Emiliana Martinelli, entrepreneur and designer at the head of Martinelli Luce

The MAG 09/22

BIOGRAPHY by Cristina Morozzi

Emiliana Martinelli – a straightforward, spontaneous and successful designer and entrepreneur who transmits enthusiasm in everything she does – is at the helm of Martinelli Luce.

The company was founded in Lucca, Italy by her father Elio, who was a production designer and who decided to take over his own father’s lighting shop in piazza Bernardini in Lucca when his father passed away. Martinelli Luce’s first projects are proof of Elio’s narrative talent, expressed in concise and iconic forms using innovative materials like opal methacrylate.

Even the names of the company’s lights – designed in the late 1960s and still in production today – are original, including Cobra, Snake, and Bat. Emiliana, who inherited her passion for innovative design from her father, has skillfully guided the company to innovation without betraying its roots. She has also led the company to win numerous awards, including the 2020 IF Design Award for lamps Hush, Elastica and Sistema U, selected from over 7,000 applications. “I was born into the company,”

 Emiliana says, “and I adopted the ideas of my father that best suited me. He inspired me through his dedication, and as long as he was alive, I felt protected. He taught me to do what I like and believe in, without worrying too much about marketing. I realize that being an entrepreneur and a designer are two distinct roles, and I often think that being an entrepreneur penalizes my creativity. I always design new lamps, and then I take a step back and in order to choose with a clearer mind, without being carried away by enthusiasm”.

Emiliana manages a wide-ranging and complex catalog with approximately 130 lamps as well as an equally sizable technical catalog. She also tenaciously dedicates herself to the search for new designers to continue the company’s trajectory toward the future of design.