Gogo： Before we start the interview, I have read the official website of “extreMida”. “ExtreMida” was founded by you two, Mrs. Debora & Mr. Flavio. Mr. Flavio specializes in gold-working design. Ms. Debora, you used to study graphic design and advertising graphics. You two met each other on a certain occasion, right?

Flavio: The current job is the second career field for both of us. About 10 years ago, we met each other when I was working at a handmade market located at Fortezza da Basso. I was the person who made the action first, I asked Debora if she want to have a cup of coffee with me. Cause I got up too early that day, that I need some caffeine.

During the conversations, we have much in common such as selling market, lifestyle… and so on. And passed about two or three years, we met up again then we began to do some similar works like antique object design. 

I wasn’t working in this field all the time, I have changed many different jobs during my whole career. One day Debora asked me: “why did you stop making jewelry?” “ I have no idea, sometime when you end one thing, you will start another different business again,” I replied.

Actually at that moment when she made me that question which makes me rethink my situation and I deiced to back to my old profession. In the meantime Debora also has had an interest in gold-craft so I became her tutor, teach her the basic knowledge and technology. After that, she also signed up for a short-term course of Wax carving course at Comune di Firenze. From that moment, we decided to launch our business.
After a few years, we participated in a fair in France and after we back to Florence, we made up our mind to establish our very first fiscal store which also could be the studio, could let clients directly see what we are doing and also have a space for displaying our designs.

Gogo： Most of the time we as costumes are easy to follow blindly the trend or celebrity to buy the jewelry they promote, but not really select based on our own style or preference. However, from “ extreMida ” we can find out more elements representing “uniqueness” and “professionalism” shining in each piece of jewelry. As you guys said earlier, inspiration comes from every trip every detail of daily life.

Flavio： Exactly, sometimes when we are. walking on the street, any interesting details will quickly catch out eyes, so we will immediately return to the studio and try to rebuild it out. Of course, it works occasionally, sometimes it doesn’t work.

Debora： Sometimes our design will focus on “ocean” and “coast”.

Flavio： Just like this bracelet, the idea is coming from a “wave-eliminating block” that is common near the coast. This bracelet designed and produced by Debora uses a volcanic rock as the main structure, which was inspired by the coastal coast of Tuscany, from Livorno to Piombino. We retain the original shape of the volcanic rock itself, without doing too much polishing or processing completely present the natural appearance of the stone, which cost Debora nearly three weeks to finish the item.

Gogo： For you guys Mrs. Debora & Mr. Flavio, what is the connection between the jewelry of  “ extreMida ” and people?

Flavio： From my point of view, you must transfer emotions to every piece of metal, and convert the intangible emotions into actual metal substances according to your thoughts, so that metals are no longer just pure substances but rich in emotion, feeling of the designer.

It just so happens that we are also talking about inspiration. Take this series as an example. It is called “Time City” (Ore Città). Before the production, we captured many urban scenes, street scenes, palaces, etc. through photography.

Gogo： Your designs are mostly based on natural elements, that piece of jewelry on your hand reminds me of the form of a cobra.

Flavio / Debora： It is a good association. Actually, we want to express the busy traffic of urban streets and the relationship between roads and alleys.

Flavio： Now we are also experimenting with many different designs, such as classical designs. Ideas have also extended from daily to the category of classic philosophy books, such as the Roman Ring from the Roman period and the Renaissance jewelry, which select high-quality natural gemstones, antique minerals from 2000 years ago or modern hand-carved sell objects, etc. they are basically collected from Turkey, Iran, India and other places through traveling.

Gogo： We could see that you guys have collected lots of precious ores, as well as many antique handmade pendants. Could they also be selected and used for customized design?

Flavio： Of course, if anyone likes a certain ore, we can customize jewelry for the customer, regardless of style, expression, ancient roman style, renaissance design… We will put 200% energy into every cooperation, will never face it with a casual attitude.

Gogo: The name of your brand is ” extreMida “. What is the reason to choose this name as a jewelry brand?

Flavio： From the past to the present we only working on “ extreme ” design, jewelry like rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings etc. The background story of “ extreMida ”, you could see it as two words, “Mida” comes from a Greek mythology, there’s a king named Midas. In the legend, anything will turn to “gold” once he touches it, so we merge these two words together and give our design a unique meaning “extreMida”.

Gogo: When you established “ extreMida “?

Flavio：About seven or eight years ago, around 2013 or 2014.

