Yacht Interiors as Jewelry: Inside Kimberly Pucci’s World
On a March evening at the Palm Beach International Boat Show, yacht interior designer Kimberly Pucci works the crowd in a breezy sorbet-orange dress, switching between English and Italian without breaking stride. Behind her sits the reason for the party: a 40-meter Wabash, a superyacht she custom-refitted for a Texas client who charters the boat as well as cruising it herself.
The commission started with a pillow. The client — an entrepreneur and Texas Longhorns fan — spotted an orange leather cushion in the window of Pucci’s flagship store in Newport, Rhode Island. “She came in and asked me if I did decor for boats,” Pucci says. The two women bonded over a shared love of the color, and a job that began as a refresh of the main entertaining spaces grew into a full transformation once the client saw how closely Pucci read her tastes.
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What Makes a Yacht Interior Different From a Home?
Pucci touched nearly every space aboard, trading dark original interiors for materials that photograph beautifully and still stand up to salt air, sun, and spray. Rainproof cashmere covers the couches. Persian onyx slabs in warm tortoiseshell tones form the bars and countertops, hand-combed and reinforced to survive life on the water. Every plank of the all-natural Italian flooring carries a deliberate grade so the sole shimmers like pearl.
An orange handloomed silk rug anchors the main salon and does the thing good rugs do — it makes you want to kick off your shoes. “There’s nothing cookie-cutter here,” Pucci says, her eyes moving across the boat and its happy orange hues and creamy whites. “I think that’s what makes my brand unique — we really look at color with a fresh eye and can make a magnificent boat truly remarkable.”
That balance of softness and durability separates yacht work from residential design. A fabric that performs on a living room sofa fails within a season in a cockpit. Pucci specifies for the harsher condition first, then makes it feel indulgent — which is why her cushions, throws, and bedding read as luxury rather than as marine-grade compromise.
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From Florentine Goldsmith to Yacht Designer
Pucci makes it clear she does not consider herself a traditional interior designer, or even a yacht designer. The Rhode Island native moved to Florence after college to work along the Ponte Vecchio for a family of jewelers whose lineage runs back to the 1300s. She spent years learning Italian goldsmithing, then returned to Newport — keeping a villa in Tuscany — and launched her own fine jewelry line.
“After working with the most exquisite diamonds, gemstones, and raw materials in the world, these boats have now become the largest pieces of jewelry I have ever designed,” she says.
By 2008 she had evolved again. Drawing on her love of travel and her relationships with Florentine craftsmen, she began designing bags and accessories built in high-profile Italian tanneries — buttery leather, customizable colorways, hardware, and straps. The line runs from a color-drenched weekender you throw aboard for a quick getaway to a small handbag that holds a passport and converts to an evening clutch. All of it sells through her namesake flagship on Thames Street in Newport.
During the pandemic she turned that same lens toward boats, and recently created a Luxury in Motion division serving clients who move between cars, yachts, and private jets. “We are steadily building an American quiet luxury brand that utilizes the highest quality materials, with Italian manufacturing, design, and craftsmanship,” she says. “We’re truly looking at how we as humans move through life, how we travel, and what is considered essential for travel.”
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Inside the Wabash Refit
Pucci studies how an owner will use a boat — family gathering point, corporate entertaining, or both — and then studies where the boat will go. Geography changes the brief as much as the owner does.
“For example, a boat in Portofino, Italy, I can envision the owners pulling into the port, having a cappuccino and brioche in the morning, and then walking to shop at the fishmonger. They’re going to enjoy their boat all day, maybe entertain and take a swim,” she explains. “The same boat in Miami may be used as a day boat. In two hours, you’re in the Bahamas — entertaining, music, cocktails, and then back to shore.”
She has completed two private yacht refits in the past year alongside her sixth year designing for Pershing Yachts as part of a collaboration with Ferretti Group North America, where she handles hard and soft decor for the Pershing fleet arriving in the United States.
The Yacht Shop: Newport’s Superyacht Showroom
Last June, Pucci opened The Yacht Shop directly across Thames Street from her Newport atelier. The 280-square-foot space replicates life aboard a superyacht and sells the experience as much as the product: vignettes of bedding, custom cabinetry in veneer and lacquer, flooring, wallpaper, performance rugs, and tabletop pieces that add up to a turnkey makeover.
The store opens early for boaters arriving in Newport who want to pop in for new deck pillows, table runners for a fresh seasonal setting, or cashmere throws for guests on a chilly evening. “We’re going to be constantly moving product, almost on a weekly basis,” Pucci says. Seasonal pop-ups fill the calendar — flower markets, wine tastings, conversations, even after-dinner espressos and DJ sets some evenings — all of it aimed at building community rather than foot traffic alone.
The buy reflects Pucci’s devotion to European heritage houses. Look for barstools and five-bottle Champagne buckets from Alessi, high-performance rugs by Stark, rechargeable hand-cut crystal lanterns from Saint-Louis, J.L. Coquet French Limoges place settings, and home collections from Hermès Group and Loro Piana.
“I want you to come in for a really beautiful cappuccino served in a Saint-Louis crystal mug and feel the cup before you buy it,” Pucci says. “Then you’ll be able to stand at the Florentine-crafted bar and open up the leather drawers and see how it can be completely customized.”
Where Does Luxury in Motion Go Next?
Surrounded by pedigreed brands and yacht-worthy eye candy, Pucci and her in-house team of Florentine craftsmen keep their attention on function — products built to last and to move with the client. She has set a course for global expansion.
“The Yacht Shop seems very fitting of where the brand is going, which is across the Atlantic and now global,” Pucci says. “I want to build this utilitarian luxury brand that can take people on the ride of their lives.”
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