Going Global: De Padova's new collections

For the first time in its almost 60-year history, Milan-based furniture company De Padova will exhibit at the main exhibition centre in Rho Fiera as well as at its Corso Venezia showroom during the city’s upcoming design week. Alongside classic pieces developed during the preceding decades, new products by Philippe Nigro, LucidiPevere and Anna von Schewen will demonstrate the firm’s continuing commitment to promoting innovative design.

De Padova’s presence at the Fiera is a bold statement of intent from CEO, Luca De Padova, who believes it is time for the company founded by his parents Fernando and Maddalena in 1956 to expand into new international markets. “2015 represents a very important turning point for us,” explains De Padova, adding that the brand’s respected position within the industry provides a perfect foundation for growth. “We are solid and ready to make a jump; Italy is now the headquarters and the platform to spread our culture of design across the world.”

De Padova originated as an importer of Scandinavian furniture and design, which was sold at its showroom on Milan’s prestigious Via Montenapoleone. In the 1960s it acquired a license from American firm Herman Miller to manufacture products by Charles Eames and George Nelson, which helped to confirm its reputation as a distributor of quality international design. The launch of the company’s own production label in the 1980s saw it collaborate with some of the world’s greatest designers including Achille Castiglioni, Dieter Rams and Vico Magistretti, and the pieces created during this era remain a key part of De Padova’s collection.

Luca De Padova sees the upcoming product launches as a continuation of the firm’s commitment to developing groundbreaking products in collaboration with top creative talent. “Our capacity to discover special products and new designers in this segment of the furniture market is the true difference between our brand and our competitors,” he claims. Recent collaborations with designers including Patricia Urquiola, Luca Nichetto and Naoto Fukasawa have yielded successful results that helped to raise the brand’s profile and demonstrate its ability to translate progressive ideas into reality. “There is always a natural feeling when we decide to work with a designer,” adds De Padova. “Their hand usually respects our soul and we then have to work on the technological innovation and material experimentation.”

One of the novelties that De Padova will present at the Fiera is a collection called Yak, comprising an armchair and a sofa designed by Udine duo LucidiPevere as a counterpoint to minimal modern divans. Leather panels threaded through long openings in each of the wooden frame’s four legs are held in place by wooden pegs. The leather encloses soft cushions that form the seat, back and armrests, while accent cushions covered in Mongolian fur recall the heavyset animal that gives the collection its name.

“On the one hand we looked for a balance of materials, all intentionally natural, to consolidate the Nordic tradition that has always been a part of De Padova,” say the designers. “On the other, we worked on the contrast between the features of the sofa, where the angled wooden legs balance out the abundance of the cowhide or the contrast between the imposing solidity of the natural ash structure and the lightness of the goosedown cushions.”

French designer Philippe Nigro has created the Albereta armchair, which resembles a classic wingback armchair with a compact form and a backrest that stretches out on either side of the sitter. “In effect, it has oversized ears,” says the designer, referring to the feature that gives the chair its unique character and creates a sense of enveloping comfort.

De Padova will also present a low table and pouf that extend the Smeralda collection by Swedish designer Anna von Schewen. Created to complement the small sofa and armchair launched in 2014, the new additions feature the same curved legs inspired by the shapes of ancient Greek chairs and hand-crafted willow furniture. The collection’s most distinctive element is a system of interlocking joints that enhance the tension between the frame’s horizontal and vertical components. The pouf is topped with a soft padded seat, while the table has a tray-like stoneware surface decorated with a relief pattern that resembles woven fabric.

The new products represent the latest iteration of De Padova’s search for new directions in upholstered furniture design and will give visitors to the Fiera an insight into the future of one of Italy’s most forward-thinking furniture producers. “De Padova is recognised for its icons,” says Luca De Padova, who will hope the latest collections will enjoy the same enduring success as the iconic furniture presented alongside them.