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THE ART OF LAUNCHING A BRAND ON THE CURRENT DESIGN MARKET

Starting a brand from scratch is the kind of challenge that gets our juices flowing. So when back in 2019, Robert Acouri offered Luca the position of creative director to an upcoming French design and lifestyle brand, the answer couldn’t have been other than “Yes”. At the beginning of 2020, La Manufacture debuted on the upscale market with a design collection, a fashion capsule and a boutique in Paris.

A BRAND WITH A SOUL

Creating a brand with soul means to consistently seek out the best, the most unique and most inspiring solutions. Our philosophy is to pair the beauty of handwork with industrial precision and a multicultural beating heart. Establishing a connection between creative minds from different backgrounds and combining their talents harmonically, represented our main core value for this project from the get-go.

 

2022 COLLECTION

In 2022 La Manufacture continues its journey orchestrated by art director Luca Nichetto. The catalogue created jointly by a group of multitalented artists comes together into a composition that honors the brand's ethos of melding French charisma, Italian savoir-faire and international creativity. Luca Nichetto, Emma Boomkamp, Todd Bracher, Front, Constance Guisset, Ana Moussinet, Nendo, Neri&Hu, Patrick Norguet, Elena Salmistraro, Marc Thorpe, Michael Young are the designers who conceived the latest design collection by La Manufacture.

As always, our Studio added to La Manufacture's repertoir with a new reiteration of the Luized modular sofa in the form of a intimate and curvy lounge chair. 

SITE-SPECIFIC EXHIBIT AT THE POLDI PEZZOLI MUSEUM

For the Milan Design Week 2022 we have curated 871 days, 50 products, 17 designers and 1 single color. La Manufacture’s journey over 871 days since the unveiling, led by the vision of Luca Nichetto, took on a new meaning displayed against the backdrop of 19^th- century frescoed palazzo Museo Poldi Pezzoli.

The firm’s 50 piece collection of objects by 17 internationally acclaimed designers engaged in a conversation with the surrounding space inside the historical palazzo creating visually enticing clashes and aesthetic assonances. Envisioning La Manufacture as a dynamic creative hub and construction site with a work in progress quality, we retraced its design evolution and ethos selecting a single orange nuance, drawn from men at work’s orange vests, for new iterations of the brand’s iconic pieces rendered for the show in the specially created zingy tone.

2021 COLLECTION

For the 2021 collection we brought together yet again a strong community of international designers: France’s Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, the Swedish design studio Front, Sebastian Herkner from Germany — for the second time —, Chinese duo Neri&Hu, the Swiss practice atelier oï, Marc Thorpe from the US and the Hong-Kong-based British designer Michael Young.

DESIGNS BY NICHETTO STUDIO

We took the Creative Direction challenge quite seriously, but we are above all other designers, so we consolidated our participation by designing, in addition to directing. Our products for 2021 collection were Alliè stools, Laison couch, Saint-Rémy seating sistem and Val outdoor chairs.

2020, THE DEBUT COLLECTION

For the debut collection we brought together a community of all star international designers: Oki Sato (founder of design studio Nendo), Ben Gorham (founder of Byredo), Patrick Norguet, Sebastian Herkner, Emma Boomkamp, Todd Bracher, Marco Dessí and Elena Salmistraro.

DESIGNS BY NICHETTO STUDIO

Our designs for the launch were a collection of six products: Luizet sofa, Melitea chair, Tima light, Soufflé mirror, Olindias stool, Pyrite bookshelf. The goal was to create items with strong individual personalities that were good team players in the brand’s pluricultural make-up.

DESIGN CATALOGUE

La Manufacture’s first design catalogue was art directed by Studio Blanco and shot with Spanish photographer Salva Lopez, inside Complesso Monte Amiata in Milan, a masterpiece by Italian architect Aldo Rossi.

FASHION COLLECTION BY LUCA NICHETTO

Leading the creative direction for La Manufacture has given us the opportunity to stretch the limits of our design practice. For SS21, we’ve released the first fashion collection under our art direction. A project bridging fashion and design, with a non seasonal and gender neutral approach.

A NATURAL HABITAT FOR THE COLLECTIONS

Our concept and main goal for the brand showroom was to build a methaphorical and physical shopfront for the brand. The plan consists of a U-shaped space that is functional and intuitive, so visitors can feel comfortable right away. The shop includes zones where visitors can feel at home, try on clothes, meet people, talk and enjoy a cup of coffee. A casual and friendly atmosphere where people can just be and enjoy the moment freely.