Renowned Italian high-end furniture brand Molteni&C has set its sights on Qatar as the strategic hub for its Middle East operations, inaugurating its first-ever store in the region at Msheireb Downtown Doha.Speaking to Gulf Times on the occasion, Molteni&C CEO Marco Piscitelli highlighted Qatar’s importance in the brand’s expansion strategy, saying: "We found Qatar to be the right place to be our hub in the Middle East region... we want to be close to the market, close to our clients".He underlined the alignment between Molteni&C’s ethos and the blend of tradition and innovation embodied by Msheireb. The destination, he pointed out, in a sense, mirrors the essence of their brand, as it captures both the historical core and the burgeoning innovative spirit of the city, while also infusing a touch of design into its fabric.Tracing back to the company’s founding in the 1930s, the CEO pointed out that maintaining balance between heritage and the sense of responsibility for their identity is not a simple task.However, he said that their drive lies in perpetual innovation, seeking fresh solutions not solely on a technical level but also in enhancing the aesthetic appeal of their creations."In the 1930s, the founder of the company decided to go through this longer process of evolution of innovation, which brought us to the design, to the modern furniture, but always keeping in mind from where we started."It's not easy to keep the balance between the two, these two topics like the heritage and also the responsibility we feel for what we are, what wear, but again the push is to continuously innovate in finding new solution, not only technical solution, it is more related to the beauty of the things we do," Piscitelli said.He added that collaboration with globally acclaimed architects and designers plays a key role to Molteni&C's creative process, noting they take the inspiration from the designers."We elaborate the inspiration and we finalise them into a product. This approach culminates in a comprehensive lifestyle concept rather than individual products," the CEO said. "This collaboration among all of these guys, together with our creative director, generate the final result."Regarding the company's expansion, Piscitelli stressed the direct involvement in the Qatari market, avoiding the traditional dealer model. He said: "We are here directly not with a dealer... we have chosen Qatar to establish our company here in Doha because we feel it’s the right size to start a company."According to Piscitelli, Molteni&C has many subsidiaries in the world – from the US to Australia – but decided to come to Qatar due to its huge potential in terms of human resources: the local populace’s inclination towards design."There is a good ground, the grass is green here, so it's not over busy, it's not crowded and so we have space enough to develop our human resources and then we also think there’s a potential in terms of business: the potential of having a local business is to be found in qualified local human resources through which we deliver our service, mainly hospitality, residences and VIP villas, with quality and expertise." he said.In addressing the market in Qatar, Piscitelli puts a spotlight on Molteni&C’s consistent style, parallel to renowned fashion brands, saying: "Wherever we go, we bring our style, we think that we are quite good enough in bringing design using the right proportion between the materials, the colours, which is quite crossing all the tastes."In general, we like to bring our essence, our style, and we like to do it in a coherent way so we don't change them much. We hope we are able to do it even here in Qatar, but I mean, we started here in 2016 so this is an evolution of our presence here but I think we now know enough about Qatar," he added.With influential designers like Vincent Van Duysen, Jean Nouvel, Foster + Partners, Gio Ponti, Aldo Rossi, Rodolfo Dordoni, Yabu Pushelberg in the collection, he said ensuring a cohesive representation in the flagship store is a delicate task.He credited their art director, Vincent Van Duysen, for bridging these creative forces, noting that Vincent has been instrumental in shaping the image the company projects and a key player in harmonising his unique design perspective at Molteni&C with the diverse contributions from other designers.Lauding Qatar's growing sensitivity towards design, Piscitelli cited their involvement in monumental projects such as the Qatar National Library with Rem Koolhaas, furnished by UniFor, the National Museum of Qatar with renowned architects and designers such as Jean Nouvel, and recent ventures like the Qatar Airways lounge and the Oryx Tower.He stressed that the opening of Molteni&C’s Flagship Store in Doha marks a significant milestone for the company and solidifies Qatar's position as a burgeoning design hub in the Middle East.
October 16, 2023 | 10:30 PM