The World of Zanotta: Q&A with President Giuliano Mosconi
"The [Chinese] market is ready for Zanotta."
Zanotta – Dove
Widely dubbed as “The City of Miracles”, Shenzhen has achieved significant economic success over the years, advancing from a capital of manufacturers to one of the largest consumption cities in China. It is now one of the key driving forces in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), gathering the most active young design talents. Every element in the city is full of vitality; every individual has an exciting backstory.
In celebration of Shenzhen’s 42nd anniversary as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2022, the city’s nationally leading furniture exhibition Shenzhen Creative Week (SZCW) will usher in its 37th annual event in March along with Design Dome, the core highlight of SZCW since its founding in 2010. While sharing SZCW’s 320,000 square meter area and its flow of 280,000 professional visitors, Design Dome now runs on its own as a parallel event that links global furniture brands with the Chinese design industry.
Raising a theme that integrates contemporary design and lifestyle, Design Dome strives to become the most influential design event in the GBA.
Zanotta – Dove
Widely dubbed as “The City of Miracles”, Shenzhen has achieved significant economic success over the years, advancing from a capital of manufacturers to one of the largest consumption cities in China.
It is now one of the key driving forces in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), gathering the most active young design talents. Every element in the city is full of vitality; every individual has an exciting backstory.
As a design fair that focuses on international design and high-end lifestyle, Design Dome 2022 will also include creative materials, intelligent manufacturing, innovative technology, and other application solutions in addition to modern furniture, lighting, and contemporary kitchen & bathroom. Serving as a creative platform for brands and designers across the globe, Design Dome connects the world’s best architects, designers, and buyers, making it an excellent stage for international brands.
After the success of the exhibition in 2021, Zanotta, the leading brand in the field of Italian furniture design, has decided to attend Design Dome in 2022.
In celebration of Shenzhen’s 42nd anniversary as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in 2022, the city’s nationally leading furniture exhibition Shenzhen Creative Week (SZCW) will usher in its 37th annual event in March along with Design Dome, the core highlight of SZCW since its founding in 2010. While sharing SZCW’s 320,000 square meter area and its flow of 280,000 professional visitors, Design Dome now runs on its own as a parallel event that links global furniture brands with the Chinese design industry.
Raising a theme that integrates contemporary design and lifestyle, Design Dome strives to become the most influential design event in the GBA.
As a design fair that focuses on international design and high-end lifestyle, Design Dome 2022 will also include creative materials, intelligent manufacturing, innovative technology, and other application solutions in addition to modern furniture, lighting, and contemporary kitchen & bathroom. Serving as a creative platform for brands and designers across the globe, Design Dome connects the world’s best architects, designers, and buyers, making it an excellent stage for international brands.
After the success of the exhibition in 2021, Zanotta, the leading brand in the field of Italian furniture design, has decided to attend Design Dome in 2022.
Founded in 1954, Zanotta is famous for its creative and innovative design. The brand has been in the Chinese market for many years, albeit spending the first few testing the waters. After becoming keenly aware of the recent increase in consumers who appreciate and would pay for good design, Zanotta decided to enter the market systematically. Today, no longer settling for being recognized for the hundreds of famous design items in permanent collections of over 50 renowned museums around the world, Zanotta is ready to reveal how its comprehensive product range meets the needs of interior design.
In its 67 years, besides leaving an imprint in the history of furniture design through its unconventionality, Zanotta continuously overturns the design industry through collaboration with hundreds of well-known designers worldwide. From the first incorporation of molded plywood in sofa production in the 1960s, the first mass-produced inflatable chair Blow in 1967, and the worldwide launch of Sacco—the first landmark sofa—in 1968, to introducing flexible polyurethane foam to the furniture industry and producing the first stainless steel tubular furniture model, Zanotta has continued to prove its historical position and value in the field of furniture and leaves no doubt.
As one of the most prestigious brands in Italy, Zanotta perfectly explains how good design pursues uniqueness and opts to lead instead of catering blindly to trends, as well as how personalized products can be used to cater to consumers’ varying needs.
In the face of China’s huge home consumption market and fierce market competition, what made Zanotta choose to participate in Design Dome? What are the plans for Zanotta’s marketing strategy in China? How attractive is the Greater Bay Area market to international brands? Interni Design Times interviewed the brand’s President, Giuliano Mosconi, for a behind the scene look at Zanotta’s business operations in the Chinese market.
“Zanotta is not merely a lifestyle brand, but a brand with which it is possible to create any lifestyle by using timeless pieces that will always retain value.”
As a trendsetter in Italian designs, when did Zanotta officially enter China, and from your perspective, how has the Chinese market evolved over the years? What would you say are the characteristics that set it apart from other countries?