Gogo： What made you two decide to start an undertaking together?  What kind of brand do you guys want to create different from others?

Flavio / Debora：We have to say it all comes from our enthusiasm for jewelry design. Foundation is always the most important thing, if you lose your passion then you couldn’t do anything. We don’t want to be formal, just use comment materials for commercial design, so that we are just like other designers.

Gogo：What is jewelry to ” extreMida “?

Flavio / Debora：It is everything. It is not just a job; it is a part of our life, which could be every single days. Sometime there isn’t any inspiration then just take a break; sometime your couldn’t stop your hand cause you want to make all the ideas out. Just like our early period of our business, we tool a vacation for more than one month, and then we tried our best creating from screech to reality and also completed our first edition of our corporate identity system.

Gogo：That’s right, that is the attitude of life that designers will have. I am curious about where is the inspiration coming from?

Flavio：Our inspiration comes from the shapes of nature, trees, plants, flowers, etc. Our first series is made by Debora, she used a technique called * Lost-wax which is a very old technique. And I use the flat metal to continuously fold and shape, this technique is called * Foldforming to make jewelry. Sometimes we will alternate different techniques.

In the past two years, we have actively participated in many big fairs and exhibitions, such as in Hangzhou, China, and France.

Debora： The point is that every piece of our jewelry is made by “ourself”, never ask others to produce our designs. 

Flavio： The only process that we will ask professional to assist which is gilding, because it requires relatively large equipment, which is a process that we cannot perform.

Gogo：So in terms of market acceptance, which series do customers prefer?

Debora：If we talked about the preference, it should be “Flora” and “Aqua”.
Flavio： Recently “Africa” also have some followers.

Gogo：What about the average age of customers?

Flavio：For the Asian market, it is probably between the ages of 20 and 60; In Italy, almost 70% are over 35 years old. However, recently we found out that the age range is getting younger, especially people who are selecting graduation gifts  for friends or buying new accessories for the summer. Because our store is closed from several schools, deliberately merge the working era and exhibition spaces together, this way it will indirectly arouse the passersby’s interest of us, this part could be said to be the focus of our store.

Gogo：Generally speaking, is there a huge difference between the types of jewelry selected by customers in Asia and Europe? Which style of design do they prefer?

Flavio / Debora：There is a very big difference. For example, a young Chinese designer came to the store few days ago. He liked our designs so much, like that large-size rings. Over 80% of the jewelry he choose are more classical.

Debora：Around two years ago we participated in a fair in Hangzhou. We tried to promote our design at the fair, most the Chinese people were very excited to see our jewelry. Because most of the Chinese have slender skeletons, we expected them to choose small items but in the end, they mainly choose the jewelry with larger shapes.

In the other hand French people prefer finer and smaller designs. “Flora” and “Aqua” are very popular in France.

Gogo：Do ” extreMida ” have any new design or ongoing design?

Flavio：I’m working on a new series “Paper”, which expresses the characteristics of paper through Fold-forming, which I am good at. Currently focusing on earrings; and Debora completed her latest series “Cartier” not long ago, which contains a complete set of jewelry.

Debora：Yes, it is difficult to explain where the my inspiration comes from. Because sometimes it comes out naturally and leads you to continue creating.

Gogo：We can perfectly understand that ” extreMida ” currently has many different jewelry series through your introductions. I am very curious, which series is you guys favorite?

Flavio / Debora：All of then are our favorites.

Debora： If you insist me to choose, I will say “Mediterraneo”.

Flavio：Yes, I think I will choose the same as Debora, because I know how much effort that Debora has put in this series.

Gogo：So basically every series is the result of the cooperation by two of you?

Debora：Almost everything. Sometime depends on the products we will using different techniques to present distinct effects, such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, rings, hair accessories, etc.

Gogo：在開始採訪之前，我有稍微閱覽過你們的品牌官網，extreMida 是由兩位成立，Flavio先生過去專門研究金匠設計專業，Debora女士過去你是研究平面設計以及廣告圖形專業，你們兩位是在某一次的場合相遇彼此的對嗎？

Flavio：現在的工作是我們兩個各自事業的第二春，大約是在10年前，我在Fortezza da Basso的市集擺攤工作，我們在那個場合相遇。 是我先詢問Debora：「你想不想喝杯咖啡？」因為那天我起得太早，當時我很需要補充點咖啡。對話當中，我們談論許多話題，像是銷售市場、彼此的生活…等等，之後大概過了兩三年，我們再次相遇，然後開始做相類似的工作，古董物件的設計。

