An appliance that is truly a work of art

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]When is an appliance a work of art? When it's hand painted with images from Italian folklore. Dolce & Gabbana and Smeg have combined their shared passion for design and Italian tradition to produce a refrigerator that reflects the sizzling colour and Sicilian folklore of D&G’s much-acclaimed 2016 summer fashion collection. Smeg’s iconic retro style FAB28 refrigerator is the canvas for the vibrant patterns and images from Sicilian history depicted in motifs and colour palettes drawn from the famous Carretto Siciliano (Sicilian horse drawn cart).[/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images="4355,4356" img_size="full" speed="3500" wrap="yes" title="Smeg Dolce & Gabbana refrigerator by Antonio & Guiseppe Bevilacqua"][vc_column_text]A total of 100 FAB28s have been transformed into luxury items that epitomise the passion for style and design that both Dolce & Gabbana and the family-owned Smeg brand are revered for. Each exterior surface of the refrigerator (including the top) is richly decorated in the hand painted, unique Sicilian symbols of lemons, the trinacria, cart wheels, medieval knights and battle scenes. No two refrigerators are the same and numbers are strictly limited to just 300 – so each piece is destined to be the most highly desirable collector’s item or family heirloom. Each Sicilian tableau has been embellished with classical floral motifs in a colour palette of predominantly red, yellow, teal and Mediterranean blue. Several Sicilian artists and artisans were commissioned to hand paint the refrigerators. Each lives and works in Sicily – in fact many of them still paint the Carretto Siciliano and the traditional Sicilian Pupi (the famous puppet).[/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images="4358,4357" img_size="full" speed="3500" wrap="yes" title="Smeg Dolce & Gabbana refrigerator by Adriano Zambonelli & Tiziana Nicosia"][vc_column_text]The artists include brothers Antonio and Giuseppe Bevilacqua, who specialise in artistic ceramics and are noted for their colour palette of bright yellow, intense blue, emerald green and deep black (which represents the Sicilian sun, sea, hills and lava on Mount Etna). Adriana Zambonelli and Tiziana Nicosia are mother and daughter who share the same passion and skill for creating dramatic and outstanding Pupi (traditional puppets). The first of these unique – and history-making - refrigerators will be unveiled during Milan’s Design Fair, Salone Internazionale del Mobile 2016 on April 17, at a glittering party to be held at Dolce & Gabbana’s Metropol Bar. So how much will they cost and when will they be available in Australia? Watch this space: www.smeg.com.au   Images courtesy of Smeg[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]