It’s time to say “Happy birthday Colombo Stile!” The brand celebrates 130 years of history and over a century at the summit of the international classic furniture panorama. To do the milestone justice, the brand has organised two important events to share with its clients and friends. The first is the opening of its first mono-brand showroom in Milan’s Via Durini 23. This exclusive space extends over two floors for a total of 150sq m, providing the perfect pedestal for the brand’s more contemporary collections. The store is also home to Colombo Stile Privée, a space for client relations, customisation and project management. «Via Durini is an institution in and of itself – explains Colombo Stile Marketing Manager Alfredo Colombo – Our presence there is indicative of the fact that it’s a place where you can find the best of the design world and that now includes one of the top players in field of classic, eclectic furniture.» Running parallel to this opening is the brand’s collaboration with Studio Job, which has produced an installation that will become the centre point of the Colombo Stile exhibition space at the Milan Furniture Fair. An entrance lobby becomes the catalyst for the marriage of these two entities: on one side the extreme, almost provocative creativity of Studio Job… on the other the large-scale project savoir faire of Colombo Stile.
The installation – which has been meticulously designed by the Antwerp-based studio, from the curtains to the chandelier via the inlaid flooring – leads visitors to four “gardens”, internal areas which reflect four of the brand’s collections. The most traditional area is the Giardino delle Orchidee [Garden of the Orchids], dedicated to classic furniture and – in this case – the new Marie Antoniette collection. The Roseto [Rose Garden] is the most contemporary area, represented by the Couture collection, which is designed by Samuele Mazza. There follow two very eclectic spaces: one Tropical area decked out with Hierro Desvilles creations, the other – the Giardino dell Camelie [Garden of the Camellias] – encapsulating a more classic, full-bodied concept of eclecticism, with products designed by Giovanni Maria Malerba di Busca. The overall result is a journey back through the style history of the Colombo Stile brand. Indeed, over the 1970s and 1980s, the brand decided to take its classic approach to furniture in a new direction: it was the era of eclecticism, first instigated by Ettore Sottass and Alessandro Mendini and later developed by Carlo Rampazzi and Hierro Desville, with the Studio Job installation providing a truly natural snapshot of the style. «It’s a cyclical story that keeps coming round. At the centre of everything is a really strong sense of congruence that is once again taking centre stage».
