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Peter Marino Crafts Extraordinary New Textile Collection for Rubelli

The visionary talent collaborates with the legacy fabric brand on embroidered silks that draw inspiration from artist Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo

By Jacqueline Terrebonne
Elegant bedroom with a modern bed, decorative pillows, marble side tables, and a stylish pendant light in neutral tones.
In a bedroom, a headboard and curtains made using Scherzo from the Rococo collection by Peter Marino for Rubelli with a bench covered in Nobility. Photo: COURTESY OF RUBELLI

Peter Marino’s ties to Venice run deep. He is not only chairman of the board of Venetian Heritage—a nonprofit that preserves art, architecture, and other elements of cultural patrimony—but also the architect behind an astounding renovation of the legendary Hotel Cipriani on Giudecca Island and a frequent collaborator with the master glassblowers at Venini.

The Venetian connection doesn’t end there. This September marks the launch of his third collection with local fabric house Rubelli. “I just continue my love affair with Venice,” muses Marino, who gleaned inspiration for the textiles, named Rococo, from drawings by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo found among his own private holdings. “These are drawing that have been blown up so big that the lines are abstracted,” he says. “It’s just amazing what happens when you do that.”

Person in leather attire with a cap, sunglasses, and a dragon tattoo, smiling against a polka dot background.
Peter Marino. Photo: COURTESY OF PETER MARINO

At this scale, it’s impossible to decipher Tiepolo’s original representation of a centaur or punchinellos reveling at a banquet, but these lyrical patterns still evoke a breathtaking reaction. By magnifying small sections of the works, Marino transforms the centuries-old sketches into something much more graphic, which the weavers at Rubelli then translate into woven silk accented with metallic threads to portray an elegant yet gutsy depth of emotion.

Green and bronze abstract marbled fabric texture with a wavy pattern and metallic sheen.
Reverse of Centaur by Peter Marino for Rubelli. Photo: Courtesy of Rubelli
Abstract gold and silver textured pattern on a green background resembling foil or metallic leaves.
Front of Centaur by Peter Marino for Rubelli. Photo: Courtesy of Rubelli
Gold and beige marbled wallpaper texture with shimmering metallic highlights and abstract swirling patterns.
Reverse of Fresco by Peter Marino for Rubelli. Photo: Courtesy of Rubelli

Each of the nine colorways conjures a completely different mood—some conjuring the rusty effects of oxidation and others the silverly filaments of the heavens. That alchemy continues on the reverse, as all of the fabrics can be used on either side, which is known to be the ultimate sign of an expertly made textile. “Rubelli takes my drawings and produces miracles,” says Marino.

Rubelli takes my drawings and produces miracles”

Peter Marino

A group of people with cone hats gathered around a table with a dog nearby, in a vintage-style drawing.
Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo’s drawing Punchinellos Feasting (1793–1804). Photo: MANOLO YLLERA

The feeling is mutual as Nicolò Favaretto Rubelli, CEO of Rubelli and president of Rubelli USA, distills Marino’s magic quite profoundly when he shares, “No one else can do what he does. You create art with him.”

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Fall Issue under the headline “Stroke of Genius.” Subscribe to the magazine.