Luxor became a cornerstone of our journey. The celebration of the first fifty years of STEFANO RICCI, my father’s dream, came true at the Hatshepsut Temple on October 9th 2022. A turning point, a transition to the New Wonders of the World. Initially, our visual communication was inspired by the concept of natural geometries; then, it became a tribute to art before arriving at the “Great Italian Beauty” accompanying us this past decade. Through this lookbook dedicated to Iceland, we continue a journey devoted to nature and culture, leading the SR man to rediscover himself as an explorer. Elements of eflection linked to climate change and the preservation of world treasures emerge in a heightened manner on a global scale. This is why I chose to start, once again, from ancestral land, from ice, relying on the knowledge of Terry D. Garcia and the vision of photographer Chris Rainier, who accompanied us in the suspended atmospheres of a volcanic island discovered by the Viking mariner Naddoður.

Our product, the son of values expressed by the concepts of mind, hand and matter, is proudly Italian and therefore addresses the desire for adventure. We respect the environment as the Ancient Amerindian proverb states, “The Earth is not an inheritance received from our fathers, but a loan to be repaid to our children”. Consequently, we are narrating through images a present future. Cultivating the memory of the Temple of Artemis in Turkey, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Great Pyramid of Cheops, the statue of Zeus which dominated Olympia, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Places of classical mythology, which since the year 2000, according to experts, have been reflected as well in Petra, the Great Wall, the Colosseum, Machu Picchu, the Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Chichén Itzá and the legendary Taj Mahal. Like Stefano Ricci, we will try to represent the wonders that inspire us the most through limited edition lookbooks. In truth, travel, discovery and the love for nature are values that, along with my brother Niccolò, we learned from our parents Stefano and Claudia sitting around a fire in the heart of Africa, contemplating the starry sky and breathing for what felt like forever. It is something found within our DNA. Here is a new cycle destined to be reborn, like any search for perfection. We will never stop exploring. As Thomas Eliot wrote, “And the end of all our exploring, Will be to arrive where we started. And know the place for the first time”.

As National Geographic’s Chief Science and Exploration Officer, I led the organization’s global exploration enterprise for almost two decades. During that period, I encountered many wondrous things and extraordinary people. And so it was in the Spring of 2008, I was working in Florence on an assignment for National Geographic. My team and I were searching for Leonardo Da Vinci’s “lost“ fresco, The Battle of Anghiari, thought to be hidden in the Palazzo Vecchio. Gianluca Tenti, National Geographic’s representative in Florence, to my great good fortune introduced me to his friend Stefano and his sons Niccolò and Filippo. Our shared love of history, nature, travel, and adventure, of course, the city of Florence has led to an enduring friendship. A few years after our first meeting, I had the privilege of attending the STEFANO RICCI 40th Anniversary Fashion Show inside the Uffizi Gallery, and our relationship deepened further.

So, when Filippo and Gianluca first described their plans for the Stefano Ricci Explorer project and asked me to work with them, I was thrilled and agreed on the spot. I am passionate about exploration, and an exploration theme seemed a natural fit for the brand. Moreover, the opportunity to share the most beautiful places in the world with an influential audience was irresistible for me. A project such as this requires a great photographer. I immediately thought of my long time friend, Chris Rainier, a widely acclaimed photographer and Ansel Adams’ last photographic assistant. Chris has created a remarkable body of work featuring extraordinary landscapes and individuals. When I asked for his help with the Exploration Project, his immediate response was an enthusiastic “count me in”. But what does exploration have to do with fashion and business? The early 20th-century polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton said that an explorer must possess four qualities: optimism, patience, idealism, and courage. Successful businesses and the men and women who lead them like explorers must have the ability to respond to constantly changing circumstances. The rapid changes buffeting our world today require business leaders and explorers alike to be nimble, flexible, and to possess the courage to reevaluate old assumptions and redefine success. A successful explorer pushes the boundaries of the known and oftentimes must change course mid-stream, trying new, unexplored ways forward. The STEFANO RICCI company is constantly pushing the boundaries of orthodoxy and finding new, untested ways of using resources and doing business. And what is an explorer, if not a bold risk-taker? It’s that urge to go beyond; to think differently; to find another route up the mountain or through the wilderness. An explorer has the ability to see and imagine what others do not and to take risks from which others shy away. That’s why the qualities of an explorer are found in so many of the individuals who lead the world’s most successful companies. 

That’s why Stefano Ricci’s embrace of exploration is a natural extension of his business. It’s also true, like the many explorers, photographers, and writers who passed through my office on the way into the field, Filippo has come away from his many travels inspired and changed. The natural beauty of the many destinations visited has been a constant source of inspiration. The colors in nature observed on the family’s many and extended trips are clearly reflected in the company’ designs. And importantly, respect for nature and culture is synonymous with this brand. But along with the many wondrous things they have found in their travels, they have found something else. Our planet is undergoing extraordinary change. Not all of it for the good. Many of the planet’s natural wonders are slipping away. Climates are changing. Cultures are at risk. Habitats are shrinking. Species are threatened. In the face of these challenges, the embrace of the explorer ethos and the launch of the Stefano Ricci Explorer project by an industry leader such as this, is an example to others and a cause for optimism and celebration. For you see, I know from my years of experience that exploration has the power to inspire and change the world. If we are to preserve what is truly important, the natural and cultural legacy of this planet, we must all be the explorers of the 21st century. Through our shared journeys we will come to better understand our planet. With understanding comes caring, and with caring comes change. We can each play a role in creating a better future for this planet. It’s a goal that transcends borders and industries and companies - and it’s a goal that we must take on together, today. We invite you to join us as we explore…

