠人用不懈的工藝與時間去昇華原本粗糙的原材料。大理石如是,皮革亦然。
Mr Taddei believes that to give pleasure to the eye and joy to the touch for all the customers makes his work meaningful. The superfine polished leather surface of Taddei’s creation reminds people of Michelangelo’s sculpture Le Pieta. In Le Pieta, Michelangelo has shown his virtuosity and superb technique on marble. To achieve the perfection level, Michelangelo even used velvet to polish every detail on this work. This reflects the High Renaissance belief in Neo-Platonic ideals in that beauty on earth reflected God’s vision, so these beautiful figures were responding to the beauty of the divine. Echoing with the consistent pursuit of the divine grace in the Renaissance, Taddei Family committed their whole life to produce the delicate leather objects that will bring delight to the customer who appreciates the true beauty in life.
HERITAGE

世代紮根於這座文藝復興名城,TADDEI家族從事皮具手作行業的歷史可追溯於現任TADDEI FIRENZE主理人SIMONE TADDEI的曾祖父。 (需要名字)。 TADDEI先生是一名優秀的鞋匠,在製鞋之外的時間他還製作一些皮具物件。到了SIMONE的爺爺Otello Taddei這一代,TADDEI家族開始專注於不使用縫線的精緻皮具製作。師從於當時佛羅倫薩城內的皮具製作大師們,在最傳統嚴謹的師徒制度下Otello學習到了最精湛的手工皮件製作技巧並且始於1937年專注於皮具經營。子承父業,SIMONE的父親GIAMPAOLO和SIMONE都堅守著這一份家族傳統。今天SIMONE製作皮具所使用的工具和技法,都和其祖父一代佛羅倫薩頂級匠人的手法如出一轍,而這種需要花費大量時間和精力才可以成就的工藝在工業化高度發達的今天早已成為一種工匠文化的活化石。
Rooted in the Renaissance Town, Taddei family’s journey with leather can be traced back to the great grandfather of Simone Taddei (the recent generation of Taddei family). Simone’s great grandfather was a great shoemaker in Florence when it comes to Simone’s grandfather Otello Taddei, he followed his passion and began to focus on fine leather object making. Otello has obtained exquisite skills of making leather objects from the apprenticeship with master leather makers in the old-timey Florence. Following their father’s steps, Giampaolo Taddei and his son Simone Taddei still holding the family heritage in the context of pervasive consuming culture and fast fashion. In today’s atelier of Taddei Firenze, Simone Taddei is still using the same tools and skills that his ancestors were once used to make leather objects. The extremely time and energy consuming leather making process have made Taddei Firenze the living fossil of artisan culture in today’s highly industrialised society. “It took me at least 15 years to fully mastered the skills and to understand the deep meaning of my work”, thus spake Simone Taddei.
技藝師從這座工匠之城之中的眾位名匠大師,TADDEI家族流傳到今日的技藝不僅僅是家族內代代流傳的結果,亦得益於佛羅倫薩這座藝術之城,工匠之城的撫育。
作為一種傳統,Taddei Firenze 位於Margherita街11號的的工作坊和店舖是連為一體的,人們進入店鋪便可直觀的看到這位頂級皮具匠人Simone Taddei每天製作皮具的忙碌身影。沒有客人需要幫助的時候,Taddei先生就坐在店鋪後方的工作台上專注自己的皮具製作和打磨。
As an ancient tradition, the boutique of Taddei Firenze, which located on 11 via Margherita in Florence, also works as the atelier for Simone Taddei. Customer will have an intuitive look of the atelier, most times with Simone Taddei working in front of the desk, as they step into the boutique.

工作室的牆面上懸掛著的Simone Taddei製作皮具所需的一列工具,它們中的許多來自Simone的祖父和父親,經過幾代頂尖匠人的使用,它們都閃爍著歲月的痕跡。不同於高度工業化的機械可以自行其是,這些工具需要與工匠雙手的配合,經過時間和經驗的磨練,最終製作出完美的作品。這些工具並不見得昂貴,它們不是陳列品,它們是工匠雙手的延伸,這些工具身上都流淌著Taddei家族的品性–平凡質樸不喜虛華,卻堅韌恆久,能鍛造完美。
A list of tools hanging on the back wall of the atelier will catch visitors’ eyes when they step further in. Simone inherits some of those tools from his father and grandfather, the shining grip and polished edge tells the story of time. Unlike highly industrialised machines that can be manipulated by simply pressing buttons, only the most experienced craftsman can bring those tools into life, and give vividness to its product. Mr Taddei’s tools are not luxury items since tools are not for display but work as the extension of craftsman’s hands. The essence of the tools echoes the spirit of Taddei Family – Despising vanity, persistently dedicate to perfection with unadorned craftsmanship.
走進Taddei Firenze, 如果你期待看見的是陳列精美,井然有序的景象,那你一定會失望。 Simone Taddei表示,這件工作室對他而言是非常私人的存在,所有的工作物件都或鋪展在工作台上,或橫躺於儲物櫃間,只有Simone自己知道去哪兒尋找它們。 Simone沒有招收學徒,因為薄利之下沒有幾個年輕人願意潛心磨練手上的技術,在一個人的工作室裡,除了偶爾前來看望的朋友,不時進來問詢的顧客,剩下的便都是他自己一人的世界。
Stepping into Taddei Firenze, one would be disappointed if he is expecting a tidily rendered and showroom-like atelier. In fact, the atelier is enchantingly messy. As Simone Taddei stated, the atelier is a highly private space for him, and only Mr Taddei knows where to find the moulds, the leathers, the pigments and everything he needs when working. Simone does not have an assistant nor apprentice; one of the reason is the younger generations found the hard craftsman work and limited margin in the business less attractive. Except for receiving friends and pop-up consumers, Mr Taddei spends most of the time working in his own empire, alone.