In recent years, the world of wallpaper has been enriched by new players. What are the strengths that make Wall&decò a valuable partner?In recent years, the world of wallpaper has been enriched by new players. What are the strengths that make Wall&decò a valuable partner?
After 20 years of existence, Wall&decò still maintains a DNA based on two pillars: design and product evolution. Design is the result of dozens of collaborations with designers and the creativity of an in-house Style Center: we are a company with a strong sartorial imprint. Innovation is perhaps the ‘original sin’ with which Wall&decò was born; study and research have never ceased, and today the company also stands out for its ability to develop technically attractive products that, together with the aesthetic form, give a significant added value to the offer. A prime example of this virtuous path is the launch, 11 years after the first, of the second generation of wallpapers for wet areas: a product line that in time has reached 25,000 installations in more than 80 countries around the world. The evolution does not stop, with a worldwide leadership in the segment and a level of trust gained in different sectors, residential, hospitality, corporate.
Does this somehow mean that the advent of wet-room wallpaper has gone to compete with ceramics and paints?
It is not our focus to go and take market share that is of other commodities, we wanted to give a soul to environments that we could not reach before and today designers specify our product where it was not possible before. The product is easy to install and the latest evolution – Acquabout – also allows installation on existing surfaces, with a non-invasive, rapid intervention that also brings considerable cost savings
Two rooms in the home, the kitchen and bathroom, have tended in recent years to ‘go outside’, to contaminate the living and sleeping areas. Does this correspond to you?
Absolutely, and this is one of the reasons why we decided to focus on these two areas, because our solutions are non-invasive, they respect and integrate well with the bathroom and kitchen furnishings, even enhancing some of their features, and they can be the fil rouge that unites areas that were originally separate.
The ‘hunt for the trade’ by furniture companies that do not have their own flagship or representative corner is very sustained, companies suffer from the lack of structured and prepared distribution to the detriment of those who have instead also focused on the project as an interesting market: have you noticed a weakening of the less connoted trade?
We cannot deny that Wall&decò has grown thanks to retail linked to residential, it is equally undeniable that a product like ours – also linked to customisation – lends itself more and more to the specification of a designer and the future clearly speaks in this direction. We constantly receive requests from the retail world, and naturally we try to choose the best potential partners. Today we may not say ‘no’ enough, there are still silent retailers, we will have to make a selection.
Hundreds of graphic themes available: how does Wall&deco approach the market, even formally?
Over the years, Wall&decò has chosen to involve numerous designers for as many collections, which, together with those designed in-house, make up a very rich offer. We have our bestsellers, which represent a kind of comfort zone and suggest the trends of the moment, but we have to ask ourselves whether the number of themes we propose is in line with the needs of new markets, regions and segments that are growing rapidly: this will not be the only key to our future strategy, but a point to think about.
The project world, by the confession of many of its players, often has in the ‘repetitiveness of the gesture’ a characteristic that leads it to make choices on suppliers that are somewhat always the same: Has Wall & Deco detected this?
The perceived equation “product=commodity” is real, it is one of the areas of comfort for the designer and it exists, sometimes very clearly, sometimes less so. What we can do is to focus on the differences and the innovation related to our wallpaper, which does not pass only from the graphic aspect: the WET line, which cubes 27 percent of our sales, is an absolute example. In 2024 we put a lot of focus on the sustainability side, a hot topic, sometimes used speculatively as greenwashing, which does not help: our product can never be 100% sustainable, but we want to transfer our path towards sustainability. The launch of d.ecodura, the world’s first IMO-certified organic vinyl wallpaper for the yachting world, is an example of how we are moving.
The trade fair world has changed, many trade fairs no longer exist, others are suffering, a few are holding out: for Wall&decò this is food for thought?
Today, the cost of spaces is exorbitant, in some cases prohibitive, the redemption has gone down: sustainability – in this case economic sustainability – can certainly not be the only parameter to be considered, but it is certainly necessary to make broader and more articulated assessments than in the past.
Wallpaper in all latitudes: are there markets that are more attractive, more receptive than others?
Certainly, our historical market is Europe, while we consider it strategic to position ourselves in the United States, taking advantage of the high level of awareness of our product, with a particular focus on the hospitality sector. The Middle East is growing, the Dubai effect has also affected Saudi Arabia, with two hubs in the world of design and architecture – London and Singapore – which today specify the majority of projects in this geographical area and need to be carefully manned. A third territory is Asia, an area we have never really explored, but which today, even in a manufacturing country like China, represents an opportunity for high-end products with unique and distinctive products like ours. These are all areas that are being developed within our network, where we are structuring ourselves through a sales network of dealers, agencies and distributors in the territory.