Poltrona Frau is a furniture-maker founded in 1912 by
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
n-born Renzo Frau
in
Turin, Italy
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...
, headquartered since the early 1960s
in
Tolentino, Italy
Tolentino is a town and ''comune'' of about 19,000 inhabitants, in the province of Macerata in the Marche region of central Italy.
It is located in the middle of the valley of the Chienti.
History
Signs of the first inhabitants of this favor ...
and specializing in leather seating for interior and automotive applications.
The company name combines "Poltrona", the Italian word for armchair, and "Frau," the last name of its founder.
Noted for their exhaustive quality standards,
the company uses a 21-step leather tanning process (vs. industry standard ranging from 12-15 steps)
where the
full-grain leather is dyed through, so a surface scratch won’t reveal a lining underneath.
95% of the company's products are made by hand.
In 2004, Poltrona Frau acquired noted Italian furniture company Cappellini,
and the Poltrona Frau Group now includes brands Poltrona Frau, Cappellini, Cassina, Alias, Nemo Lighting, Ceramica Flaminia and Fish Design. In 2014, United States-based
Haworth Group purchased a controlling interest in Poltrona Frau.
As of early 2014, the company operates 70 brand stores in 65 countries.
Furniture
![Passenger Experience Week 2018, Hamburg (1X7A3826)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Passenger_Experience_Week_2018%2C_Hamburg_%281X7A3826%29.jpg)
Noted for their catalogue of iconic furniture designs, including the 1930 ''Vanity Fair'' armchair and the ''Dezza'' armchair designed by
Gio Ponti
Giovanni "Gio" Ponti ( ͡ʒo18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher.
During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more tha ...
in 1963,
Poltrona Frau seating was used for the
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...
in Los Angeles CA.
In 2006, the company marketed a
knock down version of its Viking chair at their
SoHo
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
, New York store, packing the pieces in a single easy-to-carry white gift box with an orange ribbon, requiring only the use of an included allen wrench to assemble the piece.
Beginning in 2011, the company marketed a $13,000 sofa designed by French architect and designer
Jean-Marie Massaud
Jean-Marie Massaud (born 1966 in Toulouse, France) is a French architect, inventor and designer. He was born in Toulouse, France in 1966.
Massuad graduated from the ''École Nationale Supérieur de Création Industrielle - Les Ateliers, Paris'' ...
— called the ''John-John'' sofa, in tribute to
John F. Kennedy, Jr. — followed in 2012 by the John-John bed.
In 2013, the company designed and manufactured 600 seats for the
Arena Corinthians
Neo Química Arena, previously known as Arena Corinthians, is a sports stadium located in São Paulo, Brazil, owned, operated and used by Corinthians. It has a seating capacity of , making it the fifth-largest stadium used by teams in the t ...
in
São Paulo, Brazil
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S ...
, the first time the company produced seats for a football stadium.
Transportation seating
![Poltrona_frau,_modello_177,_1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Poltrona_frau%2C_modello_177%2C_1915.jpg)
In addition to designing seating for yachts, airplanes and helicopters,
Poltrona Frau has designed leather interiors for automobiles since 1986, when Lancia asked the company to design and manufacture interiors for their new version 8.32
Thema model. Poltrona Frau has since made interiors from automotive companies ranging from
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...
,
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
,
Bugatti
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...
,
Lancia
Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...
,
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
to
Mini
The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...
,
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
,
Infiniti
is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...
,
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
and
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
.
In 2002 the company's leathersmiths created red leather seating and pillions for a special edition of the
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
model of noted Italian motorcycle manufacturer
Moto Guzzi
Moto Guzzi is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer and the oldest European manufacturer in continuous motorcycle production.
Established in 1921 in Mandello del Lario, Italy, the company is noted for its historic role in Italy's motorcycling ma ...
, in celebration of the company's 80th anniversary.
Museum
To mark its centennial in 2012, the company opened the Poltrona Frau Museum, designed by Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, formerly of the
Memphis Group
The Memphis Group, also known as Memphis Milano, was an Italian design and architecture group founded by Ettore Sottsass. It was active from 1980 to 1987. The group designed postmodern furniture, lighting, fabrics, carpets, ceramics, glass and me ...
,
at the company's headquarters and production facility in Tolentino.
The museum features approximately sixty of the company's emblematic furniture pieces, many from the collection of board chairman Franco Moschini, and organizes the company's history and production with examples of furniture, drawings, images and manufacturing materials in a 1400 square meter building under the theme “l’intelligenza delle mani," which translates "intelligence of the hands," or roughly "manual know-how".
A primary video gallery highlights a technical glossary of the company: nine hand tools, methods and materials — including the curved needle, nails, horsehair, quilting and the hammer — the tools and materials required to fold, stitch, attach and work leather.
See also
*
List of Italian companies
Italy is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe with the third largest nominal GDP in the Eurozone and the eighth largest in the world. As an advanced economy the country also has the sixth worldwide national wealth and it is ranked third fo ...
References
External links
*
{{Automotive industry in Italy
Furniture companies of Italy
Leather manufacturers
Italian brands
Companies based in le Marche
Design companies of Italy
Industrial design firms
Manufacturing companies established in 1912
Italian companies established in 1912
High fashion brands
Luxury brands
Museums in Marche
Design companies established in 1912