There are boats, and then there are Rivas.
Most boats are designed to get you somewhere. Rivas seem to exist for an entirely different purpose. They are objects people fall in love with.
The first thing that strikes you is the wood. Photographs never quite prepare you for it. Layer upon layer of polished mahogany catches the light in a way that feels almost impossible. The surfaces are so smooth you instinctively want to run your hand across them. Every curve feels sculpted rather than designed. Every chrome detail appears exactly where it ought to be.
Then the engines start.
The sound is magnificent. Not aggressive, not crude, but confident. The sort of sound that turns heads across a lake and reminds you that these boats were built during a period when beauty and performance were expected to coexist.
We travelled to Lago Maggiore with Timothy Everest and Club Flannel to photograph a collaboration inspired by craftsmanship, style and the enduring appeal of objects made properly. What we found was something far more interesting than a photoshoot. We found a community.
Inside the Boatyard Keeping Riva History Alive
The campaign took place at Cantiere Nautico Barberis, a remarkable working boatyard on the shores of Lago Maggiore that has spent decades restoring, maintaining and caring for some of the world's most treasured Riva Aquaramas and Riva Tritones.
Walking inside feels slightly surreal.
Rivas sit stacked one above another inside a vast hangar, suspended like works of art awaiting their next chapter. Below them, craftsmen move quietly between engines, upholstery, timber and tooling benches. Everywhere there are signs of work. Not decorative displays of craftsmanship, but the real thing.
The founder, now in his eighties, still works alongside his son every day. Boats are hoisted into the lake by an extraordinary crane that manoeuvres priceless wooden hulls with millimetre precision. Engines are tested. Upholstery is repaired. Mechanical systems are maintained. Toolkits sit perfectly arranged against workshop walls, worn smooth through decades of use.
Watching an eighty-year-old boatbuilder work alongside his son while surrounded by boats worth fortunes makes it difficult to believe we're living in an era obsessed with disposable things.
The parallels felt familiar. Different materials perhaps, but the same stubborn refusal to accept that something made properly should ever need replacing.
The People Drawn to Rivas
The people who love Rivas are rarely interested in convenience.
Modern boats are faster. Easier. Less demanding. They require less maintenance, fewer specialist skills and considerably less patience.
A Riva asks something of its owner. Attention. Commitment. Care. One careless knock against a dock can mean extensive restoration work. Maintaining these boats requires expertise, dedication and, occasionally, a sense of humour. Perhaps that explains the type of people they attract.
Collectors. Aesthetes. Industrial families. Entrepreneurs. People with a romantic streak. People who appreciate objects that become more meaningful the longer they live with them. Part of the enduring appeal of a Riva is that it has always attracted people who could choose almost anything else.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Riva became the unofficial vessel of La Dolce Vita. Sophia Loren, Brigitte Bardot, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton all owned or regularly travelled aboard Rivas. Gianni Agnelli helped cement the Aquarama's reputation as an icon of Italian style, while figures as diverse as Peter Sellers, Prince Rainier of Monaco, King Hussein of Jordan and Aristotle Onassis were drawn to the marque. More recently, admirers have included George Clooney, Elton John and David Beckham.
What is striking is not the celebrity itself, but the consistency of the company. Film stars, industrialists, royalty and collectors all seem to have arrived at the same conclusion. There are faster boats, larger boats and certainly more practical boats. Yet few carry the same sense of romance as a varnished Riva crossing an Italian lake on a summer afternoon. That appeal has endured for generations because it was never really about status. It was about aspiration, beauty and the pleasure of owning something that rewards attention.
The best collectors are rarely collecting objects alone. They are collecting memories. That became increasingly apparent throughout our time on the lake.
From Lago Maggiore to Villa d'Este
Many of the boats maintained by Barberis eventually make appearances at Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, one of the most celebrated gatherings in the classic car and collector world.
The glamour is undeniable. Lake Como provides a backdrop that seems almost unfairly beautiful. Yet what stayed with us most was not the spectacle.
It was the work. The sanding, the varnishing, the polishing. The constant cycle of maintenance required to keep these extraordinary vessels alive.
There is a temptation to think beautiful objects simply survive. In reality, they survive because somebody cares enough to keep caring. That may be the real lesson of a Riva. Not luxury. Attention.
What Riva Owners and Collectors Understand
Spending time among Riva owners reminded us that the most treasured possessions are rarely the most practical ones. They become repositories for memories, family stories and entire chapters of life.
It is something we see regularly through our bespoke commissions at Mister Miller. Collectors often ask us to incorporate favourite cars into custom linings, creating a private detail visible only to the wearer. Jaguars. Aston Martins. Bentleys. Cars that have become part of family history. One of our favourite concepts emerged from this trip.
A bespoke cap lined with a treasured Riva, allowing its owner to carry a reminder of Lago Maggiore back into city life long after the boat has been lifted from the water for the season. It is a charming idea. A private detail hidden beneath the crown. A reminder that some passions do not stay neatly parked in garages or moored to jetties. They travel home with us.
We have also created matching bespoke caps for fathers and children, commemorating rallies, concours events and family adventures. Often those pieces become treasured keepsakes not because of their value, but because of the stories attached to them.
The object becomes a memory.
A Flying Hat and a Lesson in Humility
Not everything survived the shoot.
One particularly enthusiastic gust of wind liberated a hat from its wearer halfway across Lago Maggiore. We watched it drift gracefully away across the water with a mixture of disbelief and reluctant admiration. Despite a brief discussion about retrieval, the lake ultimately claimed it as its own. Somewhere beneath the surface of Lago Maggiore sits a rather stylish souvenir of the day.
Thankfully, the photographs survived.
Why We Were There
The connection between Club Flannel, Timothy Everest and Mister Miller felt entirely natural.
Timothy has long understood the relationship between clothing and lifestyle. His fascination with motorsport, tailoring and craftsmanship runs through everything he creates. Standing among these remarkable boats, he drew immediate parallels with the worlds of classic cars and bespoke clothing. Not because they look alike, but because they are sustained by the same qualities: patience, skill and genuine affection.
The public sees the finished tableau. What they don't see is the camaraderie that arrives with it. The owners. The restorers. The craftsmen. The conversations. The communities that gather around objects they love.
That was perhaps the most memorable aspect of Lago Maggiore. Not the boats themselves, extraordinary as they were. The people keeping them alive. And the quiet understanding that the best things in life are rarely the easiest things to own, but they are often the most rewarding.
Explore the Club Flannel x Mister Miller collaboration photographed on Lago Maggiore.
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