"Original without being over-the-top" is how Alexander van Veen, co-owner of Dubai's Caspaiou interiors showroom, describes the Meridiani brand.
Caspaiou has been the exclusive UAE retailer of Meridiani furniture for the past eight years, but is currently running a dedicated, month-long showcase of the brand in its Sheikh Zayed Road store. The ground floor of the space will be entirely devoted to Meridiani for the next few weeks, in an attempt to reiterate the breadth of the brand’s product offering. “This allows designers and clients to see everything in one place, for once,” says van Veen.
Considering that it is a relative newcomer to the scene and is competing head-to-head with some of the biggest names in the design world, Meridiani has made remarkable headway since its launch in 2000. Now available in 52 countries around the world, the company prides itself on its “100 per cent made in Italy” approach, the quality of its products and, as its portfolio has continued to expand and evolve, its versatility.
“Meridiani is almost an ‘unbranded’ brand,” says Andrea Parisio, Meridiani’s art director and designer. “I don’t like homes that look like each other. I like homes to be really personal. Our furniture is high end and 100 per cent made in Italy, and you have a full variety of dimensions, materials and upholstery, as well as wooden furnishings, which means you can completely personalise your home. This is the opposite of many brands, who want to impose themselves on your design. The concept comes from fashion, in that fashion is about mixing moods and inspirations, and should be very personal.”
This is a sentiment wholly supported by van Veen. “We are a multi-brand store, but one reason that we like Meridiani is because it doesn’t impose itself on a client. When we create a home for a client, and we have done a lot, we always want it to be their home. Whether it is classic or contemporary, the client has to be comfortable.
“With a lot of those famous furniture brands, if you are sitting on a designer sofa, you have to act like you are sitting on a designer sofa. Whereas with Meridiani, it’s your sofa. It’s a beautiful sofa, but you can still enjoy it. If you want to impress other people, you should impress them with the atmosphere in your home, not with the branding on your sofa. That’s why Meridiani has become the top-seller in our showroom,” he says.
The brand’s growing popularity in this part of the world can also be taken as a sign of the market’s increasing maturity, van Veen suggests. “People who have not yet developed their own personal taste rely on pieces where the branding is really obvious. Because then, when other people see the piece, they’ll think: ‘Wow, you spent so much, you must have taste’.
“Today, the market is more mature, and consumers are more secure in themselves and their tastes, so they are going more for this kind of thing, because it’s beautiful but it doesn’t shout. The fact that the Middle East market is becoming more mature helps Meridiani and it helps Caspaiou.”
Meridiani’s pieces can also be found in an increasing number of public and commercial spaces, including the ever-popular Roberto’s restaurant in DIFC and a new five-star airport-hotel in Doha, notes Ole Dahlsen, managing director of Four Frontiers, the company responsible for representing the brand when it comes to commercial projects.
Currently on show in the Caspaiou showroom are some of Meridiani's latest collections, which perfectly encapsulate the brand's unique aesthetic. Taking centre stage is the Plinto table from the Meridiani Editions collection. Designed by Parisio and recognised in Wallpaper magazine's 2016 Design Awards, the table is available in various versions, but in each instance is more sculpture than table. In this case, the rectangular top and imposing plinth-inspired legs are made from Calacatta marble and combined with a bronzed brass frame. The table also comes in black Marquina marble and countless shades of lacquer, and is available in various shapes, including round and octagonal.
“It’s balanced but outstanding at the same time,” says Vanessa Molteni, the head of Meridiani’s press and communications team. “When we first presented it, we just had six different tables, without any decorative elements, as if they were in an art gallery or museum, because the pieces are so sculptural. But they are also designed to be used.”
With a price tag of Dh80,000, the Plinto is a serious investment piece, but also a prime example of how Meridiani is able to combine seemingly contradictory materials to striking effect.
This is a recurring theme in the company’s portfolio, which now includes about 90 product families. Launches from last year include the Belt low table, which combines a wooden frame with brass sides and is available in round, oval and square versions; the enveloping Kita chair, with removable covers in jaunty shades and legs in stained oak, or covered in fabric or leather; and the streamlined Spencer table, which can be finished in either a stained oak veneer or in lacquer, with a bronzed-brass insert also available on request.
The aim, ultimately, is to give people choice, with endless scope to mix and match. The designs are contemporary, with simple lines and shapes, but are given a sense of richness through a range of luxe finishes and materials – from lush upholstery, including saddle leather and velvet, to handmade resins, lacquer in 12 different shades, three types of marble and various metal effects. The Meridiani portfolio includes larger furniture pieces such as beds and seemingly indestructible sofas, but also smaller occasional tables and wall units, as well as rugs and limited-edition pieces of art. The focus has very much been on building a complete and holistic offering.
“Today I can design a total villa, 100 per cent, with Meridiani, which perhaps wouldn’t have been possible five years ago,” says van Veen, which is why, one imagines, this current showcase is so important.
“It’s furniture for tomorrow,” Parisio concludes.
sdenman@thenational.ae
