We’ve grown accustomed to associating the Flexform brand with the adjective ‘timeless,’ which reflects a style, a certain direction of taste, and a light touch that transcends chronological categories, crossing over fashions and trends. With the debut of the new Outdoor Collection the company breaks through not only barriers of time, but also of space: the new offerings for open-air spaces effectively represent an extension of the indoor settings of Flexform in terms of allure, refined design and expressive impact.
The new creations for outdoor living perfectly reflect the brand’s typical aesthetic language – an authentic synthesis of form and function – in a wide range of proposals, providing a complete decor approach from the outset (the exclusive premiere at the Salone del Mobile.Milano in April): three seating systems, five tables and five armchairs, as well as chairs, carpets and accessories.
“A collection from the inside out, meaning an indoor approach taken into the open air,” says Matteo Galimberti, CEO of Flexform. The synergy with the design philosophy of the home collection is so effective that the new outdoor items can easily be transferred – why not? – into the domestic environment: the true difference between the two lines, in fact, lies in the materials.
Designed to provide remarkable performance in terms of durability, the products are made with components of the highest quality: water-repellent breathing fabrics, type 316 austenitic stainless steel, marine plywood, iroko wood, polypropylene cord, able to stand up to varying weather conditions, sunlight and sea breezes. The materials are ideal for insertion in various contexts, from homes to hotels to yachts.
The latter sector provided the first opportunity for the company to come to grips with the outdoor world: “The creation of a complete collection of open-air furniture came after years of experience in the world of yachting, featuring special commissioned projects that helped us to develop our know-how in this area through concrete experimentation – Matteo Galimberti explains. – After three years of design research, conducted together with Antonio Citterio, we felt the time had come to expand this know-how from a pure contract approach to a complete range of offerings for clients and dealers. We are now planning to gradually develop the collection in the near future.”
From the initial collaboration with Sanlorenzo to the latest partnership with Gruppo Ferretti, with special projects for the creation of custom yachts and boats, Flexform has widened its range of action, eliminating decor boundaries and application limits, as the brand’s creations populate the sunny terraces of renowned luxury resorts in the Maldives and Bali.
The protagonists of this new decor landscape are the over 25 creations of the Outdoor Collection, many of which are direct descendants of their indoor counterparts, ‘dressed’ to cope with an external context. This is the case of Ortigia Outdoor, an outdoor interpretation of the seating family of the same name, with its familiar, classic appeal, made in solid iroko wood and featuring a sophisticated weave done entirely by hand for the backs (in a choice of polyurethane or polypropylene cord). Or the Thomas Outdoor chair designed by Antonio Citterio, an inimitable bestseller of the indoor collection which thanks to a new breathing water-repellent fabric can now become an icon of open-air spaces as well. Alison Outdoor, the armchair created by Carlo Colombo, conserves all the quality of its original design while making use of materials that guarantee great performance en plein air, starting with the supple structure in extruded aluminium with epoxy coating.
Completely new creations, on the other hand, include the modular systems Vulcano (designed by Antonio Citterio) and Zante, respectively featuring woven craftsmanship (a particular strong point of the brand) and an original motif of irregular iroko slats for the two structures. All these virtues are combined with ample padding to add comfort and functional quality.
As absolute proof of the stylistic longevity of the brand and its timeless dimension, the Moka Outdoor family is composed of a chair and table originally designed by Mario Asnago and Claudio Vender in 1939, which became part of the Flexform collection starting in 1985; the surprising modernity of the project – full of references to the Rationalist movement – relies on the use of type 316 austenitic stainless steel tubing for its easy adaptation to the Outdoor Collection.
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