SPECIAL FEAURE
Wild inspiration talks by Charlotte Nicolin of Art for a Reason
The century old, high-end Italian furniture brand Poltrona Frau offers living solutions that meet the emotional and aspirational needs of a refined and elegant international clientele. Team TIHG spoke to Amit Pai, Country Head for Poltrona Frau India to know how the brand plans to stamp its authority in India Tell us more about Poltrona Frau and its history in Italy?
In 1912, Renzo Frau founded Poltrona Frau in Turin, Italy. From 1926 onward the brand was appointed as the supplier of furniture to the Italian royal family, the Savoia dynasty. Since then, Poltrona Frau has furnished the homes of numerous prominent people, grand hotels, the interiors of the Expo Turin 1928, and the lavish transatlantic Rex(ocean liner)-pride of the Italian Navy, among others. The brand consists of three divisions residential, interiors in motion and contract. While the residential division has been a part of Poltrona Frau since the beginning, the interiors in motion division was founded in 1984. Poltrona Frau creates interiors for trains, yachts, helicopters and airplanes and has collaborated with award winning airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Alitalia and Etihad Airways. Furthermore, the most prestigious projects of the contract division include
the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Jockey Club Innovation Tower in Hong Kong and the Macro Museum in Rome; and most recently the Jio World Centre (Dhirubhai Ambani International Convention & Exhibition Centre) in Mumbai.
How has Poltrona Frau’s journey in India been so far? What sets you apart?
India has been a long and fruitful journey for Poltrona Frau. Our foray in India dates back to 2009 and it was in the form of an equity joint venture with the TATA Group. We set up our first showroom in 2010 in Mumbai and subsequently in 2013 in New Delhi through the joint venture route. The significance of our brand and the credibility of the TATA Group
helped us establish our foot print. Poltrona Frau has expanded its presence to Surat, Pune and Hyderabad. Other cities like Indore, Bangaluru, Kolkata are under discussion. The brand also operates in neighbouring countries like Pakistan and Sri Lanka through dealer owned showrooms. Our USP lies in the fact that we are probably one of the only Italian furniture companies who have entered the market directly with our own investment and in a truly multinational way. This allows us to channelize our efforts and resources to manage multiple challenges and opportunities.
Being an established brand in the luxury/lifestyle industry, how did you reposition your brand keeping tough competition in mind?
Poltrona Frau has collaborated with over 200 leading global architects and designers, and is present in over 100 countries. Currently, the brand boasts of 14 flagship stores, 142 single brand stores and around 400 multi-brand stores globally. Through a constant innovation of tradition, the brand designs and produces luxury sofas, armchairs, beds, storage units, cabinets, chairs, tables, furnishing accessories and directional systems. Poltrona Frau offers tastefully furnished environments that reflect the personality of those that use them. The brand uses natural materials(leather, wood, marble, metal etc) without embellishments, in such a way that it enhances and emphasizes their quintessential qualities. These natural materials are made unique by finishes and technologically advanced processes that are specifically designed by the brand to make them proprietary design materials. The fact that eight out of our ten bestsellers are from our modern collection designed over the last ten years is testimony to the fact that innovation in design and trend has worked for us.
How do you see the Indian luxury market?
India is a very vast and widely spread out market for luxury goods. An Indian consumer is a very well read, well traveled and mature customer. Even in rural India, consumers are well aware and willing to invest on luxury brands and products of intrinsic value. A certain section of our buyers are from such rural segments. In general, most affluent and economically well to do people are our consumers. But surprisingly, also some farmers, young self employed millennials and also corporates.
Do you plan to tie-up with other e-commerce sites?
No, currently we sell through our own e-commerce site and only through Italy. We shall roll out the same for rest of the world in due course.
What are your expansion plans?
We are planning for showrooms in East India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and possibly one in Central India. In addition to this we are pursuing hospitality, auditorium and parliament seating projects in India. How do you see the future of retail in India shaping up in the coming years?
The Indian retail scenario has changed dramatically over the last decade. From a point in 2016 where Mumbai had only had three branded imported furniture showrooms, today in 2020 there are nine such showrooms and hence the visibility for brands and also choices for consumers have improved greatly. India has been witnessing growth all over the country.