Salone del Mobile 2019: the new old life of InternoItaliano

n the world of brands which merge to become groups, a new chapter has been written with the acquisition of InternoItaliano by MyHome Collection (Alivar Group). The news is recent, announced in February, and it took many by surprise. The history of this project, set up in 2012 and which brought together designers and artisan workshops (ceramists, carpenters, glass-blowers) under the guidance of Giulio Iacchetti and Silvia Cortese, seemed so particular and intrinsically connected to that of the Milanese studio as to not be able to fall into that classic business dynamic which has led to the loss of identity and originality for so many Italian brands.

The reassurances have come from the designer himself, who we joined in the stand set up inside the larger MyHome stand, where objects from the past are presented alongside the brand-new designs by InternoItaliano created under the art direction of Iacchetti, who with this move has assumed the same role for the “parent” brand as well. Thus, this is no case of broken dreams of autonomy and staying true to an original vision, but rather a necessary step in consideration of how much importance the brand was assuming. “The first dream was to set up InternoItaliano together with Silvia seven years ago”, said Giulio. “Then there was the second dream, which came soon after; to lead it to grow until it became an interesting business prospect. Over the last few months we began looking for a partner because we had reached a stage where we were too big to handle alone. We had neither the mental or physical space, not the design and business capacity to go further. InternoItaliano was suffering because it had the potential to grow further, but we were unable to allow it to do so”.

The turning point came with a telephone call from Marco Gazziero, the owner of Alivar, who asked Iacchetti to handle the art direction of MyHome, a role which was too demanding, and which partially overlapped with the one he held for InternoItaliano. But relieved of the managerial aspect, Iacchetti’s studio is able to work on both fronts, differentiating its work. MyHome concentrates on contract projects, with a line of tables, chairs, armchairs and sofas, while InternoItaliano handles furnishings and design items with that attention to small details and the manufacturing quality which it has always been characterised by. “I am very happy because we are once again in a position to call on the work of young designers who are in line with our style”, he stresses.

There are various new projects: from the Buri chair by Mario Scairato, a tribute to Magistretti’s Carimate, which is in practice a chair made in the traditional Friuli style revisited with details such as the particular joining of the backrest slats and the clean lines. Another example is the Lodi luggage stand, a type of object which is necessary but neglected - an ideal companion to the Luna mirror-shelf by Davide Colaci - and the Ales deer-shaped coat stand (both designed by Iacchetti), “an object which is a little naive, but which I really like, because it turns those deer heads that classically hand on walls into functional objects”.

Then there is the project by a young student from Naba, Luca Vernieri, who designed the Palù clothes hanger, which ends with an umbrella handle, a simple and fun design feature. “This is a perfect example of the fact that when there is a good idea, the age of the person who had it is irrelevant”, he stresses. “One needs to be open to little ideas, to those steps ahead which we are very fond of”. Such as the Pinocchi, the vases that Nason Moretti has made in a range of colours and with a white nose exclusively for InternoItaliano, objects which embody the essence of Italy, symbolism, playfulness and manufacturing quality. “As I see it, art direction is not about occupying all roles, but about leading. It is about maturity, like when an actor naturally comes to the point when they begin to direct, while still continuing to act. This condition provides you with new energy, because when designs, ideas and proposals come in, one works on defining how to bring all the pieces together and concentrates on making as few mistakes as possible”.