This Legendary Italian Design Platform Tapped One of NYC's Coolest Studios for Its Debut Furniture Collection — And It's an Ode to Timeless Craftsmanship in the Age of AI
Designed by GACHOT for Artemest, this beautifully nostalgic line unites the resourcefulness of Italy's leading artisans with sophisticated taste
Some furniture pieces can be felt even before you actually get to touch them. Think about the way in which the leather of a sofa folds on itself when turned into a side cushion, creating natural inlets that add uniqueness to what would otherwise be a perfectly identical accessory. Or about the woven threads of an intrecciato model, which instantly prompt you to wonder whether someone has had to rework the material into thinly stretched plaits or, if instead, it was a machine to complete such a meticulous task.
From the perfectly smoothed surface of a wooden stool and coffee table to the carefully stitched fabric components of a velvety armchair, the inaugural Artemest Collection, conceived by cult New York studio GACHOT and created in collaboration with the best Italian artisans, makes the many layers — physical, creative, and of inspiration — and hands that converge into homeware manifest in its textures.
One of the highlights of Milan Design Week 2026, the Artemest Collection by GACHOT represents a first-of-its-kind project for the premium Italian design hub. Co-founded by jewelry designer Ippolita Rostagno, who acts as its creative director, and entrepreneur Marco Credendino, its CEO, in 2015, and active between the northern Italian capital and its physical galleria in the Big Apple's West Chelsea district, Artemest has since established itself as the leading destination for the discovery and promotion of authentic Italian craftsmanship worldwide. Now, the launch of its furniture line invites a different international practice to imagine a bespoke selection of homewares for the brand annually, and GACHOT is leading the charge.
Article continues belowArtemest Collection by GACHOT — Italian Artisanry Goes Global, Starting From NYC
"Inspired by our New York City living room, the collection is deeply personal — an expression of how we design and live. Unpretentious yet rigorously considered, these are pieces intended to be lived with for decades to come." — Christine and John Gachot
"Artemest has always put artisans at the center of its story. Empowering them to develop original designs with GACHOT marks an important evolution for us — from curating excellence to creating it," Artemest's founder and CEO Marco Credendino says of the initiative, which debuted last week inside the storied Palazzo Donizetti.
Picture the scene: an array of champagne-tinted and brown leather and wood furnishings displayed in the style of an intellectual living room within one of Milan's beautiful palaces, with reflective surfaces, brass accents, fresh potted flowers, and plenty of collectibles delicately arranged all around them.
The Artemest Collection by GACHOT was informed by the studio co-founders' own residence, and you can tell. Described as "a dialogue between the clarity and restraint of New York modernism and the depth, tradition, and material richness" of Italian design, it captures comfort, familiarity, and style without spilling into excess, embodying the reliability we seek from the places we return to time and time again.
A Space That Needs Not Surprise, But Inspire and Comfort Over Time
Calming, considered, curated: the Artemest Collection by GACHOT offers a glimpse inside one of New York's coolest studios, and their trend-defying vision of living and furniture.
In a society where people's ability to focus is at an all-time low, trends are still viewed as those rare moments of change everyone should be tuning into, or else fall out of the zeitgeist. With social media setting the style agenda, that's more true now than ever before within the interior design scene, where what's in one day is out the next, and often even regardless of the true relevance of specific looks.
It's within this ever-transient context that Christine and John Gachot encourage us to look back at the past century to find a renewed balance.
Sharing the quiet researchedness and shapely nature of Italy's mid-century furniture, their elegantly beautiful creations for Artemest reflect "a belief that true luxury lies in what remains after everything unnecessary is removed," they say, their contribution to the Italian craftsmanship platform, a "return to simplicity — tested forms to create pieces of enduring value."
Materials are key to Artemest, as is the preservation and promotion of Italy's finest artisans, their manual knowledge, and artist heritage.
They may not feel novel per se, revolutionary, or appeal to everyone in the same way, but Christine and John Gachot's sculptural decor designs for Artemest — geometrically cut, vintage-looking armchairs, precious magazine racks, intricate benches, and monolithic stools and coffee tables — succeed there where so much of today's home buys fail: shining with the lived-like, experience-rich patina typical of cherished family heirlooms and furniture, they don't demand fleeting attention or seek to impress.
Instead, they hold our gaze compellingly, whether reminding us of memories of some place else, of something we used to own and no longer have, or of a coveted design icon we'd love to bring into our contemporary homeware arsenal for a touch of old-world heritage.
Call me biased as an Italian, but if that's not influencing, I don't know what else is. To me, the Artemest Collection by GACHOT proves that, viral sensations aside, when it comes to design that feels rooted in history, personal, and alive, nothing beats emotion — and some precisely drawn, essential lines.
Discover the full Artemest Collection by GACHOT.
Artemest's co-founder, Ippolita Rostagno, photographed alongside GACHOT's John Gachot in a BTS shoot documenting their co-authored furniture collection.
Missed out on the most anticipated events of Milan Design Week? Bear with us just a little longer, as editor Hugh Metcalf proceeds to unpack the biggest design moments and what is set to be in demand for the months to come, including, whether you like it or not, the rise and rise of, yes, hairy furniture.
After more GACHOT-authored design extravaganza? Revisit our edit of the top New York restaurants and bars for true interior enthusiasts to spot some of their best-executed hospitality contributions out in the wild.
