Fits like a glove: Minotti

Bolstering the eclecticism of Minotti’s latest creations is the varied palette of materials they’re made from. Supple leather, saddle hide, refined fabrics, wood, decoratively veined marble and metals in muted bronze and pewter tones are all essential constituents of the brand’s urbane offerings. Yet just as Minotti often favours neutral hues – typically grey, fawn and mushroom – these luxurious materials don’t scream for attention.

Minotti’s established reputation for high-quality upholstery also allows for a more experimental approach. Lateral thinking is encouraged during the conception and manufacturing of all of its products, coordinated by Rodolfo Dordoni and Minotti Studio. Open-minded as ever, Minotti recently hit on the idea of borrowing specialist sewing techniques deployed in haute couture in the belief that these can be applied to furniture-making, a can-do attitude that Dordoni describes as ‘enlightened’. ‘Often, when defining a prototype and seeking to achieve a particular detail, the Minotti brothers have told me: “For that, we need to buy a special machine used in the fashion world to sew clothing,”’ he says.

Minotti’s team now regularly use the words ‘sartorial’ and ‘couture’ to describe the precision and Italian expertise underpinning the construction of its comfortable yet clean-lined upholstery – further evidence of the brand’s commitment to manufacturing high-end products. Its upholstery is both functional and aesthetically pleasing: it reinforces the furniture’s structure and embellishes it with such subtle details as discreet stitching and contrasting piping in a variety of tones.

New pieces that embody this approach include Dordoni’s Connery seating, which not only evokes the mid-century glamour of Bond movies but nods to fashion by drawing on craftsmanship normally used when manufacturing high-end leather goods. This is evident in the leather that fronts the base of the seating. C-shaped flap shelves added to the end of sofas can be lined in leather or wood, while the seating’s slimline legs are made of polished aluminium, alluding to the metal components of classic suitcases and trunks.

As its name suggests, Blazer, another Dordoni design, brings to mind traditional tailoring. Yet this elegantly geometric design looks informal, contemporary and inviting. Its comfortable seat features a softly quilted surface regularly spaced squares created using state-of-the-art stitching. In Torii, too, immaculate stitching and leather piping delineate and accentuate the sofa’s contours and convey an impression of comfort.

Such details and accents may seem marginal, yet they are essential to Minotti’s products, both helping to provide structural support and please the eye.

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