This holiday season, cats become the protagonists of Fornasetti’s imaginative world, stepping into the house’s tradition of transforming everyday objects into dreamlike encounters.

At the Milan atelier, Smoky, a dignified Chartreux, and Fay, a selective Siberian, embody the essence of Fornasetti: whimsical, enigmatic, and closely entwined with daily life. As Barnaba Fornasetti observed here in Art is Alive, “Cats are part of my daily life, and therefore they naturally become part of Fornasetti’s imagery. The line between life and design has always been blurred here.”

Their presence now extends into a festive collection where feline figures animate coffee and tea sets, mugs, scented candles, glasses, decorative holders, and even a sleek table clock, as well as this year’s Calendar Plate and the special panettone box.

The choice of cats is no accident: mysterious, elegant, and independent, they resonate with the same qualities that made Lina Cavalieri’s endlessly reinterpreted face an enduring icon of the atelier’s Tema e Variazioni series. “Repetition and variation are at the core of Fornasetti,” Barnaba explained, “It is about taking a theme and playing with it until it reveals all its possibilities.”

This philosophy, rooted in Piero Fornasetti’s collaborations with Gio Ponti and his idea of “practical madness,” continues to animate the house today, ensuring that its creations transcend trends while carrying stories into daily rituals. As Barnaba reflected, “For us, design is not about trends but about timelessness. It is about creating objects that carry stories, emotions, and imagination into people’s lives.” This season, those stories are written in whiskers and paws, inviting a sense of wonder into the festive table.