The brand's deputy director Alberto Perazza visited Signum Living Store in Macau recently and sat down for a chat with CLOSER
When it comes to designer furniture pieces by names like Tom Dixon, Konstantin Grcic and Philippe Starck, sceptics may argue that a chair is just a chair. However, Italian brand Magis has been trying to show the opposite by working with these names and other designers since the 1970s, reinventing the relationship between people and furniture. Now, for the first time, the company has a partner in Macau: Signum Living Store.
"I come to Asia regularly, at least once a year, sometimes more, and Hong Kong is one of my regular stops. This is my second time in Macau. The first time was eight years ago, but Signum was not here, and there was no business for Magis”, the brand deputy director, Alberto Perazza, says.
The son of Eugenio Perazza, the founder of Magis, Alberto is increasingly investing in Asia, particularly in China and Japan. In Hong Kong, Magis is represented in more than six stores and "business is increasing". In Macau, cooperation starts now.
“I am very pleased with this partnership with Signum. In Mainland China we are in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou. The business is extending to other cities”, he explains. Perazza expects China “will be important” in the future of the Italian house.
“I see that business is growing and there is still great potential. China has slowed slightly, but continues to have one of the fastest growing economies in the world. What I notice is that they are starting to enjoy what we do and our designs. I think it will be a good market for us.”
While acknowledging the differences between Chinese houses and western houses, the numbers show the universal appeal of the furniture that Magis creates: “We notice that what we sell well in Europe, we also sell here in Asia.
Constant innovation
Magis’ more expensive signature pieces are noteworthy in two aspects: the technology and the materials used.
“We believe that innovation comes through the very use of these technologies and materials. Ideas for our products begin internally and then we commission them to designers, it’s a cooperative effort. We are very involved with the way we build our products”, Perazza says.
The designers he works with “are very different from each other, they see things differently, but there is something that unites them all – the language and style of Magis, which is to build in a minimalist way”.
“People may or may not like our products, but I think today people admit that there is a story behind each piece,” he notes.
Perazza admits that “today there is no need to make another chair or another table, there are so many around the world”. Magis therefore follows the path of “doing something new only if there is something to tell”.
“And this can be done by bringing existing technology from other areas to furniture. This is what distinguishes Magis.”
A good example is Chair One, one of the most internationally sold Magis products. The aluminium chair, designed by Konstantin Grcic, looks more like a sculptural piece and resembles the shape of a football.
Another is the outdoor Air Chair, designed by Jasper Morrison in 2000, which is still very popular in the market, as well as the ecological Zartan chair, by Philippe Starck.
The importance of price
Magis has 45 employees but no factory.
“We like to say that we are ‘factory free’. We make the moulds to produce our products, but they are all delivered to different factories, with expertise in different areas. This allows us to go in different directions and experiment”, Perazza says.
This way of working should not adversely affect the price of products, Perazza argues; customers should not pay for the design. But what makes a piece of designer furniture different from something from IKEA?
“We don’t want to convince anyone to buy a designer chair and you should not pay more for a designer chair. We never include the design price in the product price”, he argues. Buying a signature chair is to “feel it fits in the environment, in the way someone sees their office or home”.
These days, Alberto spends much of his time travelling and has managed to establish Magis in markets in the US, Canada, South Korea and Indonesia, among others. Lusophone countries, such as Portugal and Brazil, are also important partners being considered. Even so, the number one destination, even above the domestic market, is France.
Comfort and durability are no longer priorities in Magis products, they are mandatory.
“We’re not selling this, it just has to be there.
These objects have a presence in spaces. When they are not there, we feel their absence. They are timeless objects. At Magis we don’t want to make an object for a season, we don’t make fashion. We are not an industrial design company and when we make things we want them to last.” Even if it’s just a chair.
