We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ~ Aristotle
GimenaMazzeoCaneda
Born Buenos Aires, (Argentina) of a Spanish mother and Italian father, and now living in Spain– I think of myself as a ‘woman of the world’
Growing up with older sister and younger brother, family values were of prime importance in the formative years.
My childhood was never disconnected from acquiring knowledge (my father is a bio-chemist, my mother a chemical analyst), yet I was always certain that design and creativity in any form was what I enjoyed above all else.
The world of design was where I was heading. But ‘easy’ could by no means satisfy. It was never in my vocabulary. I selected Industrial Design as the foundation, the building block of my career.
Industrial design is the use of both applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, design,ergonomics, functionality, and/or usability of a product, and it may also be used to improve the product’s marketability and even production. The role of an industrial designer is to create and execute design solutions for problems of form, usability, physical ergonomics, marketing, brand development, and sales.
That decision, (it was certainly not fate), led via various winding paths to the career I enjoy today. It has proven to be as creative and open on the one hand yet technical and ever more challenging on the other.
Through a 5-year degree at the University of Buenos Aires I earned my master’s degree in industrial design, a solitary girl in a male dominated class, and found my life opened onto a man’s world.
In conjunction with with this studies I did glass, paintbrush workshops, CAD workshops that enhanced the design studies.
It was wild and varied even from those early days. I began designing, producing and applying the corporate design and vinyl graphics on GP Formula racing cars – it was a cutting edge technology in those days and the pit lane back then smelled different to today’s hybrid cars!!
It led to elaborate model making; collaborations in ergonomics system design; and on to yacht styling.
Somehow my mother’s blood was pulling me towards Spain, a move I finally made in 2001
Immediately I found myself working for KULTUR, an architectural studio in the heart of La Coruña designing museums, and art exhibitions.
More great opportunities arose when I was invited onto the design team of ZARA Woman, and later as a key member of the concept team creating the first steps of what was to become ZARA Home.
After the successful launch of the brand, and establishment of stores extending worldwide I found it time to move on.
I was offered an opportunity of expanding my work in the exhibition business and with the continuing urges within me to find new challenges – always due to my foundation in industrial design – I was offered a role designing the interior of two museums, one being on the island of Mallorca.
I fell in love with Mallorca, an idyllic island where I decided I wanted to raise my family.
It was in Palma where I was lured into the design world of private luxury yachts.
My ever critical demands for quality, and the exacting detail flowing out of my designs, was unachievable with the existing outfitting companies on the island in those days. My background at ZARA had taught me the importance of fabric quality, the need for its careful selection, or of the differences in the detailing that would arouse the senses in the client – and so I began searching the possibilities of opening my own workshop to ensure we could meet those qualities thatI have demanded until this day.
In 2009 I founded SOFT interior
The company has grown steadily these past six years, and today we enjoya long list of the world’s wealthiest yacht owners – satisfied clientele.I have a fantastic, dedicated and happy team behind me. Without them I would not be who I am or where I am today.
I grew more and more to value that wonderful feeling of achievement and of earning respect from my clients. For me “can’t be done” just doesn’t exist. It’s maybe one reason, just one of many, that our valued clients have stayed with me and have allowed me to develop the company SOFT interior to what it is today.