The sector ofhigh-end designer furniture it saw a good recovery in 2021 and there will be further acceleration in the coming years. The changed use of environments leads to the search for furnishings that express personality. But how to distinguish a design object from a simply strange one? Driade has a 50-year-long narrative that speaks of culture, research, materials, visions that remain eternal symbols. Mark Pozzo, managing director of the design maison which is part of the Italian Creation Group, has no doubts: we cannot know if an object will become an icon, but we certainly know when an object will never be.
Interview with Driade CEO Marco Pozzo
Design is a delicate subject, difficult to understand for some, mysterious for others. How do you distinguish a simply "strange" object from a design object?
«Today, the term design seems to be applied to each somewhat particular object. Instead, the design object first comes from a studied project, elaborated in every detail: the materials, the functionality, the image. The definition that Driade has always given itself is that of publisher: that is, from the creative idea of these wonderful artists, talents, architects, designers, we pass through a large number of artisans and workshops who translate that idea into something concrete. In these passages great care is taken not to lose the meaning and message of the initial idea».
Once you get to the finished object, how do you understand that the language that that object communicates is the right one?
“The key is just the language: it is right when it is able to stimulate an emotion.
We do not produce necessary items. The world of design at a certain level does not resolve the issue of just sitting down. It solves in a broader way the satisfaction from an emotional point of view also of other senses in relation to the beauty, the quality of the material, the finishes. Or it needs to stimulate something personal, intimate and obviously in this area it can arouse different effects in different people. And then there is the more socially representative aspect, the object that becomes a status symbol».
How does Driade fit into the current reality: have you come out of the pandemic, entered a climate of war, in a world that changes very quickly? What is the number with which he wants to distinguish himself from the others?
«There is a very wide and varied offer and very different positionings that follow a trend. In Driade's DNA there is rather the provocation. We offer a different object: always with respect for quality, beauty and innovation, but certainly with that aesthetic aspect that is recognizable as belonging to a brand with those codes capable of stimulating emotions».
So we can say that a merely "strange" object gets lost along the way, while if an object carries with it a deeper elaboration it becomes an icon. In the story of Dryad there are a great many examples. Let's mention one, as a symbol.
«It is truly impressive how in our catalog there are still bestsellers born in the 80s. The Costes chair was designed by Philippe Stark for the café of the same name a Les Halle in Paris: a project born out of a necessity – to furnish that bar – which then became an icon of Driade. Of course, you don't know beforehand. You can't say to the artistic director: make me an icon. I don't know if an object will become an icon, but I know how to recognize an object that an icon can never become. Because it lacks codes that express the brand's personality».
According to many observers, the very way of living and thinking about the home is changing, also in light of the development of smart working accentuated by the pandemic: what is your opinion?
«The public has changed the way of thinking about houses: we have gone from dormitory houses to houses to be lived in both as a personal refuge and as a place of work, with an average of 3,5 days a week, against 2,6 before -Covid. And so now he wants to surround himself with functional and pleasant things».
Doctor Pozzo, how long have you been driving Driade, how did you find it upon your arrival and what impression do you want to give to the brand? What will be the addresses of the Maison?
«I've been with Driade for just over a year, after working for Alessi and Ermenegildo Zegna. Surely in Driade I want to go back to that strong personality that was imprinted by the founder Enrico Astori with his wife and sister in the late 60s, to their very eclectic and playful approach. A brand that values its past by reinterpreting it for the current era allows it to go further towards its future. All the more if, like Driade, you have such an important historical heritage. In our spaces in Corsico we exhibited our products from the 60s-70s-80s that had been in the catalog in those years or that for some reason had never even come out. My goal is to be able to reinterpret - thanks also to technologies and innovations - the substance in a modern language to be communicated to an audience that probably doesn't even know it. The second trend will certainly be that of new products. Fabio Novembre, our creative director, helps us interpret the projects that are interesting for our brand and has the technical skills to evaluate them and bring them forward in the design.
One of the first projects we will propose will be a work desk to be used at home – precisely because of its new function as a workplace – inspired by old school desks, with the possibility of making everything inside disappear. Finally, in Driade's future there is openness to external stimuli. On the one hand to young people, just as the architect Astori had done with Philip Stark, on the other to collaborations and contaminations with different worlds».
Precisely on the occasion of the Design week at the Triennale in Milan, you gave an example of this contamination with the participation of four talents from different backgrounds. Will you continue this trend?
"Yes of course. In the temple of design represented by Triennale di Milano, Driade, faithful to the design of the aesthetic laboratory, has called four excellences in their respective reference sectors, integrating them into its world. The fashion designer Marcelo Burlon designed Edaird, a mirror with a tribal flavor between Argentinian land and sky. The trapper Sphere Ebbasta has customized Cocky, a chaise longue with wings, feathers and claws. The PiùDiUno tapestry, a synthesis between street art and weaving, was designed by Omar Hassan |. And finally, for the inspiration of the gaming world, the content creator pow3r designed the Arcad3 pouf. Experimentation, exploration of different worlds, attention to other languages and cultures from which to draw ideas and new energies, are part of the Dryad DNA and it is what allows the brand, which has passed 50 years of life, to innovate continuously while always remaining faithful to itself».
What is the structure of Driade? Who do you work with?
“Dryad, together with Fontana Arte e valcucine, belongs to Italian Creation Group chaired by John Perissinotto, [former number one of Generali, ed]. For the realization of our projects we rely on a network of about 50 companies, from the more structured ones with 30-40 employees, to craft workshops with even 4-5 employees».
A recent study by the Mediobanca Research Department has estimated an increase in the turnover of medium-sized Italian companies in the furniture system of 25% for 2021 and at least 8,5% in 2022 also thanks to the advantages that will derive from the PNRR, while one study of the Monitor Altagamma Bain you argued that Italian luxury design was one of the sectors that recovered fastest after the pandemic and that it has good growth prospects ahead of it for the next five years: do you recognize yourself in this assessment?
«Before the pandemic, the sector's average annual growth (+4%) was more moderate than in other high-end sectors. In 2020 the contraction (-6%) was less than in other luxury sectors, and in 2021 the recovery was more decisive: +7% for a market value of around 40 billion: among the best performing luxury segments. Driade is a small company and we performed better than the sector. In the coming years, the entire sector is expected to accelerate compared to its historical growth path: a growth of 5-7% per year, for an expected value of around 50-60 billion by 2026".
For a historic brand like Driade, how much does the rarefaction of the Chinese market weigh?
«The Chinese market is growing strongly, despite the fact that it is currently in lockdown again. With the middle class growing, many are educated and experience the home differently. We have opened stores in Shanghai, Foshan and Shenzen and we have identified a reference local partner».
