Mo.1950 is an Italian success story, of the romantic variety, narrating the finest spirit of our country, that of the entrepreneurs who with commitment and vision have transformed a furniture store in Brianza like many others into one of the most prestigious and important industrial realities in the design sector.
Mo.1950 spans three generations of professionals in the field of design furniture. At the start of the 1950s, the grandparents of the present General Manager of the group, Corrado Molteni, began this business adventure. Today, after 70 years of work and a strategy that has always made experience and innovation go hand in hand, Mo.1950 – with the precious help of Lea and Elena, respectively Corrado’s mother and sister – can be defined as a network of professionals and workers capable of designing complete solutions for their clients, made to measure, while providing consulting on furnishings and interior design, also in turnkey projects for the contract market and private customers.
You are a new company, but also the result of extensive experience in the field of furnishings and residential design. How has this industry changed over time?
Today there is more interaction between real estate development and design, to the point of often forming a single “package”: professionals who work in tune, supporting each other to offer proposals of value for an increasingly demanding and well-informed audience. We all have less time, so there is a strong need to unite all the solutions under the same roof. Builders are looking for a single counterpart in their residential projects, while architects and private customers no longer have the desire, or the energy, to interact with a range of different suppliers.
There is a greater demand for personalized solutions, made to measure for the client’s needs, at the center of any project. People are more informed, and when they turn to us they already have ideas and expectations. The product is important, but it has become secondary with respect to the décor project and the service that extends from the idea to the installation.
What characteristics does a brand have to have in order to become part of your catalogue and be displayed in your showrooms?
The partner brands of Mo.1950 are companies capable of offering complementary solutions, ensuring easy teamwork together with punctual implementation at competitive prices. They are brands with which we share certain fundamental values, such as teamwork, pursuit of quality in projects and relations, and know-how that never ceases to be renewed and updated. They are brands that can respond at 360 degrees to the needs of design and décor, of architects and real estate developers.
What are the most common needs of your clients, and how do you try to respond to them? What are the online and showroom services you offer?
The people who turn to our long-term store in Varedo, Molteni Mobili, seek fresh, high-quality solutions for the home, with a good price-quality ratio, and above all they are looking for consulting services to provide a concrete response to their doubts and desires.
In the flagship store in Milan (Cesar, Caccaro, Calligaris, Ditre Italia) we welcome both private clients and architects seeking custom solutions in specific projects on which they are working. Beyond the functional specifications, the common need is personalization. Private customers expect to be able to implement their idea of the home, as they have imagined it. They are not after important signatures, but trademarks capable of accompanying them in this creative process. Together with architects, thanks to our brands and our network of specialized craftsmen, we give form to their desires.
The showroom on Via Molino delle Armi, which we opened in October, is where it is possible to truly put the emphasis on personalization. The materials library on the lower level offers a vast archive, to be able to see and touch materials and finishes. We also present a series of moodboards that combine stoneware, fabrics, wallpapers, wood and much more, with which clients can evaluate the combinations and make their dreams come true.
What projects are you working on at the moment?
As the year draws to a close, we are very busy on various fronts. We are particularly involved in new real estate projects, with important counterparts like Nexity, Filcasa and Borio Mangiarotti, just to name a few.
We are also working on the reorganization of the single-brand stores. We collaborate with the Calligaris group for the opening of a new space on Via Moscova, at the corner with Via Solferino, a retail concept of about 700 sqm providing perfect insertion of all the brands of the group, converging with the offerings of Calligaris, Ditre Italia and Luceplan. The new flagship store sets out to become a gathering place for design lovers, and it will also contain a materials library with which to create and visualize the most effective juxtapositions.
This has triggered a domino effect in our spaces, so in 2022 there will be important new developments at Via Larga, Via Baracchini and Via Carducci. For the moment I can’t reveal anything more.
How do you imagine the furniture and design sector in the near future? What are the areas in which there will be bigger transformations, and what will instead remain tied to tradition?
Mo.1950 is a versatile company, operating in the sector through interaction of very different people and roles. But we can also see many shared themes.
What is deeply anchored to tradition is the concept of beautiful, well-made things, an aspect of Italian design that has always made the difference, and has been reinforced by the pandemic. For the end user, this implies premium products, the gratification of having something unique, where functional quality and emotion are perfectly balanced in personalized solutions. The concept is widening, and products have to adapt to changes in our way of living, including digital connectivity.
The transformations we are seeing have to do with processes and professionals. The need for brands to form a system in order to offer the most complete proposals under the same roof is leading to the creation of “group showrooms” like D Studio, or synergic spaces of independent brands, like the Mo.1950 showroom. These facilities are workplaces for professionals, where architects can find partners and solutions, and where long-term relationships are built. This transformation of processes and relations has to do with contractors as well, who need to identify a single counterpart for all décor solutions.
