The notion of his mannequins – life-sized supermodels – attracted fashion designers like Dianne von Furstenberg, Anna Sui, Andrée Putman and even real-life supermodel Christy Turlington, who quickly catapulted his rise to cool fame. Pucci began working in his family’s company in 1976, in the basement of their home in Mount Vernon, New York, repairing mannequins. His father would collect broken figurines, and his mother would make wigs. His grandfather had owned a plaster shop in the Bronx, making religious statues, which was how Pucci’s mother learned to pick up the trade. When Pucci joined the business, he saw a missing link of making mannequins.

But it wasn’t until his collaboration with interior designer Andrée Putman in 1986, that he realised there’s beauty in celebrating cultural diversity and gender differences through his mannequins. With the buzz surrounding Pucci’s envelope-pushing artwork taking New York like a storm, his family business began to expand as well: from a mannequin-making studio, to a gallery and showroom showcasing only the finest, provocative and sexy luxury furniture and lighting, with extensions in Miami and a newly opened outpost in Los Angeles on March 2017.

But Pucci’s New York studio was the magical center of it all: In 1989, he started adding furniture to his company’s portfolio after working with Andrée Putman, the utmost reference in French interior and product design. Putman then asked him to represent her line, Ecart International, making him the sole salesperson of furnishings in New York City. The rest, they say, is history when more and more designers reached out to him for collaborations and representation.

As Ralph Pucci himself likes to recall on his company website: ‘That started it all, ‘ says Pucci, who since then has gone on to represent the legend in the furniture world and create one-of-a-kind handmade objects.

“With Andrée’s work, we started attracting big-name architects. The showroom took on a gallery feel where buyers wanted to come to see what we were selling. That’s when the atmosphere came together. We would play cool music, like Miles Davis or Lou Reed, have a mannequin installation, an art exhibit, and show the furniture as centre pieces.”

Image courtesy of Ralph Pucci

What really set Pucci’s 30,000 square feet New York showroom apart from the rest is the absolute uniqueness and eclecticism of the furniture sold. You could pick up a gold-leafed bronze table or even a black stool shaped like a chess piece. These are the individual handcrafted pieces regarded as collectable artworks often bought by private clients and interior designers as a long-term investments.

“It takes a certain mind-set to buy these pieces,” says Ralph Pucci “They are unique, one-of-a-kind pieces that can be kept in the family forever or auctioned off at the top auction houses within a few years of purchase. I have some pieces that have increased in value by 20% in just two years. These are pieces that make people say ‘Wow!’ when they walk into a room. Over time, they can become part of a person’s or a room’s soul.”

To sell the furniture and mannequins, Pucci ensures that his company leads the way when it comes to visual presentation and product unveiling. What’s also key to note is that Pucci is always at the forefront of predicting trendy contemporary design, and he has an acute sense of which personalities to pick and represent at his showrooms: the likes of Xavier Lust and India Mahdavi have been added to his roster of must-know designer names, and they both are at the top of the industry’s hottest radars right now.

Image courtesy of Ralph Pucci, India Mahdavi

Ralph Pucci quickly added luxury hotels to his name: He began consulting for groups like LXR Luxury Resorts to renovate the Georgetown Inn in Washington into the Hotel Ralph Pucci, where his finishing touches include working on the masterplan and the design aspect right from the muted tones to wood floorings. What makes it even more unique was, he roped in a few of his artists, namely Jens Risom, Paul Mathieu and Bristow to furnish the guestroom floors. For the concierge and staff uniforms, he worked with fashion designer Tomer, where the theme was on 1950s jazz artistes.

It is true, what they say: The man is a visionary genius, and the world celebrates his dreams. Fast-forward to today, Pucci rotates his time between his Miami, Los Angeles and New York showrooms, sourcing unique quality pieces with his team that transcends time and has a soul. He is of opinion that design pieces should stand on its own, is functional and new, and quite possibly be treated as inheritances. We couldn’t agree more with him.

Visit his website www.ralphpucci.net for more information.