Ma come sei Skitsch!
by Georgia Klebleev

The rule says that if you place the letter s in front of a word the new word’s meaning will be the opposite of the first. For Italians at least, this rule applies. So, the contemporary newborn Milanese word -SKITSCH is antithetic with the German kitsch. A skitsch object generates a positive feeling, while being skitsch means being at ease with your personal taste, comfortable with your style.

Milan is where the Italian company SKITSCH was launched by Renato Preti, co-founder and CEO, during the International Furniture Fair, in 2009. After previously making a fortune as founder and managing partner of Opera, a Louxembourg based private equity fund that invests in lifestyle companies ( B&B Italia, Moooi or Bulgari), with a history in business and finance and a heart for design, Preti left Opera to start SKITSCH. A new multi-purpose brand of furniture and accessories, SKITSCH produces everything from storage and beds to tabletop accessories and textiles.

In a way, Preti saw an opportunity in the actual market, while other producers decided to act recession-conscious. The fact is that the modern man is always eager for novelty, loves beautiful things and surrounding himself with contemporary objects, regardless of its social status. To serve this purpose, SKITSCH commissioned 28 emerging and prestigious designers to create products combining functionality, quality and creativity with no style imposition or boundaries of any kind, under the art direction and production guidance of Cristina Morozzi.

The result was a collection of 50 pieces that represent different styles, from minimalism to new baroque or ironic, with prices that range from €50 to €15,000, aimed to accommodate the taste of the design student, the artist and the gallerist, but also the billionaire, as Preti states in an interview for I-D magazine.

The Hahazard Harmony porcelain tableware, designed by Maarten Baas for SKITSCH in 2009.

Alle Chair, designed by Luca Nichetto for SKITSCH in 2009.

Completing the collection is a careful selection of existing pieces by renowned designers from the most interesting Italian and international design companies who work in line with the philosophy of SKITSCH. The 2010 collection enriches the current offer with 35 important pieces designed by significant international names.

Aka, designed by Jean Marie Massaud is a hybrid chair combining a light and comfortable methacrylate body with four strong oak legs. It reveals a tough character without losing its image of lightness. The body is available in a variety of colours, as well as in a decorated version.

Fire Kit, designed by 5.5 – Since ancient times, man has been forging objects inspired by nature. The idea is to return to the origin of artefacts by building a lamp that looks like the bonfires on the beach. The base is made of two crossed wooden elements supporting a Murano glass flame that contains the bulb. The light creates the illusion of a picnic on the beach.

Mirror wardrobe, designed by Peter Marigold – The Mirror project originates from preparations for the series Palindrome on display at Art Basel 2009. The exploration on the use of mirrors generated the idea to create the illusion of a doubled volume. The symmetry of an ordinary wardrobe is preserved, but space is saved by only creating half of it.

TNT, designed by Fabio Bortolani is a high squared wooden chopping board in various sizes with handle. After the carpet “Explosion”, Fabio Bortolani insists on the same trend proposing a chopping board with the shape of a detonator. The ironical transfer turns to be functional too: the chopping board acquires a practical and solid handle.

Arena, designed by Jiri Pelcl is a bonne china plates service of classic shape, connote by a light disharmony in the border. Jiri Pelcl, famous Polish designer, known forefront representative, had renewed the traditional shapes creating an unevenness that seems like coming from a light compression of the stretched out hands in the grabbing movement.

London Store

Not more than one year since their Milan inauguration, a 600 square meters and 13 windows, in the heart of Milan, in Via Monte di Pietà 11, they launch their second flagship store in London. At the opening the catalogue entitled “Mr. Bello in a SKITSCH World” was released, created by illustrator Andy Rementer in collaboration with interior magazine apartamento.

Instead of simply showcasing the product, Apartamento and Rementer created a narrative based around a character, Mr. Bello, who gets to know the brand, pick up some furniture, meet the designers, and visit the new store in London. Various SKITSCH store products are interwoven into the story, and there are also four more traditional catalogue pages featuring photography of products included in the booklet.

SKITSCH penetrates the global markets with a wide variety of objects, furniture and accessories, conceived to give clients an eclectic and original choice through a multi-channel system of distribution focused on high-end flagship stores in major cities, sales catalogues, an e-commerce platform and local dealers. “I don’t believe that small is beautiful, not in a business sense” says Renato Preti and we shall see whether this proves to be right or not.

SKITSCH
Maarten Baas
apartamento