Some might say that exploration is hard-wired into my DNA. A family relative in the 1700s was a British admiral who sailed the high seas exploring distant lands to help expand the British Empire. My grandfather was born in the back of an ox cart in the Transvaal Province of South Africa and, at the beginning of the 20th century, he walked across Africa for five years with little more than an elephant rifle slung across his shoulder. He went on to write adventure books and live an exotic life exploring the most isolated parts of Africa and South America. My father was born in South Africa but grew up barefoot in the jungles of Colombia at an emerald mine. When the second war broke out, he forged his father’s signature and, at just fifteen years old, joined the Royal Rhodesian Air Force flying a Spitfire over North Africa hunting Rommel’s German forces.

My brother and I grew up moving constantly and lived in Canada, the US, Australia, Africa and Europe before we even graduated from high school. As a family, at every opportunity, we sought out new experiences and adventures - whether learning from the Aborigines in the Australian Outback or walking the land with the Maasai in Kenya. I was born and raised into exploration and knew of no other path to follow as an adult. I began my career as the last photographic assistant to the Legendary photographer Ansel Adams whose love of the natural wonders of America’s landscape was reflected so powerfully in his art. Ansel also used his photography to help to save many of the great National Parks in the United States including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite. I was inspired and his mentorship led me to be a lifelong conservationist and to try to use myhotography, as he did, for the good of nature and culture. Since those early days, I have spent my career in search of powerful landscapes and sacred places - stunning examples of the majesty of nature and in 2001, I had the great honor to be asked by the National Geographic Society to join their team of explorers and photographers. Our joint mission was to set forth around the world to explore and celebrate its wonders and cultures, to understand the threats facing our Earth and to follow the footsteps of all of those who have gone before us stepping over the horizon and into the unknown. From the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to the towering icebergs of Antarctica and from the shifting sand dunes of the Sahara to the lush valleys of New Guinea, I trained my camera on the beauty and fragility of the planet’s wild places, places that were already beginning to feel the effects of climate change.

Throughout all of these travels, I yearned to go to the land of fire and ice – to Iceland. I was drawn to what I had heard about the island’s magic. Born some twenty million years ago from massive volcanic activity that continues to this day, Iceland is a raw and rugged land. Its immense glaciers, black lava beaches, gigantic waterfalls, deep basalt canyons, stunning mountain peaks, steaming geysers and blue lagoons come alive as the storms roll in from the ocean and as the landscape is lit up by the midnight sun and the mesmerizing colors of the aurora borealis. There are not so many places left in the world which feel pristine and untouched and which allow you to get intentionally lost in the spirit of exploration and adventure. Having now been to Iceland many times, I have explored its mysteries during the winter and into the spring and summer. I have witnessed the searing beauty of the northern lights dancing across the Arctic night sky – a kaleidoscopic nocturnal ballet. I have stoodbeneath its raging waterfalls and walked in quiet contemplation and awe along its black lava beaches where the stranded icebergs washing back and forth in the surf shine like diamonds. I have hiked to ice caves on the edges of the immense glaciers that span much of the country. These glowing turquoise caverns can sometimes reach several hundred feet into the glacial interior, their ceilings arching upwards to heights of fifty feet. Their aqua-marine light is as from another world as it casts its spell over everything in sight and the ice crackles as the energy of the glacier torques the very structure of the cave. The cave walls feel alive as if breathing and water flows even behind the clear, pure ice walls, forced by gravity to find its inevitable path toward the sea. This landscape feels so raw that if you are not careful, its brutal beauty can almost bring you to your knees. Iceland demands that you pay attention to it. It feels like a land just born: it has a primordial pulse within its soul, like that of a new baby, a heart beating regularly, powerfully, and celebrating the very act of life. I experienced this new birth first hand in 2021 when Fagradalsfjall volcano, dormant for more than six thousand years, erupted once more. With some local friends, I hiked the few miles to the volcano’s edge to witness the power of the lava bursting out and lighting up the night and to feel its heat on my skin. I sat for hours mesmerized by its pure, elemental, raw, primordial beauty. I listened to the sound of the magma flow toward me, an eerie sound like glass slowly tinkling in the distance.

On our last visit to the volcano, I spent the whole night there, photographing its massive rhythmic eruptions of lava arcing into the deep navy sky and falling to the ground to flow in rivers of glowing red. I paused often, fearing that this might be my last opportunity to see this wonder up close and to be so alone with its power. As I was reluctantly thinking about leaving, I noticed the first hints of sunrise on the eastern horizon. I waited, knowing now that I had to stay and that I had no other place to go, and watched the sunrise unfold all of its color palette across the living, growing, breathing fire. It was one of the most beautiful mornings that I have ever seen, the sun rising with the beginning of a new day and celebrating the sheer magic of the volcano. I experienced a deep peace, a calmness, a revelation that I was witnessing the beginning of life itself. I will always continue to search for the unknown and perhaps the unknowable. I will seek out distant lands, impossible horizons, ancient topographies and moonlit monuments and I will ask the question of what it means to be an explorer. On that morning, Iceland gave me the answer.