因為我並不是一直持續做這份工作，在我的職業生涯當中，我換了許多不同的工作。有一天Debora她詢問我：「你為什麼停止製作珠寶？」「我不知道，有的時候你結束某項工作，然後你再開始另一份不一樣的事業。」我回答。

但是在那當下，當她這樣詢問我，我就決定有何不可，重新再開始金工設計這條路，剛好Debora也想要學習金工，所以我就教她一切基本的觀念跟技術。之後她也去報名了由Comune di Firenze開辦的蠟雕 (Wax carving) 短期課程，從那個時刻開始，我們兩個就開始創業。後來我們參加了一個在法國的展覽，回到佛羅倫斯之後，我們決定開一間實體店面，同時可以作為工作室也可以讓顧客有一個直接瞭解我們並且能夠觀賞作品的空間，這個決定大約是在六年前。

Gogo：大多時候我們在觀賞，選購珠寶的時候，十分容易會跟著主觀潮流的步伐，看到那個明星代言、這個網路紅人穿戴某件首飾，就會非常盲目的追捧跟從。然而從 “ extreMida ” 的珠寶設計裡頭，看到的是更多代表「獨特性」、「職人感」的元素在每件首飾裡頭，就像先前你們所說，靈感就是來自於日常生活、來自於每一次的旅行。

Flavio：對，沒有錯。有時我們走在路上，看到任何有趣的事物就會馬上回到工作室，嘗試將點子做出來，當然有的時候可行，有的時候是完全行不通。但我想這就是過去金匠師在設計過程中的模式。

Debora：有時我們的設計會著重於「海洋」、「海岸」。

Flavio：就好比這個手環，是以海岸邊常見的「消波塊」為主體，Debora 設計製作的這個手環是利用火山岩作為主體，靈感來自於托斯卡尼的沿海海岸，從利佛諾（Livorno）到皮奧恩比諾（Piombino ）， 對於這系列的設計我們保留火山岩本身的原始型態，不做過多的打磨或是處理，完整呈現石頭本身的樣貌，同時Debora在製作過程也是耗時了近三週的時間。

Gogo：對你們而言，” extreMida ” 的珠寶與人兩者之間的連結是什麼？

Flavio：就我的觀點來說，你必須將情緒傳遞到每一件金屬上，依據你每天的想法將無形的情感轉換為實際的金屬物質，使金屬不再只是單純的物質而是富含設計者情緒感受的產物。

剛好我們也在談論靈感這件事，以這個系列打個比方，它叫做「城市時間」（Ore Città），開始製作之前我們兩個透過攝影，擷取了許多城市景象、街景、宮殿、街道…等等。

Gogo：因為我們剛開始談到你們的設計多以自然元素為主，像你手上的這件首飾就讓我聯想到眼鏡蛇的形體。

Flavio / Debora：也可以是這樣的聯想，我們是想要表達城市街道的車水馬龍，道路與小巷之間的關係。

Flavio：現在我們也嘗試許多不同的設計，比方說古典的設計，點子也從日常一直延伸到哲學經典書籍的範疇，像是古羅馬時期的戒飾（Roman Ring）、文藝復興時期的首飾（The Renaissance） ，使用的是高品質的天然寶石、兩千年前的古董礦石或是現代手工雕刻的貝殼物件等等，基本上都是透過旅行從土耳其、伊朗、印度等地收集而來的。

Gogo：可以看到你們收集了非常多珍貴的珠寶礦石，還有許多古董手工墜飾，它們同樣都是可以被挑選使用的嗎？

Flavio：當然可以，如果有顧客喜歡某一件礦石，我們都可以為顧客客製化珠寶，不管是什麼樣的設計風格、表現形式，古羅馬風格、文藝復興時期設計、配上貴金屬等等，每一次的合作我們都是全力以赴，絕對不會以隨便的態度面對。

Gogo：你們的品牌名稱叫做 “ extreMida ” ，為什麼要取這個名字，有什麼原因嗎？

Flavio：為什麼叫 “ extreMida ” ，過去到現在我們都在做 “extreme stuff” 極致的設計，像是這樣的珠寶，手環或是戒指，而 Mida 是來自於一個希臘神話傳說，一個名叫邁達斯 “Mida” 的國王，傳說任何東西只要被他觸碰到都會變成「黃金」；所以我們把兩個單字合併再一起 “ extreMida ” 賦予我們珠寶一個特別的意涵。

