In the panorama of Italy’s leading furniture brand, Edra is a fascinating anomaly: the company is based in Tuscany, far from the madding crowd of Brianza. Its Milanese showroom is not a street-facing window into its products, but is set within the spectacular Palazzo Durini, which, until its opening in March 2021, had never been accessible to the public. And although it follows the traditional design calendar and shows at Salone del Mobile, its presentations eschew a traditional domestic scenario, favouring instead scenographic displays showing its furniture in a unique mix of technology, craftsmanship and creativity.
The company’s story began in the lateEdra (a name that references the Greek and Roman , a room with benches for meeting and conversation) to help their family’s furniture business develop upholstery materials for their soft furnishings. Over the years, its unique approach and visionary attitude have led Edra to produce several iconic designs in collaboration with some of today’s most inventive designers (which it calls authors). The brand’s creative history has been shaped from its inception by Massimo Morozzi, formerly a member of Archizoom and the company’s art director between 1987 and 2014. Its portfolio includes the ‘Vermelha’ chair by Estúdio Campana, flower-shaped armchairs by Masanori Umeda and early furniture by Zaha Hadid.
