Going with the Flou

There is a town in Italy, we are told, where the best Italian furniture names are concentrated. In a five-kilometer radius in Medina, you can drive around and see all the biggest names from the Italian furniture industry. Practically neighbors in Medina, and because they are all high-end, they are also neighbors in shopping districts around the world where top brands tend to be concentrated as well.  

Massimiliano Messina, director general of Flou, and architect and furniture designer Carlo Colombo, both grew up in this town.

Messina, now 38 and head of the furniture company, was three years old when his father Rosario Messina founded Flou and when Vico Magistretti designed what would be the company’s most iconic piece of furniture: the Nathalie bed, the first bed that used fabric instead of wood or iron or steel, the quintessential modern textile bed.

Today, it is displayed in all the Flou showrooms in the world, this piece that was declared by European law last year as an icon of design and “defined as a sculpture, a piece of art,” according to Messina. “There are only a few in Europe right now —maybe five — that have this status.”

In fact, when Flou wanted to build a museum for designer Vico Magistretti, they wanted to display the first ever Nathalie that was bought from the company in 1978. It was bought by a lady from Medina and they actually found her and she still had the bed. They offered to buy it back from her but she refused to sell it. She said, “Look, it has lasted for the past 35 years.” She has changed the covers just twice and the bed was still the same bed. “I don’t know of Nathalies that are broken because of usage.” 

The woman bought it when she was a newlywed, perhaps that’s why she didn’t want to sell it.

Messina’s father Rosario once said, “The bed is a special place where the future is born, where couple connect, where families are created, where people think about their tomorrows.”

The younger Messina says, “When I have friends who ask suggestions on the bed, the first thing I say is, ‘Go for what your wife wants otherwise your marriage will be horrible.’ Second thing I say, ‘If your wife is asking for a new bed, you have to wonder why.’ Your bed is linked to the interior of your heart and your marriage.”

Why does he think the design has lasted for so long?

“It’s magic. When Flou talked to Magistretti, we didn’t talk about beauty. We wanted a bed that was a fabric bed, whose cover could be changed easily and wanted to make the life of Italian women easier. Thirty-five years ago, it was another world. In Italy, the women stayed home taking care of everything. I can tell you the Italian man is spoiled. Back then, they did nothing at home. It was the Italian mom doing everything. Just making the bed was a long process. We wanted to introduce the duvet to make it easy for them, and we improved the quality of life of the people there.”

Even when Nathalie was being designed, he says, it was the function rather than the look that was taken into consideration. Through the years, Nathalie has changed because of technology. It now comes with a foam that remembers the shape of your body and the mattress hardness or softness sides can be adjusted on the left and right side. It also comes with a wardrobe underneath where you can store your bed sheets.

Every three years, technology allows the bed to improve. “We are always providing new solutions,” says Messina. 

“We are Italians. We don’t need to tell each other that it must be beautiful. It is there, if you do something, it has to be beautiful. I can tell you, in all these years, the Nathalie has been our bestseller and I don’t know why.”

In the Philippines, young tycoons have bought Nathalie when they get married and often buy another one when the kids are born, says Filaine L. Tan, showroom manager of Arbitare Internazionale, which distributes B&B Italia, Flou, Maxalto and Walter Knoll.

 Today, Flou is producing bed designs that are bound to be future icons as well. Multi-awarded arhictect, inrterior designer and furniture designer Carlo Colombo takes Flou to a new level of sleep perfection.

At the B&B Italia showroom, three of his designs are displayed. He has been working with Flou for the past 10 years, producing star designs like Sailor, Guia and Sanya beds.

“A lot of inspiration comes from my different travels. I love Asia and South Africa. My job is really my passion. I wake up in the morning happy. In the morning, I think of a design for Flou and in the afternoon I think of a detail of a building I am designing in New York or in Miami. I think this is the best job in the world. Design is my first love. I started when I was a student.”

Colombo says inspiration can strike anytime and anywhere. Messina tells us that when he and the designer were on the plane to Manila, Colombo was looking at the ceiling of the aircraft and turned to Messina and said, “I have a new design in mind for a bed.”

His new design Sanya is a gorgeous tufted bed — very elegant in white leather, which is also his favorite. “The rich people in China like gold color; in Italy, white fabric or leather is very popular; in the Middle East they like rich colors, too.”

Flou celebrates eight years in the Philippines. Abitare Internazionale, the brand’s exclusive distributor, is celebrating 15 years of being the top purveyor of Italian luxury, thanks to sisters Filaine L. Tan, showroom manager, and Jeanne Lim Wee, interior designer.

They have put together a showroom that is filled with everything beautiful and high-quality. And everything Italian.

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Abitare Internazionale’s showroom is located at the ground floor of Crown Tower, 107 HV Dela Costa St., Salcedo Village, Makati. Call 892-1887 or e-mail bbitalia@skyinet.net.