Exhibitions

60 years with the Salone: the brands that have been on board from the start

Text by
Patrizia Malfatti
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Salone del Mobile, 1970

12 companies, ambassadors for Italian design creativity and craftsmanship, have taken part in every single edition of the Salone del Mobile.Milano. A shared growth path and a boundless contribution to the furnishing system

Once upon a time there was the Salone del Mobile, the one in 1961, the very 1st edition, in which 328 companies took part. Since then, those companies have never stopped participating in it, believing in it and evolving with it. In the name of quality, research, innovation and sustainability. Let’s see who they are.

 

GERVASONI

Based in Friuli, the company started life in 1882 as an artisan workshop specialising in wickerwork,  and passed into the hands of the Gervasoni family in 1925, still at the helm today and now into its third generation. In 2015 it became part of  IDB, Italian Design Brands, a company set up with a view to creating an Italian hub of high-quality design furnishing, capable of competing at international level. Woven into its DNA is a combination of manual skills and industrial technologies, married with a quest for the most diversely inspired materials.

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Loll by Paola Navone, ph. courtesy Gervasoni

 

GIORGETTI

With its roots firmly in the Brianza region, the company opened in Meda in 1898 and has adhered to its concept of Made and Manufactured in Italy ever since. The entire production process takes place exclusively in Italy, carried out by highly specialised staff, thus ensuring the continuity of its wood- working tradition which, combined with the new technologies, marries design, creativity and style in products that offer a high level of customisation. Elegance as the sum of pleasure and value.

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Villa Nai 3.3, ph. courtesy Giorgetti

 

FLEXFORM

When the Galimberti brothers opened a workshop in the heart of Brianza in 1959, never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined that they would go on to furnish the foyer of La Scala, along with many other prestigious interiors. Specialised in the production of sofas and furnishing boasting an extremely high level of craftsmanship, the identity and success of the company are founded on a system of shared values, such as design consistency, contemporaneity and durability. Now into its third generation, it embraces a “we attitude” - an awareness that the team is the real player.

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Outdoor Collection, ph. courtesy Flexform

MEDEA 1905

This old-established company – set up in 1905 – started out by reproducing late 19th century English furniture, gradually becoming specialised in the reproduction of historic pieces, both anonymous and signature, with a preference for French Liberty of all the different styles and artistic movements, of which it is a renowned editor. Alongside its lengthy furnishing history, it also has a contemporary side, continuing to uphold its high standards of cabinetry. The company’s great flexibility extends to mass production for residential and contract, as well as custom-made pieces, both classic and modern, for homes, commercial premises, hotels and yachts.

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Ottocento, photo courtesy Medea 1905

MINOTTI

Set up in 1948 in Meda, by the ‘60s it had already taken on the industrial imprint and dimensions that later, in the ‘90s, with the second generation, would start its expansion towards the international markets – its 45th flagship store opened recently – while now, the third generation of the family business has taken on the challenges of the new millennium,  and the digital and multicultural world. Consistent with its values of aesthetic simplicity, timeless elegance, continuity with artisan tradition and savoir faire, it is one of the excellences of contemporary  Made in Italy and an interpreter of a modern classic lifestyle in both the residential and hospitality sectors, indoor and outdoor.