Introducing Vivendo: Italian Living means Stylish Living
When I visited Italy I was struck by how the country’s reputation for quality and style was everywhere, and access to it not limited to the moneyed elite. I bought beautifully-tailored clothes, for example, which if imported to this country, would have cost a fortune because in this country we expect to pay that for Italian design.
The same applies to furniture and home accessories. When imported, Italian-designed furniture can cost ten to twenty times more than it costs in Italy, and so remains inaccessible to the majority of people. But not any more:
Introducing Vivendo
Vivendo, an online store selling Italian-designed furniture, was born out of the desire to make good Italian design available to all, at Italian, not inflated export prices. I spoke to co-founder Giulia Farinelli, who told me more about the Vivendo vision.
Giulia Farinelli, Co-founder of Vivendo
Giulia explained that Vivendo works with small to medium manufacturers in Italy, often family run-businesses, whose limited international experience means they don’t often expand outside of their home country. Vivendo opens up such opportunities, and in doing so, brings high quality and affordable Italian design to the rest of the world.
And oh my, how beautiful are these design pieces. Here are just some of my favourite items currently on sale at Vivendo:
Borno Wooden Dining Chair Natural Walnut
The Borno wooden dining chair is a harmonious fusion of functionality and aesthetics inspired by the tapering branches of a tree.
I absolutely adore the simplicity and beauty of this chair – a perfect piece of design.
Desio Bookcase Lemon Powdercoated Metal
The stunning Desio Bookcase showcases an undulating wall-mounted bookcase design, that works beautifully as individual units but comes together harmoniously to create an elegant hanging bookcase design for storing and displaying cherished personal items.
The Desio bookcase comes in a variety of colours, but the yellow reminds me of a Donald Judd sculpture. It is beautifully balanced, and an object of art in itself.
Torno Chest of Drawers Elm Wood Natural
The curves and contours of the Torno drawers bring beauty and visual contrast to any bedroom with a surplus of angles and boxy shapes.
I love these streamlined and elegant drawers, which have an Art Deco sensibility and also remind me of a luxurious ocean liner. Or is that just me?
A true passion for Italian design shines through from every page on Vivendo’s website, from the individual commentaries on each item, and features on individual designers/makers, to the wonderful Vivendo Blog, which explores Italian design in more depth. I have been an avid reader of this for months now, and look forward each week to a new ‘Thursday Cult’ post.
Vivendo’s democratic approach is not just rhetoric; they ship free to the UK, which even includes delivery to a room of your choice and help with unwrapping. It really couldn’t be easier now to bring such wonderful and carefully-chosen examples of Italian design into UK homes.
‘Vivendo’ means ‘living’ in Italian, and in Italy living means living stylishly. Thanks to Vivendo this philosophy can be shared and made a reality outside of Italy, benefitting all from individual Italian designers and makers to the end user of this beautiful furniture and home accessories.
Do have a look and let me know if you like what I have show, or explore the Vivendo site and tell me what catches your eye most. Everything is so beautiful it will be hard to choose!
A collaborative post. All images and quotes are from Vivendo, all other words and opinions are my own and honest.
Twitter:
on October 21, 2015 at 9:43 pm
Stunning post Molly . I have always adored everything Italian. They are such a stylish nation. I am impressed to hear how affordable they are in their own nation. Xx
Thanks you Karen. I think we have a lot to learn from Italy. As well as the love of good design there is the importance of family. And of course the country has produced some great art!
Molly recently posted…Changing Art Prints with SwitchArt
Very nice article, Molly!
I have been following most of your posts and this one about Italian furniture looks super interesting!
Thank you for following and commenting Brian – glad you like this one!
I can appreciate anything that isn’t mass produced. Will check out Vivendo, thanks for the post
Finally something different! I love the quality and the design is so stylish
Twitter:
on October 24, 2015 at 12:06 pm
LOVE that chair! Yes I came to the same conclusion on my trip there recently. We had the most delicious bottle of wine that was 20 euros, that would have been more like £100 here. I love Italian design, I did treat myself to a camera made in Milan in the 1950’s at a the vintage fair, I just couldn’t resist!
Amanda recently posted…Mercanteinfiera Antique Fair : Parma Italy
Looks like you had a fab time in Italy, loved your post and photos x
Borno Wooden Dining Chair Natural Walnut is simply brilliant. They are slick, simple and yet elegant. I also loved Torno Chest of Drawers. The natural wood color of both of them is spectacular.