Milà by Magis
Magis: 40 years of italian-made creativity in the design universe
1976-2016: it is 40 years since Eugenio Perazza, a self-made entrepreneur with a deeply-rooted passion for design culture, created Magis, the Italian company that has since become a benchmark for the design world. Experimentation, open-mindedness, an uncanny instinct for new trends, not only in design, but also materials and lifestyles, as well as the ability to establish numerous collaborations with the biggest international designers, such as Konstantin Grcic, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Marc Newson, Ron Arad, Naoto Fukasawa, Jasper Morrison, Marcel Wanders, Philippe Starck, Stefano Giovannoni, Richard Sapper and Zaha Hadid…
These are the resources that make Magis unique, and that have accompanied it through its forty years of history. A path that begins with the reinterpretation of everyday objects, using the creativity of design and the possibilities offered by new technologies and materials. This was how such creations as Step folding ladder (1984 – designed by Andries & Hiroko van Onck) and Bombo stool (1996 – designed by Stefano Giovannoni) came to be: two veritable design icons of their day, that were imitated innumerable times. Among the Magis products that have opened new roads in the world of design, a prime example is the abovementioned Bombo, which has become the adjustable stool par excellence in the collective imagination. Air Chair (2000 – designed by Jasper Morrison) was the first chair in the world to be made using air-moulding technology: stackable, lightweight, durable and colourful. The Me Too collection of furniture and design objects for children (2004) explores new life and market scenarios, responding to the specific needs of little ones, with the collaboration of big designers such as Eero Arnio, Javier Mariscal, Enzo Mari and many others. Spun swivelling chair (designed by Thomas Heatherwick – 2010) in rotational moulded polyethylene constitutes an innovative product category, being both a seat and a comfortable, playful domestic sculpture.
The history of Magis is one of consistently seizing the moment, and it is from this workshop-factory, organized to allow for absolute productive flexibility while maintaining the same high standard of Italian quality, that the eclectic, multifarious and constantly-evolving catalogue arose, in which each product tells a different story, speaking a language without borders. Made entirely in Italy, almost 90% of Magis’ production is exported to over 70 countries, and its worldwide presence extends to the markets as well as to design museums: the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Musée National D’Art Moderne Georges Pompidou, the MoMA – Museum of Modern Art – in New York, the Historical Collection of the Compasso d’Oro Award in Milan (a prize won several times by Magis), together with any other acknowledgements and accolades. The story of Magis is above all one of people sharing passion, dedication and daily challenges over the past forty years: from the founder Eugenio Perazza to his family, to the many collaborators who work within the company or in the network of external production units with which it interacts, showing once again its open, innovative approach. An operation that combines creativity, technology and organization, in the best tradition of Italian production, giving shape to an increasingly extraordinary, appealing and engaging world, every single day.
Milà
From the know-how of Magis, combined with the creativity of the Spanish artist-cum-designer Jaime Hayón, comes Milà, a chair that harnesses the technical and expressive potential of fibreglass-reinforced air-moulded polypropylene to stand out from the boundless array of products on the market, with its unmistakable shape, based on the forms typical of Catalan modernism.
