Flexform's Luchino folding chair.
Photo: Mattia Parodi
Meet the Makers Crafting Flexform’s Contemporary Heirlooms
The brand’s designers expertly engineer modern furnishings with the personal touch of generations of Italian craftsmen
The chair is assembled by a team of highly specialized artisans in Brianza, Italy. Photo: Courtesy of Flexform
Along a picturesque stretch of the Italian Alps between Milan and Lake Como, Brianza is home to a cluster of exceptional artisans who have crafted exquisite furniture and fabrics for generations. Notable among them is Flexform, the maker of modern heirlooms. Many of its designs are drawn from the infinite imagination of architect Antonio Citterio, who has been a collaborator for five decades.
“We think that even with something relatively humble, such as a chair, you can create something that makes that object unique,” says Flexform’s head of research and development, Saul Galimberti, one of the third generation of family members to lead the brand. “Ours is a company that could never be located anywhere else precisely because of the high degree of craftspeople we need to create our products.”
Architect Antonio Citterio sketched these early renderings. Photo: Courtesy of Flexform
Architect Antonio Citterio sketched these early renderings. Photo: Courtesy of Flexform
For example, to construct its made-to-order Luchino folding chair, a technical marvel recently imagined by Citterio, five different highly skilled artisans contribute to the process. Over six weeks, one specialized maker hand-turns the wood that forms the frame, while another oversees the application of the cowhide, which is available in eight different colors. Yet another forms the functional metal accents.
It’s all part of the brand’s “made in Italy” mentality, where only the finest materials are sourced from within the region and assembled locally. “We don’t think that just because there is a lot of innovation, all the tradition should be swept away,” says Galimberti. “In this era dominated by all that AI will bring us, we feel it is also crucial to support another AI—that is, artisanal intelligence.”
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Winter Issue under the headline “Above the Fold.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Flexform's Luchino folding chair.
Photo: Mattia Parodi
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