Let's face the fact that somedays we all wish we were more Italian. We'd drink more negroni's, eat more pasta, wear less socks and maybe, just maybe, realize that a "proper" espresso doesn't have to come from a barista with tattoos and suspenders. We'd also probably know a little more about a relatively unknown Italian typewriter company who brought high design to a rather boring piece of machinery that mainly held court at the fingertips of scandalous secretaries and the occasionally obsessive (and drug-induced) writer. The ads from Olivetti were part of a unique generation of legendary designers like Bonfante and Pintori who created work that surpassed the office and made this industrial-age device an object of both star and sex appeal. They are pieces of art that equal, if not surpass, the worth of the advertised product. They are prized possession of both museum and designer, sparking new ideas on concepts, approach, inspiration and, of course, begging the all important metaphysical question: what would Twiggy do?
