相遇
第一次见到Simone Taddei是2016年的春天。当时正值春假,我在翡冷翠的圣母百花教堂周边游荡。从教堂一侧的咖啡馆往南走,钻入做游客生意的商业店面背后,随便拣了一条小巷往深处走去。游客的喧嚷渐渐被落在身后,夹着窄巷的墙面不再像主街的那样规整和粉饰,由大小不一的石砖累成斑驳的样子,紧闭的深胡桃木色大门阻挡好奇的目光。快走到一个小广场的时候,右手边见到一面玻璃橱窗,对着窗户的是一方小桌,上面零散摆着几个皮制物件。不同于商业街上塞满待售商品的皮具铺子,眼前这些小物件有些是首饰盒,有些像是雪茄盒,有些让人猜测不着用途···· 它们是如此与众不同——无论是皮具上内敛的色泽还是精心打磨后披上的那一层光晕,静静流淌着一种不奉迎的尊严感,让我隔着玻璃忘得出神。

店内空间不大,靠外几处陈列皮具作品的地方,里面都用来做工作室。工坊主人Simone穿了一件湖蓝色的工作衫,灰色的头发,眼睛和嘴角显出一种力度。最初我的进入没有得到什么关注,他专注在工作台后面忙碌,直到我因为一款托斯卡纳特色的Paco零钱包和他攀谈起来····
欢谈
那是我长久以来第一次和一位初次相识的人聊了整整一小时的天,这一方面来自意大利人健谈的个性,更让我惊叹的是Taddei先生的博闻强识。直到现在,我还依稀记得那天店里依稀来了两三拨客人,他有时在工作台后面打磨产品,兴致来时停下手上的活侃侃而谈:
苏格兰的格拉斯哥至今任饱受工业污染带来的健康危害,有许多人20多岁得肺病;
西班牙某区正在闹分裂,当地人不说西班牙语而坚持说当地话,所以外地人根本无法和他们交流,这么不团结对当地经济多有危害,实在愚蠢;
意大利政府可不会像中国政府那样扶持小公司,他们想着法子加税在我们头上;
佛罗伦萨,这里的街道已经被商业店铺占领了,人们为什么要买那些丑东西····
当我谈到王尔德,错误地说他来自英格兰;Taddei先生立刻毫不留情的纠正。我反而愈发高兴起来,兴奋地和他就文学,就手工艺的传承,就我们该如何生活谈论起来。谈到兴头上,他突然有一个词想不起来用英文如何表达,谁知竟转身从工作台上那一堆杂乱中翻找出一本有年头的,暗红色硬壳儿的意大利语-英语字典熟练地翻找起来,很快就找到了他想使用的那个词汇。他很高兴,又重复两遍那个单词,还用铅笔在那个词的意大利语意下面划上了标注。
那次意大利之行我多数时间陪着家人,但那一次单独行动让我印象深刻,走出Taddei先生的工坊后,我久久难以平静兴奋的感觉。很想为他做些什么让他被更多人知道的那种心情一直存在着。于是同年12月,在接近圣诞节的日子,我独自一人从伦敦飞去翡冷翠,再一次见到了Simone,也在那座城市过了一次一个人的圣诞夜······


排斥出名的匠人
第二次拜访Taddei先生时他的头发似乎比初次见面时更灰了一点。我早已知道,他是一个睿智的人,但也是一个心灰意冷的47岁(2016)中年人。对于商业化,对于被更多的人知道,他似乎一点也不感兴趣,更确切地说,他是排斥的:
“日本的NHK来拍过我,美国的媒体也找到过我····我如果更加有名,就会收到更多的订单,那我更必须日以继夜的工作了。我现在已经早上8点过来工作,一直工作到晚上8点回家去,即使如此我的订单簿上还有很多美国客人在等着我做的东西呢,我还要更忙吗?不不不。我也有我的生活,我喜欢划船,去海滩游泳,我也喜欢读书!而不是这样日做夜做。”
这些话我总是记得很清楚,因为深深理解Taddei先生的无力感。不是因为尝试了又失败而无力,而是明白对于一个拥有生活的人来说,追求名利所牺牲的真实生活是无价的。谁又能劝服一个拥有生活的人为了更好的生活而放弃眼前的生活呢?悖论。
Taddei有了自己的网站
终于我承诺他,我要为他做一个网站。至少,让更多人能从网站上找到他的店铺地址,这也是他听到我要为他制作官方网站时唯一的期待。
Taddei先生的网站Taddei Firenze
回伦敦后,正值学期末考试的当口,我还是生生空出一周时间完成了对Simone的承诺。

