Molteni&C, the magnificent Italian art of quality savoir-faire
The history of Molteni&C spans the whole of the last century and tells of a great Company that, step by step, has been able to establish itself in markets all over the world as a synonym for quality, refined details and craftsmanship capable of measuring itself against all the changes of the era and, on occasion, even anticipating them. Molteni&C has been a representation of quality living for more than three generations in an environment where Italian craftsmanship and quality savoir-faire have been joined by inexorable technological progress that looks fearlessly to the future. And it is thanks to this sentiment that Molteni&C has established itself in the Italian and international market with products that have anticipated epochs: such as the ‘Cassettone’ the first prototype of modern furniture or the bookcases that were ahead of their time. But that’s not all: one of the most important, and successful, insights was the challenge of the first Salone del Mobile in Milan in 1961. The rest is history.
And it is a story that continues with geographic and conceptual expansion: the brand’s presence in more than 80 countries is complemented by designs and supplies for the two embassies in Saudi Arabia and large hotels in Egypt. Molteni&C rightfully enters the Olympus of the Contract Division, becoming the undisputed leader of large turnkey projects thanks to its collaboration with internationally renowned designers. It is a path with a double vision: on the one hand, production is standardized while on the other, attention to customization, to detail, is never lost.
These are intentions that are reflected in Molteni furniture proposals such as Gliss Master, the perfect system of custom-made closets with extreme elegance almost reminiscent of its contents. A modular door system that adapts to any customization, offering different details for different stories.
Gio Ponti’s D.153.1 armchair is a re-edition of the original 1953 model created by the celebrated master who needs no introduction and demonstrates how even a unique object when treated under the lens of detail, refinement and care can be the star of timeless collections.
Gliss Master, a perfect ecosystem of custom cabinets
Gliss Master is Vincent Van Duysen’s modern walk-in wardrobe concept that stands as one of Molteni furniture’s most sought-after and sophisticated designs. Gliss Master is a custom-made closet that can become a fully equipped walk-in closet in the version available without doors. Compartments can be modulated into customized solutions that meet the needs of the user. This reveals mid-air suspended drawer units, pull-out trays, shoe shelves but also some storage and shirt racks, and the various drawers can be equipped with dividers to diversify their use. The range of accessories is designed to create a perfect system to hold all the details: the tie and jewelry holders are made of gray and ruby eco-skin, and the LED lighting ensures perfect light in every corner of the structure.
Gliss Master, as in the short film Solletico produced to publicize it, becomes a fantastic and imagined elsewhere, a metaphorical closet of a magic box without boundaries, without partitions and with doors that rotate 180 degrees, in a game where one glimpses such spacious interiors in which it is even possible to walk around giving free rein to the imagination.
A pattern to be composed and worn every day.
Gio Ponti master for Molteni&C with the famous D.153.1
The armchair designed by Gio Ponti in 1953 for his Milanese home on Via Dezza is a symbol that Molteni&C decided to reissue on the occasion of the 2012 Milan Furniture Fair in the Gio Ponti Collection, which has become, in a short time, by Molteni mobili, an example of reinterpretation of a classic without losing the foundations that make it timeless.
The frame of the armchair is made of satin-finished brass that is upholstered in either two-tone leather or Rubelli’s “Punteggiato” fabric, designed directly by the master Ponti in 1934, which repurposes the velvet technique while being inspired by more contemporary patterns and visions such as, for example, staggered stamps in gradations of color. The frame, on the other hand, is made of solid fir wood with elastic straps with a polyurethane padding; the lining is made of bonded velvet, and the legs are made of heat-sealed steel.
The D.153.1 armchair is then a unique design piece that can enrich the interior of a fairy-tale home in Los Angeles nestled in a classic American postcard landscape.
It is the strength of Made in Italy that manages to create, where it is, a perfect atmosphere.
