Roots and Reeds: A Bonacina Family History

Rattan begins as a wild thing—climbing, twisting, unpredictable—until it meets the heat of human hands. In the book Bonacina: The Beauty of Rattan, this transformation becomes art, tradition, and a quiet revolution in material. More than a chronicle of furniture, it is a tactile history of how one Italian family has, for over a century, coaxed form from fibre—threading together memory, material, and mastery. From colonial outposts to Como workshops, from Gio Ponti’s sketches to the scent of steam in a century-old factory, Bonacina reveals rattan as a language fluent in elegance, durability, and the slow dance between nature and design. This is the story of furniture that breathes, that bends, and that, quite literally, sticks around.

Rattan sticks in the Bonacina studio. Photo Credit: Guido Taroni.

Today in Selvedge Stories, we invite you to enjoy this introductory extract from Elia Bonacina, from the published title Bonacina: The Beauty of Rattan:

I was born in the nineteenth-century villa built by Giovanni Bonacina, the patriarch of our dynasty. As was customary in Brianza at the time, the villa was adjoined to the company’s main workshop (ca’ e botega), so, right from the start, I experienced the sounds of the factory, the scent of rattan, and the dynamism of the company’s production. Inside the factory, I developed my senses of touch, sight, and smell, and, as I grew up, these became refined, enabling me to recognize every type of rattan, discern any aniline, natural, or lacquered color, and learn from our employees the art of taming rattan with fire to transform it into surprising new shapes. To me, at the time, it was like seeing Indiana Jones fighting with an anaconda—a feat of rare artistry every time.

Brando Bicolour Custom chairs, 1975. Mario Bonacina. Inspired by the Bonacina Historical Archive. Photo Credit: Guido Taroni.

Upon waking, I couldn’t wait to step onto the factory floor to enjoy the spectacle, and I always felt so lucky and grateful for who I was, where I’d been born, and what my family did for a living. I learned early on how to correctly insert a nail into a rattan frame and how to weave rattan core. The employees of my grandparents, Vittorio and Carla, and then of my parents, Mario and Antonia, have always been part of my family. I’ve spent so much time with them—laughing, joking, working, and talking seriously about life—that they couldn’t help but affect who I am...

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Image Credits:

LEAD: Federico Forquet Residence, Cetona.  ELLE Armchairs and ottoman, 1974. Mario Bonacina and Renzo Mongiardino. Photo Credit: Guido Taroni.

All other images as credited in photo captions.