Taddei Firenze 是一家位于佛罗伦萨的珍稀皮具店铺,产品包括各种尺寸的皮质珠宝盒,雪茄盒,笔套,眼睛套,零钱包等等,皆由Taddei先生以全手工完成。不用一针一线,Taddei Firenze的作品全部由木质的模具开始并且,按照家族内世代沿袭的工艺步骤,以精心挑选的皮革层层包裹住模具而成型。 根据皮具大小和复杂程度,少则需要一周,多则需要二十天才能完成一个被Taddei先生认为是完美的作品。仅仅是一个中等大小的珠宝盒,也需要花费至少32道工艺方可完成。
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 先生认为,让每个使用者的双手感受皮具的表面,以及开关盒盖的契合感,甚至用眼睛欣赏皮质产生的光泽变化的时候产生愉悦的心情,就是他工作的意义。接触Taddei Firenze的皮具,那种皮具表面的光泽会让人忍不住联想到米开朗基罗雕塑的圣母怜子像(Le Pieta)。为了使圣像绽放美的光彩,米开朗基罗对大理石材料进行了无比细致的打磨抛光,连最微细的角落也使用丝绒布打磨光亮。这种对极致之美的追求,反应在匠人用不懈的工艺与时间去升华原本粗糙的原材料。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

世代扎根于这座文艺复兴名城,TADDEI家族从事皮具手作行业的历史可追溯于现任TADDEI FIRENZE主理人SIMONE TADDEI的曾祖父。(需要名字)。TADDEI先生是一名优秀的鞋匠,在制鞋之外的时间他还制作一些皮具物件。到了SIMONE的爷爷Otello Taddei这一代,TADDEI家族开始专注于不使用缝线的精致皮具制作。师从于当时佛罗伦萨城内的皮具制作大师们,在最传统严谨的师徒制度下Otello学习到了最精湛的手工皮件制作技巧并且始于1937年专注于皮具经营。子承父业,SIMONE的父亲GIAMPAOLO和SIMONE都坚守着这一份家族传统。今天SIMONE制作皮具所使用的工具和技法,都和其祖父一代佛罗伦萨顶级匠人的手法如出一辙,而这种需要花费大量时间和精力才可以成就的工艺在工业化高度发达的今天早已成为一种工匠文化的活化石。
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.
技艺师从这座工匠之城之中的众位名匠大师,TADDEI家族流传到今日的技艺不仅仅是家族内代代流传的结果,亦得益于佛罗伦萨这座艺术之城,工匠之城的抚育。
作为一种传统,Taddei Firenze 位于Margherita街11号的的工作坊和店铺是连为一体的,人们进入店铺便可直观的看到这位顶级皮具匠人Simone Taddei每天制作皮具的忙碌身影。没有客人需要帮助的时候,Taddei先生就坐在店铺后方的工作台上专注自己的皮具制作和打磨。
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.

工作室的墙面上悬挂着的Simone Taddei制作皮具所需的一列工具,它们中的许多来自Simone的祖父和父亲,经过几代顶尖匠人的使用,它们都闪烁着岁月的痕迹。不同于高度工业化的机械可以自行其是,这些工具需要与工匠双手的配合,经过时间和经验的磨练,最终制作出完美的作品。这些工具并不见得昂贵,它们不是陈列品,它们是工匠双手的延伸,这些工具身上都流淌着Taddei家族的品性–平凡质朴不喜虚华,却坚韧恒久,能锻造完美。
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.
走进Taddei Firenze, 如果你期待看见的是陈列精美,井然有序的景象,那你一定会失望。Simone Taddei表示,这件工作室对他而言是非常私人的存在,所有的工作物件都或铺展在工作台上,或横躺于储物柜间,只有Simone自己知道去哪儿寻找它们。 Simone没有招收学徒,因为薄利之下没有几个年轻人愿意潜心磨练手上的技术,在一个人的工作室里,除了偶尔前来看望的朋友,不时进来问询的顾客,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.