Three empty champagne flutes rest in the sun, on a terrace windowsill overlooking the Grand Canal, possible traces of an aperitivo that ended far too early. Their look is atypical: the edge is thick and visibly uneven, the stems are red, blue, and yellow; the clear cups—dotted with eccentric combinations of stretched flowery murrine and colorful glass fragments—are by no means similar in shapes and dimensions: one is long, so narrow it seems impossible to drink from it; another is larger, shorter, wavy; the third, the smallest and most proportioned, stands in the middle looking at the camera through its huge, black and white murrina-eye at the center. The three chalices resemble fairy-tale creatures ready to come alive any moment. They are, instead, prototypes of Marie Brandolini’s Fantasia flutes, a rare deviation from Laguna~B’s tumbler-only production, which she photographed after bringing them home from Murano in the summer of 1995.
This was a phase of research and exploration for our founder, who, one year after designing the Goto, was constantly testing new ideas, seeking to build Laguna~B’s next chapter. Working in the hotshop, she was driven by intuition and passion, discovering new tools and techniques. But she wasn’t striving for uniformity. On the contrary, she loved the craft to be extremely visible on the final products, to the point that shapes and dimensions could vary significantly. Throughout the years, as the company grew more structured, product standards have evolved to ensure that—while maintaining the inevitable uniqueness of handmade artifacts—measures and general designs remain constant.
Born as a transparent variant of the Goto, the Fantasia—designed by Marie Brandolini in 1995 and initially named “Goto Clear”—is our founder’s second design and the one she allowed herself to experiment with the most in terms of typologies and shapes. The clear glass felt more versatile, and she soon expanded the Fantasia collection to include jugs, fluted glasses, plates, and even coffee cups—though I would advise against pouring incandescent liquid into Murano glass. (Some of these styles—like the plates or the coffee cups–are now out of production, and remain as archival pieces.)
We don’t know what spurred Marie to rebrand the clear Goto as “Fantasia.” It’s in Laguna~B’s first website, which debuted in 2001, that the new name appears for the first time. Was she inspired by the eponymous Disney movie, Fantasia 2000, released only the year prior? In music, the term fantasia describes compositions that are “free in form and inspiration” and often improvised. Was she referencing her personal approach to Murano glass? Or acknowledging her boundless imagination (la fantasia)—the unique quality behind her creations?
What we know is that the new collection was an instant success: its tumblers were immediately featured in the international press, appearing in Town & Country, Elle Decoration, Marie Claire, and dozens of other publications. Collectors loved them, too, and sent our founder notes and photos of the glasses “in use” at their homes—all of which she jealously kept.
Thirty-one years on, the Fantasia collection has endured as one of our most popular staples. Like the rest of Marie’s designs, it was created out of her quest for freedom, fulfillment, and a desire to break out of conventions; both in Murano—being a rare female presence in the hotshops—and at the table—where she was known for favoring tumblers, using them regardless of the drink or the occasion.
In the first issue of our magazine, EVERYTHING, Billie Muraben writes about a relaxed approach to hospitality—one that Marie’s glassware fully embodies—calling tumblers “rebellious vessels” for their ability to overcome formalities and rigid etiquettes at the table. “Replacing goblets with tumblers, at once rebels against and embraces tradition in a way that creates a perfect tension—the kind of energy that vibrates between magnets, or between people across a table,” she continues.
Marie would have certainly appreciated the most recent Fantasia addition, Fantasia Extra Small, the tiniest tumbler ever—conceived for shots or just plain salt and pepper.
