Creatives Wanted (Overseas)

American furniture brands, in search of new aesthetics and a more sophisticated language, are engaging European creatives to infuse their designs with an educated sensibility, deep-rooted know-how and a clearly recognizable style. In this article, we’ll cover the growing trend of international collaboration between European and American brands.

Create connections, evoke stories and define new horizons. This is the authentic value of design. It is a matter of form and function, yes, but not only: it is the ability to give voice to the culture of an era, to define new ways of living, to translate insights into experiences, to build bridges – between classicism and the avant-garde, between aesthetics and ethics.

This universe of meanings is echoed in a very current phenomenon of successful collaboration between European designers and American manufacturers. A pairing that generates an original contamination that exponentially expands the expressive possibilities and the limits of creativity. If Europe, and Italy in particular, represents the historical and artisanal heritage of design, always torn between tradition and innovation, America is characterized by its vocation for experimentation without constraints. These respective identities have laid the foundations for an increasingly widespread and obvious trend: American furniture brands, in search of new aesthetics and a more sophisticated language, are engaging European creatives to infuse their designs with an educated sensibility, deep-rooted know-how and a clearly recognizable style.

Think of the collaboration between Emeco and Philippe Starck, or the Knoll collections signed by architect Antonio Citterio: two top American brands that have chosen to involve two “archi-stars” – one French, the other Italian – in order to reinterpret their identity and their characteristic American industrial DNA through a different design perspective, capable of telling the story of the future while enhancing the past and heritage. Over time, this philosophy has shaped the long-standing collaboration between two other international landmarks – Haworth and Patricia Urquiola (Art Director of Cassina), who tells us, “I like to think of this relationship as a journey that started in 2013 with design and then evolved into a broader and more structured collaboration. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Haworth team on a variety of projects, from showrooms to installations to the Haworth Hotel.” What they have in common is “an evolutionary approach to design based on values such as integrity and a desire to continually learn. Together we seek to bring a more fluid language to workspaces, creating solutions that can adapt to an ever-changing world.

In this way, the culture and history of Italian and European design is a great attraction for American companies, which, combined with their way of thinking, leads to striking stylistic hybridizations. And not just in design. A case in point is the collaboration between Gabriele Chiave (co-founder of Controvento and former creative director of Marcel Wanders Studio) and the Estée Lauder Group, where he held the position of VP, Global Creative Direction – Design & Innovation: “When I arrived in New York to work with Estée Lauder, it was a great surprise,” he tells me, “they incredibly appreciated my wealth of experience gained with brands of excellence and high craftsmanship such as Barovier&Toso, Baccarat, Fendi Casa. Brands that, although small, are true cultural legends. It is this heritage that I have transferred to the context of a global beauty giant”. Indeed, Chiave has created a cross-industry strategy by weaving the heritage of these brands with the values and experience of the beauty business, creating an interesting and winning synergy. “Italian design has a very strong appeal in the United States, where the Old Continent is idealized in many ways: from art to culture, from fashion to design. In fact, Europe has a layered and deep cultural history, while in America the past is more recent, making the interpretation and reinterpretation of past styles more complex. This is also why American companies often rely on European creatives.

An opinion shared by Stefano Giussani, partner and COO of Lissoni & Partners New York, who emphasizes how this different historicity influences the approach to interior projects on American soil: “In our interventions,” he explains, “we do an initial ‘translation’ for the American market of some of the design languages of the Milan studio. We are constantly searching for details, trying to make them feasible for local workers, and focusing on the experience that the projects can convey to the American public. He continues: “The two cultures have a different vision of living and its components. In the field of finishing materials, for example, research and quality have evolved greatly in the last decade, paving the way for local experimentation inspired by European influences. In the furniture sector, on the other hand, Italy remains the undisputed reference for uniqueness and quality, and we proudly try to transfer this to every project”.

But the relationship is not unidirectional. European creatives also look to America with interest, attracted by the opportunities it offers in terms of both market size and freedom of expression. “The United States makes it possible to work with huge volumes,” explains designer Francesco Favaretto, who collaborates with Bernhardt Design and Versteel, “the prototyping time for a product is often long, but once it is made, it has strong commercial support. Here, I have been able to work a lot on the technical aspects, as I am always asked for a European style, but with the durability and comfort typical of the American approach”.

In this way the dynamism of American industry provides a fertile ground for international design to experiment, evolve, and confront ever-changing scenarios.

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