On the one hand there is Apulia, the company headquarters, where new projects and new product collections take form. On the other hand there is the world, where Natuzzi operates with a precise retail strategy that has taken the number of monobrand stores to 363, contributing to the construction of a brand that is now one of the most popular among luxury consumers all over the world (source IPSOS-Lagardère).
In the middle, new collaborations with designers like Studio Memo, Victor Vasilev, Claudio Bellini, Mauro Lipparini, Bernhardt & Vella, and activity in the field of artistic experimentation, with the Natuzzi Open Art project.
The Natuzzi identity lies between local and global, one-offs and serial production. Fifty-seven years of activity of Pasquale Natuzzi at Santeramo in Colle (Bari), now joined in key roles by Pasquale Jr. Natuzzi, Communication Director & Deputy Creative Director, who along with his father will take the family along new paths in the world of design.
“For several weeks now,” Pasquale Jr. says, “I have had the position of Deputy Creative Director, and I have begun intense research to launch new collaborations with external designers. I am convinced that the force of Natuzzi also lies in the contamination between different ideas and sensibilities, a way to put man and human relations always at the center of the company’s production philosophy, to grasp inspirations that arrive from a wide range of different realities.
Every new idea is developed under the guidance of the stylist Pasquale Natuzzi; I will join my father in the work, and experiment with collateral, ‘out of the box’ ideas, to stimulate our creative staff and to get beyond already familiar visions, to amaze consumers with always new initiatives and product ideas. We have to be relevant in our way of proceeding, in order to make the difference.”
For the 21st Milan Triennale, the company from Apulia, together with Fabio Novembre, has developed a new residential concept for the exhibition Rooms. Other Philosophies of Living. “This is an idea very distant from the classic concept of living. Intro is an ideal uterus with an egg-like form that literally swallows things. Fabio Novembre has worked on the idea of the bedroom, comparing it to the most perfect and ancestral form: the egg.
The room has an outer surface in mirror-finish metal and conceals a warm atmosphere in intense red leather, a tangible sign of our dedication to craftsmanship, which has always been our trademark. The interior of the installation depicts a face, in negative, that seems to gaze towards the inside of the room. We have worked day and night on the structure, for a month and a half, and today we are very proud of the results.”
In parallel, there is the Natuzzi Open Art project, twice a year, once at Art Basel, where Natuzzi joins forces with contemporary artists to create conceptual works that expand the boundaries of design, experimenting with new paths for the brand.
“With Adrien Missika we have created, in the flagship store in Miami, a site-specific installation that evolves his Siesta Club project: an oversized 20-meter leather hammock, on which different materials and decorations are applied, to represent the idea of communal living, a space for gathering.”
These are collaborations that go beyond the company’s core business but have an influence on the catalogue in various ways. The traditional production is being innovated, on a par with the automotive sector, with industrial and lean production logic, but with human creativity and the experience of Natuzzi craftsmen as the central focus.
“We have a spirit that is capable of imagination but also concrete, above all when it comes to production, where we control the entire chain: from selection of wood from certified forests to the production of leather with Italian tanneries, all the way to the making of the upholstery. We directly manage the entire production process, not just the raw materials but also the prototyping and engineering, including large-scale manufacturing.”
Natuzzi’s offerings always seek balance, harmony and historical roots, a concept also underlined in the new ad campaign with the slogan “Harmony Maker” that confirms the company’s long-term path. The spirit of Natuzzi Italia lies in the meeting of these two words: Harmony is abstract, full of hopes, and describes the work of research done by the design division; Maker, on the other hand, represents concrete initiative, craftsmanship, manual skill.
This combination happens in the Centro Stile where over 100 professionals, including designers, interior decorators, architects and colorists, work in pursuit of harmony, matching forms, materials and colors. “We have materic moodboards, a chromatic vocabulary, visual codes for the products. Harmony is a religion that guides all Natuzzi creations, from products to points of sale. Our intention is not to define a lifestyle, but to transmit an idea of a comfortable, functional, innovative and harmonious interior design.”
The next challenge for Natuzzi is expansion of the monobrand retail network around the world. “Retail operations,” Pasquale Jr. concludes, “have great value, expressed in direct contact with consumers, contributing to create a relationship that lasts over time. To date we have 1,141 points of sale in the world, of which 363 stores.
We want to grow in terms of the retail chain, but also in terms of franchising, not necessarily in the emerging markets on which everyone is wagering, like China (where we are operating with very positive results), but in those where we have good brand recognition and a high level of unfulfilled potential, such as Italy, which for the moment has just three points of sale, or England and Europe in general.
Our programs also call for a particular focus on monobrand stores in the United States and in the already strong, established Asian Pacific market. The store is a fundamental sales channel because it is the place in which we are able to fully transfer the Dna of the brand: the harmony of materials, forms and colors, the scent of the leather, the softness of the upholstery, the warm, soft lighting, the aroma of our Apulia, are experiences a consumer can only have in a store.
An experience that also happens through collaboration with architects, for whom we have developed special tools, including the Design Studio that lets you work in 3D, with the entire range of leathers, fabrics and finishes of the collection.”
Text by Valentina Croci