Gogo：“ extreMida ” 是什麼時候成立的？

Flavio：大約是七八年前，2013、14年的時候。

Gogo：是什麼原因讓你們兩位決定一起創業，你們想創造什麼樣不同於其他人的品牌？

Flavio / Debora：來自於我們兩個同樣對於珠寶設計的熱情，那是最重要的基礎，如果失去熱情你什麼都沒有辦法做，我們不想要流於形式，單就使用一般便宜的材料做商業化的設計，這樣一來我們就跟其他設計師一樣。

Gogo：珠寶對你們而言是什麼？

Flavio / Debora：它是一切事物，它並不單就是一份工作；而是生活的一部份，可以是日常的每一天、平日、假日。有時候沒有靈感，那就休息，有的時候手感極佳，那就把腦中的設計都做出來，就好比在創業初期，我們途中休息了整整一個多月，之後我們就卯足全力的將腦海中的設計草圖製作出來，並完成了草創期的品牌藍圖。

Gogo：是的，這就是設計師會有的生活態度，那麼我很好奇的是你們的靈感來源是從何而來？

Flavio：我們的靈感來自大自然、樹木、植物、花卉等等的型態。
Debora 從事失蠟法（lost-wax casting)* 是一種非常古老的技法，而我是利用平面的金屬不斷的折疊成型，這個技法叫做金屬摺疊成型（Foldforming)* 的技術來製作珠寶，有的時候我們會交替不同的技法。

過去的兩年裡，我們積極地參加許多的大型展會，像是在中國杭州、法國，重點是我們的每一件珠寶都是經由「我們自己」之手，從不經他人之手來製作我們的設計。唯獨一道工序「鍍金」，我們會請專業的人來協助這個部分，因為它需要比較大型的器具，是我們沒有辦法執行的工序。

Gogo：那麼以市場接受度來說，那一個系列較受顧客喜愛？

Debora：以喜好度來說，應該是“Flora”和”Aqua”，近期“Africa”也有不少。

Gogo：平均顧客年齡層呢？

Flavio：亞洲市場來說，大概是20歲以上60歲之間的顧客；義大利的話差不多70％是35歲以上的顧客，不過最近一次的新顧客年齡十分的小，特別是一些為了挑選畢業禮物或是為夏天選購新飾品的顧客。因為我們的工作室/店面所在的位置距離幾間學校不遠，而且我們刻意將工作與展示空間合併再一起，這樣就會間接的引起路過的人群對於我們的工作與珠寶的興趣，這個部分十分的重要。

Gogo：一般來說亞洲與歐洲的顧客所挑選的珠寶類型會有很大的不同嗎？他們各式偏好哪種風格的設計？

Flavio / Debora：有非常大的差別。打個比方，幾天前有一位年輕的中國設計師來到店裡，他非常喜歡我們的設計，像是大尺寸的戒指，超過80％他都是挑選比較古典風格的設計。

Debora：兩年前我們參加了杭州的展覽，我們嘗試在展會上推廣我們的設計，大部分的中國人看到我們的珠寶都很興奮。普遍的中國人身形都屬於纖細的骨架，但是到最後基本上他們都選擇款式偏大的設計。法國人基本上都偏好於較精細、尺寸偏小的設計，“Flora”、”Aqua”很受到歡迎。

Gogo：最近你們有什麼新的設計靈感或是正在進行的設計嗎？

Flavio：我正在進行一個新系列“Paper”，透過我擅長的金工技法折疊（Fold-forming）來表現紙張的特質，目前專注於耳飾類的設計；而Debora則在不久前完成了她新的系列“Cartier”，包含了一整組完整的珠寶首飾。

Debora：對，很難去說明這個新系列的設計靈感來自於什麼地方，有的時候它就是自然而然著產生，帶領你不斷的創作。

Gogo：透過這麼多的介紹，我們可以了解到 ” extreMida ” 目前已經有許多不同的珠寶系列，我很好奇的是，那一個系列是你們各自的最愛？

Flavio / Debora：全部都是我們的最愛。

Debora：如果硬是要選，「Mediterraneo｜地中海」對我來說是我的最愛。

Flavio：對，我想我跟Debora一樣，因為我知道Debora花了多少的心血在這系列裡。

Gogo：所以每一個系列都算是你們兩位的一起合作的成果？

Debora：基本上都是，不然就是我們各自使用不同的金工技法來設計製作，項鍊、手鍊、手環、耳環、戒指、髮飾等等。