New Italian design brand Vero launched earlier this month with the promise to become a bridge between “mass distribution and niche design.” Founded by Pasquale Apollonio (of Level Project) with creative direction by architects Simona Flacco and Riccardo Crenna (of Simple Flair and Riviera Creative Space respectively), the company drops curated and ready-to-order product collections that focus on raw materials, availability and, of course, aesthetics. Striving for informality and transparency with every output, Vero works with a roster of international designers to reinterpret everyday objects into avant-garde pieces that transform private urban settings into contemporary environments.
Meaning “true” in Italian, Vero emphasizes individuality as well as quality Italian craftsmanship, with the pieces being manufactured using centenary artisan techniques, a network of local suppliers and specialized workshops at its Puglia production site.
If its first product drop is indicative of what’s to come, Vero is an exciting new kid on the block and seems more than able to keep its promise of delivering covetable yet accessible furniture and objects that champion high-end Italian design while reimagining living spaces into personal galleries.
Multidisciplinary Milanese design studio CARA \ DAVIDE (a creative collaboration between Cara Judd from South Africa and Davide Gramatica from Italy) contributed two pieces to Vero’s inaugural collection — a stool (shown) and a bookcase that share uncommonly pronounced edges. To achieve this effect, the duo rotated the vertical elements 45 degrees, exposing an often-concealed feature and turning a common object into something a little more peculiar.
While hinting at a familiar form, Stockholm-based Fredrik Paulsen’s eye-catching chair is the result of the designer manipulating an existing design and exaggerating its structural elements. The ensuing throwback 1930s vibe was then given a “flair of absurdity” by spray-painting the solid iron rod chair a vivid pearl violet using a technique from the automotive industry.
London designer Marco Campardo’s seemingly simple table and stool were influenced by cross-laminated timber building materials. The furniture pieces are composed of multiple layers of solid lumber glued together to form a substantial volume, which is then cut on a 45-degree angle. The resulting effect is an optical illusion: from the front, they appear to have a square elevation but, from above, the diagonal arrangement of the planks reveal the carefully crafted and complex production process.
To create the segmented and fluidly shaped frame for her mirror, Milan-based Romanian industrial designer Federica Elmo used materials salvaged from the production process. Expressing a “hybridization of materials,” the six components that make up the frame give it a “semi-robotic” feel that contrasts with the organic silhouette. Lacquered in a deep red, the modules are reflected in the mirror’s surface multiple times over for an interesting play of architectural forms.
Recalling iconic shapes from modernist Italian design, the magazine rack by Milan studio a617 is intended to have both a spatial and functional presence. The hybrid piece — part furniture and part home accessory — is matte lacquered in a stunning lime green that enhances its character. Mounted on wheels, the storage unit “behaves” like an animated object that can be moved to wherever needed or, simply, wanted.
Bogota designer Natalia Criado was inspired by the Italian word for wave — onda — when devising her sinuous tray, whose irregular shape also reflects Criado’s research into brutalist details, geometric shapes and pre-Columbian drawings. Made from medium-density wood fibre, matte lacquered in signal blue and with Bakelite sphere handles in bright red-orange, the companion accessory alters the perception of tablescapes.
The new made-in-Italy furniture brand aims to make the everyday avant-garde.