Design of luxury plastic furniture by Stefano Giovannoni

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Stefano Giovannoni has been a leading figure in Italian design since the 1980s. After graduating from the University of Florence, he co-founded the design studio King-Kong with architect Guido Venturini and helped create a number of now-iconic home items. Best known for his playful work for Alessi, first with King-Kong and then as an independent designer, he created cartoonish objects that functioned as everything from toothpick holders to salt and pepper shakers, egg cups and fruit bowls. In 2001, Alberto Alessi called Giovannoni “the king of super pop.” Although his oeuvre also includes some discreet, utilitarian pieces, from door handles to chairs, it’s this collection of toy-like home items that still captivates today. “I like to create objects that are full of emotion, that have a strong language that allows them to communicate with the widest possible audience in a very intelligent way,” says Giovannoni. Now he’s working to reach that audience by returning to his roots in industrial design with a new collection that will debut at the Milan International Furniture Fair in April. “For a long time, I wanted to apply my creative experience to my own business,” he explains. “I think design companies need to completely rethink their strategies. My goal has always been to deliver products directly to consumers, without the compromises that are common in companies.” Last September, Giovannoni teamed up with a Hong Kong investor to launch Qeeboo, a brand offering plastic furniture at affordable prices. Available exclusively on the company’s website and international online platforms, Qeeboo’s first collection includes 25 injection-molded pieces from a group of renowned designers. Among them is Slovenian designer Nika Zupanc, whose playfully feminine pieces are usually only seen in ultra-precious editions, marking her first foray into accessible industrial design. Italian architect Andrea Branzi’s conceptual organic forms are reimagined through a Rotational Molding process. Meanwhile, Dutch designer Richard Hatten uses mathematical formulas to create a variety of lamps with beautiful shapes and scientific principles. Swedish design studio Front continues its exploration of curves and intersecting lines with the sleek Loop chair, while Gabriele Chiave, creative director of Marcel Wanders, presents a capsule collection that combines colorful geometric prints with modern, classic silhouettes. Giovannoni, who designed some of the pieces himself, continues to create primarily functional home seating, as well as more emblematic, whimsical pieces. Even if the designers’ backgrounds and contributions to the collections vary greatly, the Qeeboo collection has a common creative thread. The team was chosen for their long-standing friendship and mutual admiration for one another, but Giovannoni explains that they are all united by “their ability to convey emotional value, defining their work through narrative poetry based on iconic forms.” Born from an open commission (“We could make whatever we wanted, as long as it was in plastic,” says Hatten), the pieces reflect not only Giovannoni’s playful vision, but also each designer’s style. Of all the pieces in the collection, however, it’s Zupanc’s work that perhaps best embodies Giovannoni’s mission for Qeeboo. In addition to the new daisy-shaped lamp, three of Zupanc’s existing projects have been reimagined: her “X” chair for Moooi, originally upholstered in a rose-print fabric, is now available in new color-blocked versions, while her “Ribbon” chair for the Dior installation – a piece she designed for the house in 2013 – has been revived in three different shades of plastic. Finally, Giovannoni has also adapted the Cherry lamp she designed that same year. Originally a combination of hand-blown glass and brass, the lamp is now available in a new production-line version. “This way of thinking is new for me – to give life to an iconic, minimalist object, without the high price, while maintaining quality,” explains Zupanc. “Perhaps this is the adventure the design world needs,” adds Branzi. Although his work is often more organic and research-based, the architect admits that he enjoys the challenge of creating these new plastic objects. “There is something stagnant about design; it is always very elegant, very functional, but also a little cold,” he adds. “This project seems to evade these concepts.” Giovannoni’s entrepreneurial project is an innovative model for trying new things in production and distribution, aimed at realizing a dream deferred. “The lightweight structure of the company and the possibility of skipping the (traditional) distribution process allow us to achieve the democratic ideal that has always been the goal of industrial design,” says Giovannoni. The company will outsource logistics and warehousing and focus on design and production. Thanks to an investment of more than 1 million euros, Giovannoni and his partners were able to acquire a new generation of equipment, including injection molding and rotational molding equipment, as well as tools for creating more refined finishes. The products will be manufactured in Italy and China using different production processes. “Original ideas are often a challenge for accessible design,” says Hatten, noting that Giovannoni hopes to revolutionize the concept of low-cost design (the chair sells for around €50) with this new system. Giovannoni brought a thoughtful management strategy and the playful choreography of a creative director to the project. At its core was a romantic vision of design that was both democratic and iconoclastic. “For me, that’s what industrial design is,” he explains, “popular objects, not bourgeois objects, that convey creative dreams and find their place in homes in a creative way.” Originally published in Wallpaper*’s April 2016 issue (W*206)
Pictured clockwise from top left: Superform lamp, Pitagora lamp, both designed by Richard Hatten. Daisy lamp, designed by Nika Zupanc. BB table, designed by Marcel Wanders. Guru lamp, designed by Andrea Branzi.
Left: Black Cherry lamp by Nika Zupanc. Right: Rabbit chair by Stefano Giovannoni.

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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy and now lives in London. Since 2014 she has been Design Editor at Wallpaper*, overseeing design content for both print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. During her time at Wallpaper* she has written extensively, covering all areas of design. Rosa has been a speaker and presenter at various design talks and conferences, including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, Italian Cultural Centre (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design Award, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has also been a jury member for the Chart Architecture Prize, Dutch Design Award and Design Guild Mark Award. She has written for numerous English and Italian publications and works as a content and communications consultant for fashion and design brands.
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