Minotti: Italian passion for design & excellence
Seated in a brand-new showroom in Bonifacio Global City, Renato Minotti, son of the Italian designer Alberto Minotti who founded the eponymous furniture company, says: “In every town and city of Italy, you have art in churches, in museums, in people’s homes. It’s in our DNA.”
Renato is answering my question “Why are Italians so good in design?” He is speaking for all of Italy and for all Italians who have ever produced a piece of art, furniture or fashion — but he may as well be speaking of his own DNA, literally the Minotti DNA, because since the 1950s the company founded by his father has been making upscale furniture and proudly stamping each one “Made in Italy.”
Renato is co-CEO of Minotti along with his brother Roberto. He is responsible for financial, commercial and logistic development, and was in Manila a few days ago to launch the new showroom of Minotti Manila.
Living Innovations, which brings in top-of-the-line lifestyle brands to the Philippines including Bang & Olufsen, Bulthaup, Dedon and Gaggenau, brought Minotti to Manila more than a decade ago. And now, they have just launched a 300-plus sqm. mono-brand showroom at the ground floor of Fort Victoria, 5th Avenue corner 23rd St. in Bonifacio Global City.
Minotti Manila GM and Living Innovations president Ferdie Ong is as passionate as Renato about Minotti. He describes the pieces as the best of Italy and its Filipino buyers as the most discerning and to whom prices are not an issue.
Renato says that Minotti comes out with one collection every year, which fittingly debuts at the Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan every spring, the biggest and most important furniture show according to industry insiders. Other previews are held at shows in London, Cologne, and Shanghai.
Minotti may have started out as a small, artisanal venture in the 1950s by Alberto, but his sons took it to worldwide recognition starting in the late 1970s (the third-generation children are also now involved in different capacities).
Minotti’s collaboration with architect Rodolfo Dordoni, who has been overseeing the collections since 1997, brought new strategies and a signature aesthetic.
Today, Minotti exports 92 percent of its output and only eight percent remains in Italy. They are in 63 countries with their biggest markets being Germany, the US, Asia and Africa. In fact, they just expanded again in the region with new stores in Laos and Vietnam.
You can find their pieces everywhere around the world — in five-star resorts and hotels, homes of sports and showbiz celebrities, A-listers, corporate leaders and businessmen.
The pieces in the Manila showroom are from the 2014 collection and bestselling classics that the company continues to produce. For this year, the palette consists of classic earth tones and also — not surprisingly as it has been the trend in previous shows — bold colors from past decades.
Customers in Manila can choose from literally thousands of materials and colors, as flexibility of design and state-of-the-art mechanisms are part of the Minotti signature. Sofas can be configured depending on your space, they double their seating capacities when their backs are folded outward, seating material and design last decades, and the look is always timeless.
They do in-depth research on materials and details for comfort, reliability and durability. “This is what allows Minotti to be at the forefront of the interior design market and stand out as a manufacturer and marketer of upholstered pieces and furniture designed for sophisticated, conscious customers.”
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The Minotti Manila showroom is located at the ground floor of Fort Victoria Bldg., 5th Avenue corner 23rd St., Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. Call 734-3243, log on to livinginnovations.ph.
