Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website Innovative materials, original formal solutions, major reissues and expanded ranges: Poltrona Frau presents "Future Heritage", a collection that projects its traditional values into the future
july 08, 2020 - Poltrona Frau

Innovative materials, original formal solutions, major reissues and expanded ranges: Poltrona Frau presents "Future Heritage", a collection that projects its traditional values into the future


What values do we want to pursue in the future? What do we want to transmit and what do we want to change when we think about the future? A crucial question for everyone in this period and in particular for Poltrona Frau, which responds by naming its new 2020 collection "Future Heritage".
A name with lots of meaning that encapsulates the company's ability to remain faithful to its identity
and history, projecting it into the future in a global scenario.

For Poltrona Frau true luxury has always consisted of reasoned and lasting designs combined with an unwavering commitment to choosing, processing and producing only the best. Only in this way, with this internal consistency, is it possible to explain the stylistic and functional longevity of Poltrona Frau furniture, a tangible expression of contemporary living that succeeds in looking well beyond the here and now. As such, many of the new solutions for 2020 have been designed with the ambition of becoming timeless classics of tomorrow. Others are reinterpretations and additions to existing ranges that underline the success of products that never fall of out fashion, transcending eras and trends and adapting perfectly to spaces and uses that are completely different from those for which they were created.

But "Future Heritage" is not just about transmitting the values and aesthetic legacy of the company: it is also the ability to quickly identify and express changes in society and lifestyles. "In a cosmopolitan, fluid and transversal world, where even the lines between our private and working lives are increasingly blurred - explains Nicola Coropulis, company CEO - our products are able to dialogue with different materials, functions and spaces. Furniture designed for the residential sector that is equally suited to the hospitality arena; office furniture that is also functional and elegant in the home; public furniture designed with an eye on e-working; automotive inspirations adapted to the domestic environment, seats designed for the contract sector that are perfect for home cinemas or yachts, and so on."

Even the colour system, which has always been of fundamental importance to Poltrona Frau, exemplifies this flexible and transversal spirit: after 34 years it has been significantly redesigned to create ColorSphere®, a new #design map developed to respond to the new requirements of today's consumers. ColorSphere® identifies and groups together similar colours, following much simpler and more immediate perceptive-emotive criteria than the traditional technical-scientific order. A revolution that nonetheless manages to dialogue and interact with the company's traditions to bring the colour range up to date and enable it to meet the new requirements of the #design world. Many of the 73 shades proposed embody the history of the brand, which with ColorSphere® reiterates its ability to innovate and its leather culture experience: its Leathership®.

But perhaps the most immediate and famous symbol of "Future Heritage" is the Vanity Fair armchair, part of the catalogue since 1930 and now 90 years old. To celebrate this important milestone the company asked Roberto Lazzeroni to revisit this #design icon, adapting its proportions to contemporary lifestyles. The result is Vanity Fair XC, a version that is highly respectful of the original but with an even more generous and welcoming seat. Another important reissue is the historic Kyoto table, designed by the legendary Gianfranco Frattini with the collaboration of expert carpenter Pierluigi Ghianda in 1974, and inspired by Japanese aesthetics and technical mastery. In the Kyoto table the construction concept becomes the object itself: the absence of decorative elements and the use of dovetail joints exalt the beauty of the wood, requiring great technical ability and care as well as an in-depth knowledge of the material.

Sometimes, reviewing our iconic models means giving them a slightly different twist: the famous collection of Chester Line capitonné sofas is enriched with two original curved models, with and without armrests, which further expand the number of possible combinations: as well as being used in tandem with the linear solutions, they can be used on their own to create sinuous winding effects. The number of possibilities becomes practically infinite, from more closed and circular arrangements to perpendicular effects in which the straight or curved lines leave plenty of scope for creativity and personalisation. Sometimes our approach to the classics is almost irreverent as is the case with Roberto Lazzeroni's Martha armchair whose new rocking chair version is even more informal and easygoing than the original model.

Poltrona Frau's foray into the contemporary sphere continues with the Journey decorative cushions by Giulio Ridolfo with Chiara Novello. Like a refined leather-bound carnet de voyage, the collection celebrates atmospheres and memories from all over the world, summarising them in a sensitive and cultured account notable for its vivid colours. The brand new Colorsphere® shades fall into three categories: Pier 1 is dedicated to the range of greens, Tannery to natural leatherware colours and Gion to shades of violet and dark blue.

"Future Heritage" is also the ability to offer a sophisticated and modern take on styles of the past. Like in Viola, the new table chair designed by AB Concept which carefully balances Scandinavian inspirations with contemporary luxury. The classic dining table chair is revisited and lightened. The backrest which embraces the seat is embellished with a weave made from saddle-leather laces which connect it to the frame whose harmonious and ergonomic proportions make it extremely inviting.

Meanwhile, the Times Lounge Chair by Spalvieri & Del Ciotto and the Grant De Luxe by Tristan Auer represent the evolution of existing ranges. Given the success of the originals, Poltrona Frau asked the respective designers to explore them further through the lens of "Future Heritage". In the case of the chair, the #design principles of the Times bed are revisited to create a seat that is just as comfortable, combining an advanced construction technique with an aesthetic that exudes sophisticated elegance. The Grant collection is expanded with an eye on tighter spaces, where the Grant De Luxe poufs have fun changing shape or hiding a spacious storage compartment under the seat.

"At such a difficult moment in our lives - concludes Coropulis - we also want "Future Heritage" to help people look towards the future with optimism, drawing strength and comfort from the crises we have overcome in the past. A hope ad a sentiment I wish to extend to everyone."