The Italian company celebrates the collaboration began in 2013 with the Ester armchair
2023 marks for Pedrali the tenth year of collaboration with the world-renowned French designer Patrick Jouin. The partnership started in 2013 with Ester armchair and reflects the combination of the creative expression of the designer and the know-how of the Italian company.
Patrick Jouin was born in Nantes, France, in 1967 and obtained his degree in 1992 at the ENSCI- l’École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris. He expresses his creativity both in industrial design and in the decorative arts, occupying an important place on the international design scene, where few can operate with the same ease and strength. Besides working on industrial design with his Patrick Jouin ID studio, he also works on interior projects together with Sanjit Manku, with the studio Jouin Manku founded in 2006. The evolution of Patrick Jouin’s career was celebrated in 2009 with a monographic exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and in 2011 with the awarding of the Compasso d’Oro ADI.
It is precisely in this prestigious context that the foundations of the collaboration with the company were laid. “On the occasion of the ADI Compasso d’Oro celebration in Rome, I met Monica and Giuseppe Pedrali. A short time later, we met to start thinking about creating an elegant and comfortable seat for Alain Ducasse’s Dorchester restaurant in London. This is how Ester was born.”
The name of the collection takes inspiration from the place for which it was created. The designer continues: “So, during that meeting with Pedrali, I sketched what would then be the final result. They understood my way of working and embraced it, I immediately perceived it from the eyes of Giuseppe: when he sees something, a project that he likes, instantly thinks about how it will be made, about its construction. It was a truly beautiful moment. First the armchair was born, then the chair, the stool and then a pouf: so the entire collection”.
From the first armchair, a true collection was born, selected for decorating the best starred restaurants, luxury boutiques and flats in the world’s great metropolises.
Ester is a mix of ergonomics, elegance and functionality. It is a precious monolith complemented by a refined die-cast aluminium leg and characterised by soft and graceful lines. Ester’s great comfort is ensured by the seat made of polyurethane foam with elastic belts. “Beauty is not the first thing I think about when I design a product, first and foremost there is functionality combined with innovation. Beauty will come at the end, when everything is well blended“.
Ester has been selected for the most renowned settings over the years, including some prestigious restaurants of the starred chef Alain Ducasse.
Ester armchairs and barstools furnish BBR by Alain Ducasse, a modern, energic and vibrant environment in the historical Bar & Billiards Room at Raffles hotel in Singapore. Again Ester bastools, presented in this case in emerald green velvet, fit in the Voyages restaurant by Alain Ducasse, nestled in the heart of the impressive Morpheus Hotel in Macao. Located in another fascinating and alluring setting, the fine neutral colour of Ester armchairs is combined with the blue colour of the boiserie and the natural wood in its walnut essence at the Blue restaurant by Alain Ducasse in Bangkok. To mention a few more, Esterre restaurant by Alain Ducasse at Palace Hotel in Tokyo and Mix restaurant by Alain Ducasse in the prestigious Emeral Palace Kempiski in Dubai.
Even the multi-starred chef Antonino Cannavacciuolo chose this refined and successful collection to characterise some of his restaurants. Ester armchairs, selected in a distinctive red tone, give colour to the restaurant within the splendid setting of Villa Crespi in Orta San Giulio. Recently, the same armchairs were chosen in the warm shade of brown to welcome guests in the Cannavacciuolo Countryside restaurant in Ticciano, an idyllic village on the Sorrento Hills where the green of the countryside intertwines with the blue of the sea.
Ester collection also furnishes some of the world’s most exclusive hotels such as the Richer de Belleval in Montpellier and La Mamounia, the 5-star hotel located in the heart of Marrakech, one of the most iconic sites in the imperial city. Here the Ester collection by Pedrali fits in several spaces, including the Marocain Bar, the Churchill Bar and the Oenothèque.
In addition, Ester features in some projects of a more contract nature, such as Biome in Paris, a futuristic architectural project redesigning the skyline of the 15th arrondissement of Paris. The French national airline Air France also chose chairs and barstools from the Ester collection to furnish the lounges of the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris and the Franz-Josef Strauss airport in Munich. Finally, the luxury super yacht MY KENSHŌ recently awarded Best Interior Design, Motor Yachts 500GT and Above.
Pedrali: Beauty, tradition and innovation
Pedrali is an Italian company that produces contemporary furniture for contract and residential. The industrially designed, functional and versatile collections are the result of a process that combines tradition, innovation and engineering excellence. Entirely developed in Italy, they are made of metal, plastic material, wood and upholstery, also in combination with each other. Pedrali’s products are the result of synergic collaboration with Italian and international designers who, with their invaluable contribution, make it possible to obtain important awards. The most prestigious in 2011: the XXII Compasso d’Oro ADI for the Frida chair, designed by Odo Fioravanti.
The 100% Made in Italy philosophy becomes real through the internal production in the Headquarters of Mornico al Serio (Bergamo), where the automated warehouse designed by Cino Zucchi-CZA Cino Zucchi Architetti is based, and in the wooden manufacturing in Manzano (Udine).
The high quality and respect for the environment represent long-established practices for Pedrali. This is proved, for example, by the source of FSC® C114358 certified wood from adequately managed forests, for which water-based coatings composed mostly of plant-derived resins are used. Since 2018, Pedrali has been calculating its Corporate Carbon Footprint and obtained the certification according to UNI EN ISO 14064-1:2019. Pedrali’s commitment to continuous improvement, as well as concrete actions related to the quality of raw materials and production plants, is demonstrated by system and product certifications such as UNI EN ISO 9001:2015 for its quality management system, UNI EN ISO 14001:2015 for its sustainable environmental management, and UNI ISO 45001:2018 occupational health and safety management systems, obtained in 2023. In 2020, the company launched its first “recycled grey” collections made from recycled polypropylene, 50% post-consumer waste and 50% industrial waste. Following this process, Pedrali has obtained from 2021 the ReMade in Italy® certification. The greenguard and greenguard gold product certifications, with reference to a specific standard, ensure low emissions of volatile organic compounds in order to guarantee a chemical-free environment.
2023 marks an important milestone for Pedrali: 60 years since the founding of the company that dates back to 1963. For the occasion, the Pedrali Pavilion was designed by AMDL CIRCLE and Michele De Lucchi to house the exhibition “Pedrali60, we design a better future” curated by Luca Molinari Studio.