Milan, Italy: Anchored in the collective imagination, the icons created by the great masters of Italian design like Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass or Mario Bellini have found new life, thanks to the reissues of these vintage pieces of furniture omnipresent at the Milan Furniture Fair .
Salvatore Licitra, grandson of Gio Ponti (1891-1979), slides his hand delicately across the green leather sofa, named Due Foglie (Two Leaves) because of its soft, curved shape, which was designed in 1957 by the famous designer and revisited by the Molteni group.
A little further on, on the same stand, he found with emotion another of his masterpieces, the Continuum armchair from 1963 whose structure is shaped in a continuous line in rattan cane. A piece of furniture that reminds him of his childhood, because it sat at the entrance to his grandfather’s studio in Milan.
“I am happy that we are rediscovering a heritage which was not very well known because at the time there was no distribution network. Now, these forgotten pieces of furniture exist again, have a name, a history,” says Salvatore Licitra.
“For Ponti, furniture had its dignity as if it were a sculpture, it had its own life and was free, like a work of art,” says Mr. Licitra, 71, who manages with passion and meticulously the archives of his illustrious ancestor.
Arousing great interest around the world, the works of Gio Ponti, who sought both “functionality and beauty”, are very appreciated by the Japanese who “always ask me where his tomb is so that they can visit it”, assures his heir.
– Cult objects from Memphis –
In a completely different register, the Memphis Group, an ephemeral “radical design” and non-conformist movement created in 1981 by Ettore Sottsass, has resurfaced. Disbanded shortly after the departure of its founder in 1985, it broke the bourgeois codes of the time with pop objects bordering on kitsch and geometric shapes.
“The world is going through a moment of grayness and wars, and people are therefore looking to reassure themselves by buying products that brighten them up,” explains Charley Vezza, CEO of the company Italian Radical Design, which brings together the brands Memphis Milano, Gufram and Meritalia.
“No one has ever thrown away a Memphis piece of furniture, it has a certain value, it’s a cult object that we sell at auction,” assures this young entrepreneur aged 37.
The legendary Carlton bookcase by Ettore Sottsass, a surrealist collector’s item resembling a totem created in 1981 which rejects any concept of functionality, is worth more than 15,000 euros.
Gufram in turn reissued a limited series of Cactus, a playful green coat rack invented in 1972 by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, in purple, blue and red.
And Meritalia has relaunched production of the works of visionary designer Gaetano Pesce who died in early April at the age of 84. Among them, his playful and modular La Michetta sofa from 2005, inspired by these Milanese soufflé buns.
– A story to tell –
“Reissues bring a certain comfort” to buyers, “psychological by the link with the roots of the past, but also by the economic value that they acquire over time,” comments Maria Porro, president of Salone del Mobile.
The walls of the Tacchini stand are lined with photos of the design maestros and their works, accompanied by notes tracing their history. Daughter of the founder of the family business and its CEO, Giusi Tacchini does not hide her passion for these icons.
“We look for pieces from the past that have a story to tell. It’s not always famous designers, but also unknown or little-known designers,” she says.
“These are products that do not follow the fashions of the moment, great classics that we love today and which will still be beautiful in ten, twenty or fifty years,” she marvels.
The Le Mura (The Walls) sofa, created in 1972 by the renowned designer Mario Bellini, 89 years old, was thus reissued in 2022, using new materials and coverings, while respecting the original.
“The Mura was chosen for its pure lines and character,” explains Giusi Tacchini. “It’s a perfect blend of timelessness and sensuality which, for us, makes a product successful.”
