LIFE | Where's Home? Asked Luce from Lanificio Colombo

If you could choose a place in the world to settle down for the rest of your life, where would you choose?

At an event in Shanghai themed around a "Shangri-La," while drawing a portrait of an Italian girl named Luce, she asked me this question that I'd been pondering lately.

 

Portraits of Luigi Colombo and Maria Luce Colombo

Portrait of Maria Luce Colombo

Sketching the Launch runway show setup - Valsesia, the Alpine homeland of Lanificio Colombo

 

I shook my head: "Haven't found one yet, what about you?"
We smiled at each other: "Me too!"
Luce, born in the 2000s, comes from Colombo, an Italian cashmere family brand passed down through three generations.
 

At the age of nineteen, she went to London and Paris to study, where she experienced the gentlemen and rigidity of England, as well as the romance and pride of France.
Now, she and her brother Luigi travel the world managing the family business. She said she prefers in-depth one-on-one conversations to talking about food, drinks, and the weather.

 

 

Around the world, she has gained many non-blood-related "family" members; but her nostalgie stays for the rich and vibrant family atmosphere of Italy.

 

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I asked her what the biggest challenge was for a young heir to an established family.
Without hesitation, she answered: "The hardest part is finding a balance between a century-old traditional heritage and the ever-changing modern aesthetics and technology, and forging your own path." It seems that no matter one's position, everyone faces the challenge of displacement.
 

 

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In the late summer of 2026, I navigated to the Magnolia Plaza at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.This was my father's "home" during his four years away from home in his youth.I rushed here, trying to find the idyllic haven he had preserved.
 

 

Shanghai JiaoTong University, front gate, 2026-08

 

But now, all that remains here are noisy tourists and crowds. The old buildings are not open, the old scenes are gone, and even the young man on duty was unaware of the "Remembering the Source of Water" monument.
 

I could only wander under the dappled shadows of the plane trees, feeling the humid Shanghai breeze, my heart filled with a sense of bewilderment,
and finally, I silently joined the "check-in army" at the school gate.
Is a true home merely a fixed building and a collection of frozen photographs? Life is unpredictable; we cannot cling to outdated methods. Countless people in this world leave their homes, wander and struggle, fighting alone in foreign lands.
Thus, there are hometowns we can never return to, and distant dream places we can never reach.
 

Luce, in Italian, means light.
"Home is where you build connections, where you find peace and comfort." Her eyes shone as she spoke.
 

As the ancients said, "Home is where the heart finds peace."
Whether going to "Rome" or returning to "Shangri-La,"
Luce is still on the road, and so am I.
 

Just as Shinji Tanimura sang in "Auspicious Day's Departure":
Somewhere in the world, someone is waiting for me.
The nursery rhymes my parents taught me in childhood
are always with me on the road towards happiness.

 

 

 

——————

如果让你选择世界的某处安顿余生，你会停留在哪儿？

在上海一个“世外桃源”的活动上，为意大利女孩 Luce 画像时，她恰好问起了这个我最近时常思索的问题。我摇摇头：“暂时还没找到，你呢？”她相视一笑：“我也是！”
  
Luce，00后，来自传承三代的意大利羊绒家族品牌 Colombo。
十九岁相继远赴伦敦、巴黎求学，她领略过英格兰的绅士与古板，也品尝过法兰西的浪漫与骄傲。如今和哥哥 Luigi 辗转全球，打理家族事业。比起聊吃喝与天气，她说更喜欢这样一对一深度的交流。在世界各地，她收获了许多非血缘的"家人"；但最眷恋的，仍是意大利那厚重浓烈的家族烟火气。

我问她，身为老牌家族的年轻继承者，最大的困境是什么？
她不加思索地回答：最难的，是在百年的传统底蕴，和日新月异的现代审美、科技之间找到平衡，走出自己的路。 看来，无论站在何种高度，人人皆有漂泊的命题。

2026 年的处暑，我导航到了上海交大的白玉兰广场，这里曾是父亲年轻时，在异乡四年的 "家"。我奔赴至此，试图找寻他当年留存下来的一方桃花源。可如今的这里，只剩喧嚣的游客与人流。旧馆尘封，旧景不再，年轻的值班小哥也不知饮水思源纪念碑的存在。

我只好穿行在梧桐斑驳的树影下，吹着上海潮热的微风，满心恍惚，
最后也默默地加入了校门口的“打卡大军”。

真正的家，只是一处固定的建筑与一张张凝结的照片么？
人生无常，无法刻舟求剑，这世间无数人背井离乡、颠沛辗转，在异乡孤军奋战。
于是有了回不去的故乡，和到不了的远方。

Luce，在意大利语里是光的意思。"家，是你建立联结、安放牵挂的人和角落。" 说到这儿，她眼里闪着光。

古人云，吾心安处是故乡。无论是去“罗马”，还是回“桃花源"，Luce 还在路上，我也还在路上。一如谷村新司先生在《吉日启程 / いい日旅立ち》中所唱：世间某处，定有人在为我等候。儿时父母教过的歌谣，在寻找幸福的路上，如影随形~

   art direction + illustration ⎮ benliubenda.com