There are birthdays that are celebrated and birthdays that are recounted. Custom Line’s falls into the latter category: thirty years is not a milestone to be framed, but a story to be leafed through. It all began in 1996 with the idea of taking high-end yachting towards made-to-measure superyachts. In that year, I too began to write about yacht design. Since then, I have seen style, sizes, materials and key players change. But few companies have contributed to shaping the evolution of the superyacht with the same consistency as Custom Line.
In nearly thirty years of work, I have had the privilege of following this growth at close quarters, visiting the shipyard and meeting planners, designers and managers. It is by observing the work behind each new vessel that one comes to understand how the brand’s chosen definition – “the synthesis of all the arts” – is much more than a mere statement of intent. It is a collaborative endeavour that begins at the Ferretti Group Superyacht Yard in Ancona, is enriched by the contributions of Zuccon International Project, Paszkowski Design, Filippo Salvetti Design, SY Design and ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, and finds its culmination in the Custom Line Atelier. Perhaps this is the lesson that Custom Line imparts to us. In an industry where trends change rapidly, true luxury remains the ability to listen. And this is probably why, after nearly thirty years spent chronicling the evolution of yacht design, I continue to regard Custom Line as one of the brands that has best succeeded in transforming owners’ desires into a genuine design culture. Because there are anniversaries that are celebrated. And others that, above all, deserve to be told.
Matteo Zaccagnino
