Marino designed couture leather pens for Caran d’Ache

By

Melanie Muller

Translated by
Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 3, 2017

Caran d’Ache, a Swiss manufacturer of luxury writing instruments firm, has tapped internationally acclaimed architect Peter Marino to create a capsule collection of pens. 

Fashion’s go-to architect Peter Marino has always used Caran d’Ache’s Varius pens to sketch architecture, and has now teamed up with the Swiss brand to create his own writing instruments in his very distinctive style.

For those who don’t know him, Peter Marino is the man responsible for the design of hundreds of luxury fashion flagships, working with brands from Chanel to Dior.

The 68-year old architect is always clad in head-to-toe leather. Leather trousers and tops are complemented with leather straps and shiny silver buckles, his fingers are always dressed with a variety of skull rings, and a jet-black Mohawk completes his signature look.

But the man, who at first sight might look more like an S&M club owner, has transformed luxury boutiques, hotels and apartments into decadent oases with the finest materials, light elements and luxury art. In 2012 he was decorated as a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in recognition of his work and efforts to promote art and culture.

His career began in the late 1970s when Andy Warhol commissioned him to renovate his town house on East 66th Street. This was then followed by boutiques for Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior and Ermenegildo Zegna, to name a few.

For Louis Vuitton, Marino’s company was responsible for the architecture and interior design of the first Maison in Germany, located in Munich in the historic Residenzpost. Walls are surfaced in dark eel skin and leather, while a mesh unique to this flagship covers the back wall and staircase, creating a sumptuous environment that would impress the richest of the world across three levels.

Marino’s rock aesthetic is being transferred into the Caran d’Ache collaboration in the unapologetic way. Coming up with two new creations, Varius Peter Marino and Varius Peter Marino Special Edition, feature calf leather and hand-made lacing, and represent the importance of writing instruments in his life. “I use the Varius pens to sketch architecture,” he said.

 
The Special Edition pen comes with a silver cap and a rhodium-coated skull with black onyx eyes, reminiscent of the numerous rings that the architect wears. A generic numbering system, 1/150 honours the architect’s Manhattan studio: 150 East 58 Street.

On the creations, Marino says he was inspired by high-performance motorcycle aesthetics and his own personal style. “These pens are high-performance writing instruments dressed in couture leather,” he adds.

The Varius Peter Marino will be available in fountain, roller and ballpoint versions, all body clothed in leather and featuring a slim grey seam. A unique engraved limited-edition number pays tribute to the date he set up his first New York studio: 1/1978 (one out of 1,978).