Luigi Caccia Dominioni's chairs get a chromatic update

A trio of Luigi Caccia Dominioni's Catilina chairs for Azucena. The Italian company now joins forces with luxury leather goods specialist Serapian on a new capsule collection featuring a distinctive leather mosaic motif adorning the seat, created by Serapian in contrasting colours

(Image credit: Luigi Caccia Dominioni)

Italian furniture company Azucena joins forces with historical leather goods brand Serapian to bring new life to iconic Luigi Caccia Dominioni designs. Two companies based on sophisticated understatement and impeccable know-how, Serapian and Azucena share a commitment to excellence and craftsmanship.

Founded by Armenian-born Stefano Serapian in 1928, the luxury leather goods company became known in Milan for its hand-crafted, tailor-made bags and distinctive leather mosaic motif devised by Serapian himself. A few decades later, Azucena was born from an initiative by Caccia Dominioni, Ignazio Gardella and Corrado Corradi Dell’Acqua, who started the company in 1947 to edit the furniture collections they created for the buildings they had designed across Milan.

Azucena chair collaboration with Serapian — A detail of Caccia Dominioni's Catilina chairs, updated with Serapian's distinctive mosaic leather motif

Azucena's designs distill the trio’s architectural works into essentially formed chairs, sofas, tables and lamps, reflecting a refined approach to domestic spaces that merged modernity and tradition. The timeless furniture is defined by simple geometries, symmetry and contrasting material compositions, such as steel and velvet. In 2018, Azucena was acquired and relaunched by B&B Italia, keeping Caccia Dominioni’s work alive.

The stories of these unique historical companies are now joined in a special project, where the Serapian-designed mosaic adorns the Catilina chair, Azucena’s most successful and iconic design. Originally presented at the XI Milan Triennale in 1953, the chair was designed as a ‘domestic throne’ and it instantly became a design classic, still celebrated today. Giovanni Nodari Serapian, third-generation member of the Serapian family at the helm of the company's bespoke atelier, adapted the decorative motif to appear on the cushion’s rounded edge, and developed a palette of black, red, teal and brown punctuated by graphic touches of fuchsia, mint, red, bronze and navy blue. The resulting collection demonstrates the design's longevity and affirms Caccia Dominioni's modern attitude to furniture and architecture.

Caccia Dominioni&rsquo;s Catilina black leather chairs

INFORMATION

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Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.