Zanotta has been present in the Chinese market for quite some years, but not in a very structured way. Until 5 years ago when we understood the market was ready for Zanotta and we invested into creating the right distribution with the right partners. China is a market where the interest in true design and intrinsic values of the products is developing at a pace which is unmatched. This is a characteristic which really sets it apart and has been a strong driver for Zanotta’s growth in the market over the past years.
In the past years, Zanotta has participated in exhibitions in Shanghai and Beijing and is now expanding its focus to promote in Southern China. What made Zanotta choose to participate in the Design Dome Shenzhen in 2022? What are your expectations for this exhibition?
European companies, when they think of developing their brand in China, of course the first areas that come to mind is Beijing and Shanghai, but we realize that Southern China is just as important and a lot of very good design studios and designers are based in the Shenzhen Area. For Retail, Shanghai probably remains the most important area, but when it comes to creative application of products in projects and specifications Southern China is definitely high on the list. We think that with our stand at Design Dome we will be able to show architects and interior designers the values of Zanotta and how it can be used to create ambiances that are unrivaled when it comes to true design, historical values, and stories that exist around the product. The success of Zanotta has always been to create personal spaces that reflect the personality of those who live in it.
In these years of entering the Chinese market, what regions did Zanotta marketing plans focus on before, and what kind of market focus layout plan will follow? Can you share Zanotta’s development status and development plan in southern China market, especially in the “Shenzhen / Greater Bay Area” market?
We started by developing with the right retail partners in a number of strategic cities around China. Zanotta is an extremely well known brand worldwide since 1954, but in the Chinese market was still relatively unknown until a few years ago. By showing the quality through showrooms, and making sure our partners can express the extra values of the brand, we have developed very rapidly. In the Shenzhen Area we are opening with partners now, and we intend to reach out to studios as well and present the products.
The pandemic brought massive change to the global economy and people’s lives. Any new ideas or projects that were influenced, or perhaps inspired, by the changes during the past two years?
Yes, unfortunately the pandemic brought a lot of suffering for a lot of people, and of course health and happiness is much more important than anything business related. What we noticed during the pandemic is that people were experiencing their houses in a different way. Before the pandemic it was a place of “passage” for a lot of people, but during the pandemic it became a more personal place for a lot of people and they were looking to create a more intimate place by using products that made them feel good and bring comfort. This is also why we named the 2021 collection “Intimacy” because we set as an objective to come out with products that brought just that. The Chair “Nena” with the backrest designed to remind you of someone embracing you, The “Dove” sofa designed to resemble comfortable pillows on which to rest, and the bed “Ricordi” was designed around a childhood memory the designers had of drapes that hung out to dry in the sun which they put as an element in the headboard.
Please share your view of the Chinese market under the epidemic situation. What are your expectations for the Chinese market next year or in the next few years?
I think the Chinese market has held up quite well considering the situation, and I think this is testimony of the Chinese people looking to go forward all the time. We expect this to continue over the next years, and we will continue to share information on Zanotta with the market and hopefully continue to develop as well have over the past years.
Could you share your prediction on the current situation and trend regarding Shenzhen’s consumer market?
We feel that the Shenzhen area in terms of retail business will grow significantly, but more than retail we think that the importance of the design studios in the Area has the potential to grow even faster.
It is important for us to be able to communicate the values of Zanotta so that both the Retail market as well as the professional market understands the DNA of Zanotta and what sets us apart from other high end brands. Zanotta is not merely a lifestyle brand, but a brand with which it is possible to create any lifestyle by using timeless pieces that will always retain value.
Zanotta is going to be participating in Shenzhen’s Design Dome in March 2022. Could you give us a glimpse of what you’re bringing to the event—any specific theme or collection planned? What should the visitors expect to experience when they come to the Zanotta booth?
We will participate in the March fair with great enthusiasm and desire to present the distinctive features of our brand, our great history and our most representative products to the public. In the dedicated space we will present our idea of “home” and our vision of contemporary living, showing the ability of our collection to respond to the needs of consumers and professionals.
What are the brand’s new plans in China in 2022? Are there any new brand trends or new works and projects that can be shared with Chinese readers?
For 2022 we intend to increase our communication focus on the Sofas and Armchairs which is the most important part of our collection but when developing a market this risks to be overlooked since it is so much easier to talk about the historical iconic products we have in our catalogue. It is a priority to make sure that in China, just as in the rest of the world, Zanotta is appreciated for the complete collections and not just the pieces that are collected in museums. With our partners we have been able to do this very well when it comes to retail, but in the eyes of interior designers we feel we need to increase communication on the complete collection to avoid being overlooked when it comes to sofas.
We have also started to create more display spaces around the world where we want people to really experience Zanotta rather than just see a display. The newly opened Zanotta House in New York is a great example of this as well as Casa Zanotta in Milan, and the Zanotta Lab at our factory in Nova Milanese.