Magis Design | Me Too Collection

Magis Italy - is the brand that has given a novel twist to domestic design, building its identity on incorporating leading edge technology into mass production. Founded in 1976 in the bustling north eastern corner of Italy by a newcomer to the furniture business, Eugenio Perazza, Magis is today a giant international design laboratory that constantly puts itself to the test, seeking technological sophistication and employing a highly diversified workforce. It embraces the creativity of leading global designers (Richard Sapper, Jasper Morrison, Stefano Giovannoni, Marc Newson, James Irvine, Konstantin Grcic, Ron Arad, the Bouroullecs and many others) and channels it towards objects perched on the cutting edge. The company even earned kudos from the trendsetter's bible, Wallpaper, which placed Perazza on top of its list of "Ten who will change the way we live". Until a short while ago, it was one of the few companies that manufactured objects in plastic. Today the number has increased considerably. Still, Magis uses the most advanced molding technologies and techniques; it was the first company in the world to apply air molding to aesthetical goods. Plastic will remain the company's reference material, although it is now experimenting with others such as die-cast aluminum, aluminum metal sheet and wood.

Magis Italy is a company in perfect health because it has good projects to develop as well as good intellectual capital, which is the distinguishing feature of the company. Excellent designers, a good design team and an extraordinary supply chain. Characterized by the multiplicity of its expressive languages, its search for a deep meaning of the project, and its ethics instead of aesthetics. It takes three to four years to turn the idea of a project into a finished product. Facing projects, both difficult and complex while taking high risks. Projects are completed as long as they are supported by a high spirit of experimentation and elevated technical cleverness.

The company works with very well-known designers, but it has always been open to work with young designers, even at the outset of their careers. Jean-Marie Massaud and Jerszy Seymour made their debut on the design scene thanks to the opportunities Magis gave them. Now Magis discovers new passions and punctually chases former design glories, adding them to the mix. There was the interlude with Charlotte Perriand, and new design chapters are being written with Robin Day, a genius of English design, Eero Aarnio, a genius of Finnish design and Pierre Paulin, a genius of French design. It is the price to pay for success.

To reduce the possibility to be copied the entrance barrier needs to be elevated greatly. One will have to do complex projects with inventive loftiness and considerable engineering investments, and make molds and equipment with high technical performance (technique is the ability of a company to make technology work). A qualitative distribution also plays an important role against copies selecting only design-oriented companies.

Magis of Italy works, are found in numerous museums throughout the world since 1984. The company was founded in 1976.

Me Too Collection

People’s everyday environments condition their feelings and thoughts. Hence adults will choose environments, objects, furniture and implements that are designed to suit their specific needs and that will help them work or relax better whenever they can. Much of  that is produced for children reflects the predominance of adult ideas and needs for convenience, without consideration of children’s developing thoughts, needs and desires. Children should also have good design that will stimulate their thoughts and feelings in ways that nurture, engage, sensitize and fascinate. Prettiness of itself quickly palls; boredom results. Children need stimulation for the minds as much as their bodies need food.

Magis Product History

1984 - a ladder called Step, a project by Andries and Hiroko van Onck.

1994 - Bottle, Jasper Morrison’s first project for Magis, an object that gave lustre to Magis by our being awarded an enormous number of design prizes.

1994 -  Lyra stool by Design Group Italia. Lyra is proclaimed as Magis’ longest-lived bestseller.

1996 - Stefano Giovannoni’s now iconic, Bombo, an extraordinary commercial success of international dimensions, and still going strong.

2000 - Air-Chair by Jasper Morrison, a technologically advanced product, and the first single-shell chair in the world to be conceived in air molding. It will doubtlessly be one of tomorrow’s classics.

2001 - Magis Dog House by Michael Young. The attention Dog House received was overwhelming and came from all directions.

2003 - Chair_One by Konstantin Grcic. A hugely innovative project. It is an example of modern use of die-cast aluminium.

2004 - The start of Me Too, a collection of objects and furniture for children between two and six years old. Me Too was conducted and managed by designers that think with the mind of a child.

2005 - Striped family by the Bouroullec brothers, in transparent polyamide, but it was the year also for Déjà-vu stool by Naoto Fukasawa, in polished die-cast aluminum.

2006 - Twenty-one new products, perhaps the best annual harvest that the brand has ever reaped in its 30-year existence, concluding a three-year design cycle. Of these, the chair "First" by Stefano Giovannoni needs to be mentioned.

2007 - Piggyback, a project developed by Magis with the young English architect Thomas Heatherwick. Déjà-vu Table, the first extending table by Magis, well designed by the Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa.

2008 - Steelwood Family by the Bouroullec brothers, a collection made of steel plate and solid wood and composed of chair, table system and shelving system, which goes beyond the good design project, as it breaks with the rules of the office furnishing, introducing a warm, domestic, very friendly style.

2009 - Flower and Élysée, conceived during 7 years of collaboration between Magis and the French design legend Pierre Paulin, who passed away precisely in June 2009.

2010 - Four Leaves coat stand and the umbrella stand Poppins by Barber & Osgerby, plus the Déjà-vu mirrors and the wall clocks Tempo and Cuclock by Naoto Fukasawa. 2010 was also marked by Marcel Wanders re-joining the Magis team: three of his projects were presented- the chairs Cyborg, Troy and Sparkling. After quite few years’ work, Tom Dixon’s first new design for Magis came out: the chair Mesh, made of pressed metal mesh. With this year’s Furniture Fair, also Jaime Hayon and Martino Gamper became part of the big Magis crew. They and Jerszy Seymour have worked toward the comeback of metal wire chairs, respectively with Piña, Vigna and Flux. A noteworthy design by Thomas Heatherwick is Spun, a polyethylene chair that rolls – a surprising twist on conventional furniture design made by rotating a single profile outward over 360 degrees. And there was more: new products by the Bouroullec Brothers (tables Baguettes and Central, plus Steelwood Stool and Steelwood Coat Stand), by Stefano Giovannoni (the Murano Vanity Chair and the extending table Vanity) and by Konstantin Grcic (the Venice chair) with whom Magis has been working for many years now. Last but not least: the reproduction of two vintage Marc Berthier designs, the Aviva chair and the Teatro table.