Three European Interior Design Brands’ Trip to China

A sense of fashion and design has become the “essentials” for modern Chinese customers towards home products. The “renewal” of interior design is unfolding in the Chinese market.

According to the export planning data and forecast released by Homi, who host the exhibition of Italian home and consuming products, the export of the Italian home and living industry increased by around 12 million euros compared to that of 2019, which was mainly driven by the Chinese market.

In this article, Luxe.CO explored three featured interior design brands that have started their market expansion in China. They are Gufram, SELETTI and LIAIGRE.

Gufram

The Italian design brand Gufram set up its first store, the Gufram Gallery, in China at the Taikoo Li shopping mall in Sanlitun, Beijing. It was introduced by GDD and opened in November 2021. The brand called it “a surrealistic landmark that has blended in with the historic sense and modernism of the Radical Design Movement.”

Gufram Gallery blended in the Italian porched square design element, used bright colors, and presented sculpture-like furniture, which together created a surreal setting. The store will changes its internal decoration and exhibits every three months. Representative works were presented at the time of its opening, including the PRATONE lounge chair and Cactus hat stand.

The style of Gufram carried the avant-garde spirit of Italy’s Radical Design in the 1960s. Charley Vezza, the brand’s global Creative Director expressed: “The close connection with the Chinese market brings a brand-new perspective in understanding this question of what role does Radical Design play in this era.”

Prior to the completion of the first physical store, the brand has officially set up its WeChat platform and released its limited series, i.e., Broken Series Pink Edition and Guframini® Pink Edition.

SELETTI

The Italian trendy design brand SELETTI opened its first Chinese flagship store at the Columbia Circle, Changning District, Shanghai on 18 September 2021.

The brand’s Creative Director Stefano Seletti lays much emphasis on improving the aesthetic and entertaining values of daily products and proposes that “Revolution is the only Solution.”

This Shanghai store was designed by the architecture studio BBMDS. The internal space was divided into three modules, presenting multiple series. At the same time, on the Mini Programs of its official WeChat, SELETTI has created five “other dimensions”.

SELETTI has a long history with China. The founder of SELETTI, Romano Seletti, also Stefono’s father, traveled to China in the 1970s and brought lots of ceramic products back to Italy. Stefano has already traveled around China at the age of 17 and now he still visits China frequently. Chinese elements are usually seen in his designs and are sometimes blended with western elements.

In 2012, Lane Crawford brought SELETTI into Hong Kong, China. In August 2019, SELETTI opened its first pop-up store in INDIGO, Beijing.

LIAIGRE

The French high-end interior design brand LIAIGRE opened its showroom in Beijing on 8 November 2021. It is located at North Shatan Street, Dongcheng District. LIAIGRE commented on this store, saying “A new secret place of luxury & lifestyle in BEIJING.”

LIAIGRE has always been continuing its concept of “interpreting what’s complex with simplicity”, creating more simplistic and pragmatic designs and using more natural materials. Christian Liaigre, the founder himself is famous for modern naturalism designs. His hotel designs were favored by many celebrities. His clientele included the founder of Edition hotel Ian Schrager, the late German designer Karl Lagerfeld and American designer Calvin Klein, etc.

In 1987, LIAIGRE opened its first showroom in Paris and later on spread across worldwide. In November 2019, LIAIGRE for the first time has set up its showroom in China and located it in Shanghai. That was the brand’s 30^th showroom in the world, and the 4^th in Asia. The first three were located in Bangkok, Singapore, and Seoul respectively.

The brand’s CEO Christophe Caillaud expressed: “If we don’t see China as a destination for brand development, then there is no necessity to worry about international development.”

| Photo Credit: Gufram, SELETTI and LIAIGRE

| Writer: Jingjin Jiang