Last April, during Milan Design Week, the outdoor furniture company Fast, in collaboration with Spotti Milano, opened its first flagship store in the Durini Design District.
A minimal and warm space, with interior design by the studio Quincoces-Dragó & Partners. And the company has recently announced that David Lopez Quincoces, together with Francesco Meda, has been entrusted with the artistic direction of the company.
This ‘new course’ was heralded by an exhibition of photographs by Stefan Giftthaler (open until 5 January), which tells of the company’s ties with its host region, the Valle Sabbia. For the occasion, the entire entrance floor of the shop was turned into a gallery, with a large modular seat in the centre and photographs hung on the walls in a museum-like fashion.
The company’s CEO, Marco Levrangi, explains the decision to create the role of Art Director – in this case a double one: “Five years ago we had a collaboration with Alberto Lievore, who made us grow a lot, not only in terms of product, but also in terms of marketing culture. Art direction is a step forward for us. We chose David and Francesco because they are designers who understand the true values of the brand. Outdoor is a world where all the big companies are in, our DNA is our strength.”
The company was born in 1995 in Valle Sabbia from an intuition. “My family has always been involved in light alloy die-casting,” continues Levrangi. “One day I was at the lake with my father and we lifted a piece of cast iron outdoor furniture together. We said to each other: ‘Aluminium has four times less specific weight’. That was the beginning.”
“Our work? On the one hand, we want to increase the customisability of the products, which is already a hallmark of the brand (in terms of colours, but also materials). On the other hand, we want to make the Fast product even more human, warm and intimate, to fully represent the essence of the brand: technology meets craftsmanship and man meets nature,” say Lopez Quincoces and Meda.
Both designers in their own right, they recently decided to join forces as art directors (for Alias, Acerbis, Ranieri…). How do they explain this professional chapter? “It started more as a game and we found that we liked it because it made us interact with so many people, from the owners to the technical side, photographers, graphic designers. It takes us into areas where I personally still have to learn,” replies Lopez Quincoces. “Then we are friends, we manage to do this job – which is often tiring because it is made up of so many aspects that often have to be managed at the same time – without so much weight. And with passion. Trying to do something that is tailored to the customer, not homogenised, is even more fun.”
Plans for Fast? “Trying to communicate this reality, which we immediately liked, from a human and industrial point of view. Today, so many companies are based on the work of subcontractors, they don’t even have prototyping in-house. Here, on the other hand, everything is ‘in-house’: from cnc (computerised numerical control) to painting. A fascinating dimension.”
